Toledo Imam to be First Speaker for 2015 Religious Studies Lecture Series

Imam Talal Eid, Th.D., director of religious affairs for the Islamic Center of Greater Toledo, will be speaking about the state of the Islamic faith at 8 p.m. Monday, Nov. 2 in The University of Findlay’s Ritz Auditorium in Old Main. The event, which is part of the University’s 2015 Religious Studies Lecture Series, is free and open to the public.
The purpose of the lecture series is to provide an enhanced learning environment for exploring critical issues relevant to religious studies. Imam Eid, and three others who are scheduled to present at later dates in November, will address topics such as how their religion influences personal identity and vocation, how their religious traditions intersect with American culture, and the types of discrimination and prejudices that those of their particular faith experience.
Imam Eid is a well-known Muslim scholar, theologian, activist and lecturer on Islam and Muslims, and on Christian, Jewish and Muslim relations in North America and around the globe. He has over 40 years of experience as an Imam and marital and family therapist. He is a consultant, specialist and expert on Islamic law as it pertains to family issues ranging from spousal abuse to child custody. He is also an expert on interfaith dialogue; and issues related to Islamic pastoral care and counseling, and international religious freedom. In 2007 Imam Eid was appointed by President George W. Bush to serve as a commissioner at the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, and served a second term under President Barack Obama. His tenure involved diplomatic mission trips, at the request of the State Department, to countries such as Afghanistan, Iraq, Switzerland and South Korea.
Imam Eid has worked at the Islamic Center of Greater Toledo since June. He is also an adjunct professor of arts of ministry at Hartford Seminary. He had previously served the Muslim community in the greater Boston, Massachusetts area, and beginning in 2005 was the founder and executive director of the Islamic Institute in Boston. He was also the Muslim chaplain at Brandeis University, the Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, and the Brigham and Women Hospital in Boston. He earned a Doctor of Theology in Comparative Religion from Harvard University, Harvard Divinity School in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Old Main is accessible by elevator located on the southwest corner of the building.

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