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Saginaw Valley State University

Dr. Raana Akbar Memorial Lecture Series on Islam and Culture

Dr. Raana Akbar Memorial Lecture Series

The Dr. Raana Akbar Memorial Lecture Series on Islam & Culture in partnership with The Dow Visiting Scholars and Artists Endowment presents . . .

The Art of the Soul: Islamic Architecture, Beauty, and Spiritual Formation in Islamic Civilization

Thursday, November 5, 2026
6:00 - 7:30 p.m.
Ott Auditorium, Gilbertson Hall
Please join us for a reception outside the theater at 5:30 p.m.

This event will be simulcast online via Zoom. Registration will be available soon.

Guest Speaker: Dr. Feryal Salem, Associate Professor of Islamic Studies, American Islamic College

Feryal Salem PortraitThis lecture highlights how Islamic aesthetics sought to cultivate spiritual refinement and the nourishment of the soul. Drawing on examples ranging from gardens, mosques and calligraphy to light symbolism, geometric design and sacred space, Feryal Salem examines how beauty was understood in Islamic civilization as a means of cultivating mindfulness, harmony and awareness of the divine.

Feryal Salem is associate professor of Arabic and Islamic studies at American Islamic College in Chicago, where she also directs the Master of Divinity in Islamic Studies and Muslim Chaplaincy programs. In 2018 she was named one of “25 Influential American Muslims” by CNN for her work in higher education. Her research interests include Islamic philosophy and theology in the postclassical period, interfaith dialogue and the development of Muslim thought in the contemporary era. She is the author of “The Emergence of Early Sufi Piety and Sunnī Scholasticism: ‘Abdallāh b. al-Mubārak and the Formation of Sunni Identity in the Second Islamic Century” (2016) in Brill’s “Islamic History and Civilization” series. She also published “Isagoge: A Primer in Classical Logic” (2022), in which she translated and wrote a lengthy commentary on Athir al-Din al-Abhari’s foundational treatise. She received her Ph.D. in Islamic studies from the University of Chicago’s Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations.

Download Feryal Salem Flyer 2026 (933KB)

The Raana Akbar Memorial Lecture on Islam & Culture was established in 2011 by Dr. Waheed Akbar in memory of his wife Raana, a former member of the SVSU Board of Control, physician and community leader.

"Dr. Raana Akbar was a dedicated physician, a respected community leader and a beloved wife, mother and friend. She held passionately to a hope that the faith and culture that inspired and comforted her would be better understood and appreciated by others. Islam is the faith that gives purpose and meaning to some 1.8 billion human souls, nearly one quarter of the human race. And this lecture series, now in its tenth year, is an enduring expression of Raana's hope and of her firm belief that, in the end, we are all just fellow searchers for truth, fellow seekers after God. Salam alaykum . . . Peace be upon you." --Eric Gilbertson, SVSU President Emeritus

 

 

Past Lectures

NOTE: These documents are provided for historical reference only and are not maintained to meet current accessibility standards.