Imran Aijaz

I am Professor of Philosophy in the Department of Language, Culture, and the Arts at the University of Michigan–Dearborn, where I have been a faculty member since 2010. Prior to this, I completed a PhD in Philosophy at the University of Auckland, New Zealand

My research lies primarily in philosophy of religion and Islamic philosophy. I am especially interested in the philosophical evaluation of religious belief, with particular attention to doctrines and ideas found within the Islamic tradition. Much of my work focuses on questions concerning faith and reason, religious epistemology, religious diversity, and various problems of religious pluralism. I also have an interest in ancient philosophy and its reception among Jewish, Christian, and Islamic thinkers during the Middle Ages.

While my work draws extensively on classical and contemporary Islamic sources, my primary aim is not to defend, develop, or reconstruct those traditions. Rather, I treat them as subjects of philosophical inquiry, evaluating their plausibility in light of contemporary philosophical problems and arguments. Although my research engages historical texts and figures, it is not primarily historical in orientation. Instead, I approach religious beliefs and traditions (especially Islam) as objects of philosophical investigation, asking whether and to what extent they remain philosophically defensible when subjected to rigorous critical scrutiny.

I am the author of Islam: A Contemporary Philosophical Investigation (Routledge, 2018) and have published numerous articles and book chapters on topics in philosophy of religion and Islamic philosophy. My current research includes work on salvation and the afterlife in Islamic thought, as well as a forthcoming Cambridge Elements volume on philosophical problems concerning heaven and hell in the Islamic tradition.

This website contains information about my research, publications, teaching, and current projects.