The Misinterpretation of Islam by Non-Muslims as well as Muslims

Sheikh Professor Abdul Hadi Palazzi

Sheikh Professor Abdul Hadi Palazzi and Prof. Arif Ayyubi

Dr. Rukhsana Nik'hat Lari, Reader, Department of Arabic, University of Lucknow, asking a question

Dr. Rukhsana Nik'hat Lari, Reader, Department of Arabic, University of Lucknow, asking a question

From the left: Marialusia Sales, Kaur, Isabella, Jane (back row), Brother Chris Mauger (front)

Sheikh Professor Palazzi, Prof. Arif Ayyubi and Dr. Zafar Muhammad Khan asking a question

Prof. Shams Tabrez Khan, Dr. Zafar Muhammad Khan and Prof. Malikzada Manzoor Ahmad

"The forced Wahabization of al-Harmayn (Mecca and Medina) and the oil wealth of the world's only Wahabi state, Saudi Arabia, has completely changed the face of the Islamic world and the way Islam is perceived by non-Muslims and even by some Muslims. Although the Saudi funded propaganda has failed to convert the majority of Sunnis to Wahabism, yet it has succeeded in creating small Wahabi oriented sectarian groups, like Ikhwan al-Muslimin, the so called Ahl-e-Hadith, and the pseudo Salafis. Some contents of that propaganda have strongly influenced the non-Wahabi Muslim perceptions of modernity and of the Judeo-Christian West, " said Sheikh Professor Abdul Hadi Palazzi, the Secretary General of the Italian Muslim Assembly , the Director of the Cultural Institute of the Italian Islamic Community, Rome, and the Co-Founder & Co-Chairman of the Islam-Israel Fellowship, Jerusalem, while delivering a lecture on "The Misinterpretation of Islam by Non-Muslims as well as Muslims", at the Persian Department of the University of Lucknow, under the joint auspices of the department and Open Space, on 28th July, 2009. With a doctorate in Islamic Sciences from the Institute for Islamic Studies and Research in Naples (by the authorization of the former Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia), and ijazzah, authorization to teach, both the Qur'anic exegesis and the Islamic Law, from the prestigious Al-Azhar University, Cairo, Prof. Palazzi backed his somewhat surprising positions with citations from the Qur'an and the traditional Muslim sources.

Prof. Palazzi has taught at universities and academic institutions across Europe, North America and the Middle East, and has been active in the promotion of inter-faith dialogue.

Born in Rome, after completing his secular and religious education in Rome and Cairo, he served as the Imam of the Italian Muslim Community. In addition to numerous Masters degrees, Prof. Palazzi holds a Ph.D. in Islamic Sciences by decree of the Grand Mufti of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Ibn Baz. He holds a a doctorate in Islamic Sciences from the Institute for Islamic Studies and Research in Naples, Italy, by authorization from the former Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia, and ijazah (authorization to teach) for both, Qur'anic exegesis and the Islamic law from the Al Azhar University, Cairo. He has been a lecturer in the Department of the History of Religion, Universita della Terza Eta, Velletri (near Rome). Prof. Palazzi was appointed a Member of the Board of Directors of the Italian Muslim Association in 1989, and is now its Secretary General. Prof. Palazzi is also in the international advisary councils of the International Intelligence Summit and of the Jewish Legal Heritage Society. Prominent among the universities at which he has given lectures, are the following:

• Princeton University
• University of Texas
• University of Chicago
• University of Maryland
• University of Ottawa
• University of California - Santa Barbara
• Rutgers University
• Brandeis University
• McMaster University
  
• Kent Law