Abdul Amir Kazim Zahid

University Professor and Researcher

Dr. Abdul Amir Kazim Zahid (born 1950 in Najaf Ashraf, Iraq) is an Iraqi university professor, thinker, and researcher in the fields of comparative international law, comparative religions, philosophy of religion, Islamic political thought, and the critique of fundamentalism. He holds three doctoral degrees: a PhD in Comparative International Law from the University of Baghdad, a PhD in Comparative Religions from Saint Joseph University of Beirut, and a PhD in Philosophy of Religion from the Lebanese National University. He retired from the University of Kufa in 2018. He has held important positions including the deanship of the Faculty of Arts at the University of Kufa, advisor for academic affairs to the Prime Minister of Iraq, chairmanship of the Board of Trustees of Bayt al-Hikma, deanship of the Faculty of Islamic Sciences at the University of Karbala, directorship of the Kufa Studies Center, and chairmanship of the Graduate Studies Committee at the Faculty of Jurisprudence of the University of Kufa. He is also a member of the board of directors of the Al-Rafidain Center for Dialogue. His scholarly approach combines academic rigor with a deep familiarity with seminary methods, rooted in his upbringing in Najaf and his close association with prominent jurists, including the late Sayyid Muhammad Mahdi al-Kharsan (from 1986 until his passing). Zahid has published more than 67 books and works, some of which are used as university textbooks. Among his prominent works are Critique of the Religious Foundations of Contemporary Fundamentalism, Studies in Islamic Economics, Qur'anic Linguistic Issues, Islamic Political Thought, Ibn Rushd's Jurisprudence: A Critical Study, Interpretation and the Problem of Exegesis, The Dialectic of Tradition and Western Secularism, and Complete Exegetical Codices. He emphasizes moderation, rationality, the critique of fundamentalism and religious violence, and a middle-path approach in Shi'i thought, and addresses contemporary philosophical, jurisprudential, and social issues in numerous articles and lectures.