Joseph Lumbard is the founder of The Islamic Research Institute and is currently Assistant Professor of Classical Islam at Brandeis University, and was previously Professor of Islamic Studies in the Arabic Studies Department of The American University in Cairo. Lumbard was awarded a B.A. magna cum laude in English Literature and Religious Studies from The George Washington University in 1993, and an M.A. in Religious Studies in 1995. He received an M.Phil. in Islamic Studies from Yale University in 2000, and a Ph.D. in Islamic Studies with distinction in May, 2003.

A specialist in Sufism and Islamic Philosophy, Dr. Lumbard has spent many years researching and writing about Islamic civilization, with an emphasis on its intellectual traditions. He has studied Islamic texts in Quran, law, theology, philosophy and Sufism with scholars trained in the classical Islamic tradition and has reached a high degree of proficiency in both Arabic and Persian. He is thus conversant with the technical vocabulary and the methodological issues particular to a broad range of Islamic intellectual disciplines. Professor Lumbard has served as a copy-editor for several books in Islamic Studies, among them, Ideals and Realities of Islam, Islam and the Plight of Modern Man and The Heart of Islam, all by Seyyed Hossein Nasr, and volume II of An Anthology of Philosophy in Persia. His articles have been published in journals such as The Islamic Quarterly, Transcendent Philosophy and Sophia, and in collections of essays, such as Knowledge is Light: Essays in Honor of Seyyed Hossein Nasr and How can I Find God? Essays by the Famous and not so Famous. He has spoken in academic forums around the world, participated in inter-faith dialogue in Jewish and Christian forums and has appeared on several radio and television programs.

In the wake of September 11, 2001, Dr. Lumbard founded the Islamic Research Institute (IRI) to provide a forum in which Muslim scholars are able to contextualize issues pertaining to Islam and apply the traditional teachings of Islam to the exigencies of modern life. The award-winning book Islam, Fundamentalism, and the Betrayal of Tradition (revised edition) is a product of his vision and leadership in this important area.

Books

From Hubb to 'Ishq: The Development of Love in Early Sufism, (Oxford Journal of Islamic Studies, 2008)

Submission, Faith and Beauty: The Religion of Islam, (Hayward, 2007)

Prophets and Messengers of God, “Voices of Islam”, (Praeger Pub Text, 2007)

Islam, (Pentagon Press, 2007)

The Library of Perennial Philosophy, (Pentagon Press, 2005)

Islam, Fundamentalism, and the Betrayal of Tradition, (World Wisdom, 2004)