[INVITATION] Online Lecture Series: “In Civilizational Dialogue: Where History Stands Today”
Muziru
📅 Date: Friday, 30 January 2026
⏰ Time: 7:00 PM – 8:30 PM (IST) | 9:30 PM – 11:00 PM (MYT)
💻 Venue: Online Platform
🎙 Keynote Speaker
Prof. Dr. Ratan Lal Hangloo
Renowned Historian of South Asia & Civilizational Thought
Esteemed Advisory Member, HCDHF
🎙 Presiding Speaker
Dato’ Dr. Ahmad Farouk Musa
Thinker on Islamic Reform, Democracy & Human Rights
Founder, Islamic Renaissance Front (IRF), Kuala Lumpur
Esteemed Advisory Member, HCDHF
🎙 Welcoming Address
Prof. Dr. Hamidullah Marazi
President, HOMA–Civilizational Dialogue and Harmony Foundation (HCDHF)
Scholar of Islamic Philosophy & Civilizational Thought
🎙 Moderator
Dr. Fareed Ahmad Malik
Scholar of Civilizational Studies & Inter-Civilizational Dialogue
Secretary General, HCDHF
🔗 Registration
👉 Register here: https://forms.gle/898bZR5yakGurm7aA
(Participation is free. The online meeting link will be shared with registered participants)
Abstract
Civilizational dialogue has long served as a foundational mechanism for the advancement of human knowledge, cultural understanding, and scientific progress. Historical experience demonstrates that societies flourish intellectually when they remain open to learning across cultural, religious, and linguistic boundaries. During the classical and medieval periods, the Muslim world emerged as a major hub of inter-civilizational exchange, engaging constructively with the scientific and philosophical legacies of Greece and Egypt, the intellectual traditions of India, and the scholarly cultures of Christian Europe. Through institutions such as the Bayt al-Ḥikmah, expansive translation movements, and transregional networks of travel and trade, Muslim scholars preserved, critically developed, and transmitted knowledge in mathematics, medicine, astronomy, philosophy, and the natural sciences. These contributions played a decisive role in shaping European intellectual life through Andalusia and Sicily, influencing figures such as Roger Bacon and contributing to the intellectual foundations of the European Renaissance. In South Asia, meaningful engagement between Muslim scholars and Hindu intellectual traditions—exemplified by al-Bīrūnī and later by Mullā Muḥsin Fānī Kāshmīrī, Emperor Akbar, and Dārā Shikōh—further illustrates how civilizational dialogue fosters intellectual enrichment and mutual understanding. This shared historical heritage affirms that scientific creativity and cultural vitality emerge through dialogue rather than isolation. Reaffirming this legacy offers vital guidance for contemporary efforts to promote intercultural respect, knowledge-sharing, and peaceful coexistence in a plural and interconnected world.
PROGRAM SCHEDULE
7:00 – 7:05 PM
▶ Opening of the Session – Moderator
7:05 – 7:15 PM
▶ Welcoming Address
Prof. Dr. Hamidullah Marazi, President, HCDHF
7:15 – 7:45 PM
▶ Keynote Lecture
Prof. Dr. Ratan Lal Hangloo
7:45 – 8:15 PM
▶ Question & Answer / Reflections
8:15 – 8:25 PM
▶ Presiding Address
Dato’ Dr. Ahmad Farouk Musa
8:25 – 8:30 PM
▶ Vote of Thanks
🤝 Jointly-Organised by
HOMA – Civilizational Dialogue and Harmony Foundation (HCDHF) & Islamic Renaissance Front (IRF)
📘 Speakers’ Biography
Prof. Dr. Ratan Lal Hangloo
Renowned Historian of South Asia & Civilizational Thought
Esteemed Advisory Member, HCDHF
Prof. Rattan Lal Hangloo is a distinguished historian and civilizational scholar with an eminent career spanning academic leadership, research, and global teaching. He currently serves as Chief Representative and Honorary Vice-Chancellor of Nobel International University (Toronto, Canada) at its USA campus, and as a Distinguished Visiting Professor at SRM University, Amaravati (Andhra Pradesh). He previously served as Vice-Chancellor of the University of Kalyani (West Bengal) and the University of Allahabad, and as Professor and Head, Department of History, University of Hyderabad.
Prof. Hangloo has held several senior academic and administrative positions, including Dean of the School of Global Relations and Dean of the School of Languages, Literature and Culture at the Central University of Punjab. Internationally, he has served as Chair of Indian Studies at the University of the West Indies (Trinidad and Tobago) and at Tbilisi State University (Georgia), and as Visiting Professor at leading institutions in the United States, Germany, and Central Asia.
A recipient of numerous prestigious honours, he has been awarded the Fulbright Senior Fellowship (USA), DAAD Fellowship (Germany), and a fellowship from Maison des Sciences de l’Homme (Paris). He was nominated to the Academic Council of the United Nations System at Yale University and has received multiple national and international awards for academic excellence, including the Mother Teresa International Award, Sir Syed National Award, and Dewang Mehta Award for outstanding leadership in higher education. In recognition of his public service, he was conferred the Honorary Rank of Colonel in the Indian Army. Prof. Hangloo is a prolific scholar with over 250 research publications and several influential books on Kashmir, medieval Indian history, state formation, religion, science, and culture. His research interests include South Asian history, civilizational encounters, state and society, agrarian and ecological history, and the cultural and political dynamics of Kashmir, including contemporary challenges such as climate change.
Dato’ Dr. Ahmad Farouk Musa
Thinker on Islamic Reform, Democracy & Human Rights
Founder, Islamic Renaissance Front (IRF), Kuala Lumpur
Esteemed Advisory Member, HCDHF
Dato’ Dr Ahmad Farouk Musa is a scholar, thinker, social activist, and public intellectual. He is the Founder and Director of the Islamic Renaissance Front, an intellectual movement and think-tank promoting reform and renewal in Islam, democracy, good governance, and human rights. He is actively involved in civil society and the emerging discourse on post-Islamism. He is also involved in interfaith dialogues especially with regard to Christian-Muslim relations and intra-faith dialogues especially the Shi’i-Sunni discourse. He has presented papers at numerous national and international seminars and conferences. Professionally, he is currently an academic researcher at the School of Medicine, Monash University Malaysia. He is also a Research Fellow at Sekolah Tinggi Filsafat Islam (STFI) Sadra (Islamic Philosophy College), Jakarta, Indonesia. He was a Commonwealth Commissioner at the Commonwealth Initiative for the Freedom of Religion or Belief (CIFoRB) based in Westminster, London; a former Director at the Centre for Combating Corruption and Cronyism (C4), and a former Deputy-Chairperson of BERSIH 2.0, a strong civil movement working for a free and fair election in Malaysia.
Prof. Dr. Hamidullah Marazi
President, HOMA–Civilizational Dialogue and Harmony Foundation (HCDHF)
Scholar of Islamic Philosophy & Civilizational Thought
Prof. Dr. Hamidullah Marazi (also known as Hamid Naseem Rafiabadi) is a distinguished scholar of Islamic philosophy, religious studies, and civilizational thought, with over three decades of academic, research, and administrative experience in India and internationally. His scholarly work focuses on Ghazzalian studies, the integration of knowledge, Islamic research methodology, and interreligious and civilizational dialogue, alongside sustained postgraduate supervision and global academic collaboration.
He has held several senior academic leadership positions, including Dean of the School of Social Sciences and Dean of the School of Media Studies at the Central University of Kashmir, Head of the Department of Religious Studies, and Director of the International Centre for Spiritual Studies. He is currently a Visiting Professor at Aliah University, Kolkata, and has served as a Distinguished Visiting Researcher at ISTAC–IIUM, Malaysia.
A prolific author and editor of influential works on Islamic philosophy, epistemology, Sufism, and science–religion discourse, Prof. Marazi has supervised over thirty doctoral and M.Phil. theses. He presently serves as President of the HOMA–Civilizational Dialogue and Harmony Foundation (HCDHF), where he actively advances dialogue, intellectual renewal, and peaceful coexistence across cultures and faith traditions.
Dr. Fareed Ahmad Malik
Scholar of Civilizational Studies & Inter-Civilizational Dialogue
Secretary General, HCDHF
Dr. Fareed Malik is a scholar of Civilizational Studies with a strong focus on civilizational dialogue, diversity, and peaceful coexistence in a globalized world. He holds a PhD in Islamic Civilization and Contemporary Issues from the University of Brunei Darussalam (UBD), specializing in globalization, diversity, and coexistence, and has completed a senior research fellowship at ISDEV, Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) in Islamic development management studies. His academic work engages critically with inter-civilizational discourse, Islamic Civilizational Studies, globalization, multiculturalism, ethical development, and the societal implications of technology and sustainability. Trained under the mentorship of internationally renowned scholars like Emeritus Professor Dr. Osman Bakar, Dr. Fareed brings a deeply civilizational perspective to contemporary global challenges. As a philanthropist, Dr. Fareed is serving as a secretary general for the HOMA-Civilizational Dialogue and Harmony Foundation (HCDHF), which is a state-approved not-for-profit organization based in Jammu & Kashmir, India.