The Curse and the Promise: Religion and Violence

This year the St Martin-in-the-Fields Autumn Lecture Series focuses on religion and violence, reflecting upon both how faith can become the cause and perpetrator of conflict and persecution, and also the victim.

But can our faith and our understanding of God also provide the promise for the healing of our nations? Looking from the perspective of the three Abrahamic Faiths – Judaism, Christianity and Islam – we will be inviting our guest speakers to explore these themes from their own perspectives and faith traditions.

Abdal Hakim Murad, also known as Timothy John Winter, is a British Sunni Muslim shaykh, researcher, writer and academic. He is the Dean of the Cambridge Muslim College, Director of Studies (Theology and Religious Studies) at Wolfson College and the Shaykh Zayed Lecturer in Islamic Studies at Cambridge University. His work includes publications on Islamic theology and Muslim-Christian relations. In 2003 he was awarded the Pilkington Teaching Prize by Cambridge University and in 2007 he was awarded the King Abdullah I Prize for Islamic Thought for his short booklet Bombing Without Moonlight. In 2012 he was ranked 50th in ‘the most influential Muslims’ list published annually by the Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Centre.