Hajj Muhammad Legenhausen

Hajj Muhammad Legenhausen is an American philosopher and professor of philosophy at the Imam Khomeini's Educational and Research Institute.

Early life and education

Legenhausen was brought up as a Catholic but abandoned religion shortly after beginning his academic studies at the State [University of New York at Albany]. He holds a Ph.D. in philosophy from Rice University, completed in 1983.

Conversion to Islam

In 1979, while teaching at Texas Southern University, he became acquainted with Islam through Muslim students. His exposure to Shi’a Islam eventually led to his conversion in 1983.

Academic career

He taught philosophy of religion, ethics, and epistemology at the Islamic Iranian Academy of Philosophy from 1990 to 1994. Since 1996, he has been teaching Western philosophy and Christianity, and studying Islam at the Imam Khomeini Education and Research Institute in Iran.

Affiliations and views

Legenhausen is a proponent of interfaith dialogue and serves on the advisory board of the Society for Religious Studies in Qom. He is also a founding member of the advisory board of the Shi`ite Studies Center in Qom, and serves on the scientific board of the Human Rights Center of Mofid University, Qom.
He is the author of Islam and Religious Pluralism, where he defends the idea of "non-reductive religious pluralism".