Dr. Omar Qureshi is a scholar of educational philosophy, ethics, theology, and Islamic law. His field specialties include Science Education, Philosophy of Education, Metaphysics, Ethics, Theology, and Islamic Law. At Zaytuna College, Dr. Qureshi has taught Metaphysical Foundations, Contemporary Muslim Thought, al-Ghazali, Advanced Arabic Grammar, Classical Muslim Texts and Commentaries, and Legal Theory (all in the bachelor’s program) and The Aims of the Law (in the master’s program).
Prior to his post at Zaytuna College, Dr. Qureshi served as principal at Islamic Foundation School in Villa Park, IL, from 2012 to 2016.
Dr. Qureshi received his BA in Microbiology and his MEd in Curriculum and Instruction from the University of Missouri-Columbia. He earned his PhD in Cultural and Educational Policy Studies at Loyola University in 2016.
His PhD thesis, titled “Badr al-Dīn Ibn Jamāʿah and the Highest Good of Islamic Education,” contributes to and extends the conversation about the identity of Islamic educational institutions in North America by retrieving the work of a major educationalist in the Islamic tradition.
Dr. Qureshi is proficient in Arabic.
Dr. Qureshi joined the faculty of Zaytuna College in 2017.
Email: [email protected]
Office hours: By appointment
Journal articles
“Finding the Authentic Self: Can Experience be a Path to Self-Knowledge?” Renovatio: The Journal of Zaytuna College (Fall 2016).
“Islamic Perspectives on Clinical Intervention near the End-of-Life: We Can but Must We? Medicine, Health Care and Philosophy 19, no. 66 (2016): 1–15. Coauthored with A. Padela.
“When Must a Patient Seek Healthcare? Bringing the Perspectives of Islamic Jurists and Clinicians into Dialogue. Zygon: Journal of Religion and Science 51, no. 3 (2016): 592–625. Coauthored with A. Padela.
Books
“Science Curriculum from an Islamic Worldview.” In Curriculum Renewal for Islamic Education: Critical Perspectives on Teaching Islam in Primary and Secondary Schools, edited by Nadeem A. Memon, Mariam Alhashmi, and Mohamad Abdalla. New York: Routledge, 2021.
“Disciplinarity and Islamic Education.” In Philosophies of Islamic Education: Historical Perspectives and Emerging Discourses, edited by N. Memon and M. Zaman, 94–111. New York: Routledge, 2016.
Working papers
“Muslim Theologians and the Ontological Status of Universals,” Tabah Foundation.
Lectures, talks, and other speaking engagements
“Health Risk Assessment: Examining the Similarities between the Reasoning Exercises of Medical Experts and Islamic Legists.” Paper presented at the Conference on Religion and Medicine: Spiritual Dimensions of Illness and Healing, Cambridge, MA, 2015.
“Terror, Religion and Curriculum Change: American Science Education in the Pakistani Madrasah.” Paper presented at the Comparative and International Education Society 51st Annual Conference—Engaging Our Differences, Baltimore, 2007.