January 2010

The Muhammad Ali Faizi Endowment Fund
Prepared by the Staff of the Bahá’í Chair for World Peace

The Muhammad Ali Faizi Memorial Fund—established in 1994—enjoys singular status as an ongoing, privately-supported source of financial support for the Bahá’í Chair for World Peace, an academic unit of the University of Maryland focusing on issues of global peace, human security, and institutional capacity building.

The Fund honors the life and memory of Mr. Muhammad Ali Faizi, who served the cause of peace through research in comparative religious history and promotion of interfaith dialogue. His literary works were influenced by his travels throughout the Middle East, the Far East, and the West. He was well known in academic circles as a scholar of religious history, specifically the sacred texts of the Bahá’í Faith. Mr. Faizi's most important legacy, however, springs from the spirit of humanity and humility that he shared with everyone he met.

Both in fulfillment of its foundational purpose and in harmony with the vision of its namesake, the Faizi Fund underwrites scholarly activities of the Bahá’í Chair—notably a cycle of Annual Lectures (1994-2005) and an ongoing series of Interactive Dialogues (2007 and 2009) addressing key international themes. The Fund’s resources have also underwritten publication of the Annual Lectures and Interactive Dialogues (see below for a partial list).

The most recent Faizi-supported event, the Second Interactive Dialogue of November 2009, addressed the theme of “Human Security in an Insecure World.” Video of nearly the entire Dialogue has been uploaded to YouTube, and part 1 (of 20 segments) can be viewed here: Work is underway to publish the transcript of the event together with supporting materials under the title Human Security in an Insecure World. This publication will be a companion volume to the published proceedings of the First Interactive Dialogue, now available as The Humanity of Diplomacy: People and Diplomacy in the Twenty-first Century.

The Muhammad Ali Faizi Memorial Fund was launched, and is still sustained, through the generous support of descendants of Mr. Faizi, the Maani family. The Chair hopes the Fund will serve as a model for other potential partners who may wish to explore how they can follow its example in providing support to the Bahá’í Chair for World Peace in ways that directly connect to specific purposes or the memory of exemplary individuals.

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Select Publications Supported by
The Muhammad Ali Faizi Endowment Fund
(listed in most recent chronological order)

Grayzel, John and others. Human Security in an Insecure World. An Interactive Dialogue sponsored by the Bahá’í Chair for World Peace at the University of Maryland. Forthcoming, 2010.

Grayzel, John and others. The Humanity of Diplomacy: People and Diplomacy in the 21st Century. An Interactive Dialogue sponsored by the Bahá’í Chair for World Peace at the University of Maryland. Charleston, SC: BookSurge, 2009.

Bushrui, Suheil and others. The Spiritual Heritage of the Human Race. Oxford: Oneworld, 2009.

Henderson, Robert. More than Words: Harnessing the Power to Reorder Society. The Eleventh Bahá’í Chair for World Peace Annual Lecture, delivered at the University of Maryland on 17 November 2005. College Park, MD: The Baha’i Chair for World Peace, 2006.

Kirwan, William E. The Value of Values. The Tenth Baha’i Chair for World Peace Annual Lecture, delivered at the University of Maryland on 14 April 2004. College Park, MD: The Bahá’í Chair for World Peace, 2004.

Cadman, David. Eternal Wisdom in an Age of Illusion: Reflections upon a Pathway. The Ninth Baha’i Chair for World Peace Annual Lecture, delivered at the University of Maryland on 2 April 2003. College Park, MD: The Bahá’í Chair for World Peace, 2003.

Lord St. John of Bletso. Environmental Ethics and Public Policy. The Eighth Baha’i Chair for World Peace Annual Lecture, delivered at the University of Maryland on 31 May 2002. College Park, MD: The Bahá’í Chair for World Peace, 2002.

Bushrui, Suheil. The Spiritual Foundation of Human Rights. College Park, MD: The Bahá’í Chair for World Peace, 1998.

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