The following petition was initiated on www.ipetitions.com on Feb. 25, 2008. By word of mouth and through a message on the Faculty Senate listserv, there were quickly 165 signatures, along with many personal expressions of support and outrage that our deeply respected colleague was being targeted by websites that promote hate. Prof. Ayoub has been serving a one-term endowed visiting professorship at the Pacific School of Religion in Berkeley and will receive this petition on March 25 when he visits campus.

On March 6, the Hartford Seminary announced that, “Mahmoud Ayoub, one of the pre-eminent scholars in Islam and interfaith dialogue in the United States and around the world, has been named Faculty Associate in Shi'ite Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations. . .”

——Joyce Lindorff, Vice-President of the Temple Association of University Professionals

Temple University Faculty Support Professor Mahmoud Ayoub

We, the undersigned members of the Temple University faculty, would like to express our full support of Dr. Mahmoud Mustafa Ayoub, Professor Emeritus of Islamic Studies and Comparative Religion. Because of Prof. Ayoub's esteemed reputation, an offer was made to endow a named Islamic Studies chair at Temple in his honor. Unfortunately this was not permitted to materialize, a situation we hope will be corrected in the near future. We deplore the slanderous attacks on him that subsequently appeared on anti-Islamic hate websites. We would like to thank Prof. Ayoub, a noted proponent of interreligious dialogue and understanding, for his many years as our valued colleague. We wish him well in his current position as Visiting Professor at the Pacific School of Religion in Berkeley, CA, and assure him of strong solidarity among his Temple colleagues who value open dialogue and free inquiry.

Mahmoud Ayoub earned a BA in Philosophy at the American University of Beirut, an MA in Religious Thought at the U. of Pennsylvania, and a Ph.D in the History of Religion at Harvard. Born in 1938 in south Lebanon, he is the author of many books in English and Arabic in the area of Islam and interreligious dialogue, including Redemptive Suffering in Islam and The Qur'an and Its Interpreters. He has published over 50 scholarly articles. His most recent works are Crisis of Muslim History: Religion and Politics in Early Islam, and Islam in Faith and History (both Oneworld Publications). 

ID NAME EMAIL COMMENTS

1 "David Watt" david.watt@temple.edu 

2 "Joyce Lindorff" lindorff@temple.edu 

3 "Rebecca Alpert" ralpert@temple.edu 

4 "john raines" jraine01@temple.edu "We know who Danial Pipes is.  We know for whom he speaks--far right wing Jewish nationalists.  He is condemned by his own words as is his cause."

5 "Arthur Hochner" ahochner@temple.edu 

6 "Melissa Gilbert" mgilbert@temple.edu 

7 "Kathleen Biddick" kathleen.biddick@temple.edu 

8 "Frank L Friedman" frank.friedman@temple.edu 

9 "Maurice Wright" wright@temple.edu 

10 "Lynne Andersson" landerss@temple.edu 

11 "Jacob Kim" jakster26@hotmail.com 

12 "Dr. Zain Abdullah" zain@temple.edu 

13 "Lucy Bregman" bregman@temple.edu 

14 "Sophia Quinn-Jude" quinnjud@temple.edu 

15 "Laura Levitt" llevitt@temple.edu "As the director of Jewish Studies and a 15 year colleague of Professor Ayoub's, I want to lend my full and abiding support to colleague. I am profoundly disturbed by this attack."

16 "Leonard Swidler" dialogue@temple.edu "I as a Catholic theologian have valued working with Mahmoud Ayoub as a Muslim theologian for over a quarter of a century.Leonard SwidlerProf. of Catholic Thought & Interreligious DialogueFounder-Editor, Journal of Ecumenical StudiesFounder-President, Dialogue Institute"

17 "Daniel B Szyld" szyld@temple.edu 

18 "Dr. Vasiliki Limberis" limberis@temple.edu 

19 "Sergio Mazza" sergiomazza@comcast.net 

20 "Hasan Azad" tua65126@temple.edu "Prof. Ayoub is a scholar of immense breadth and depth. The year that I had the great fortune of studying under him opened new vistas and horizons in my learning. He's a man who lives the truth and beauty that he teaches and I pray that those people who would like to tarnish his good name for no other reason than to promote their hate-filled worldview would search their souls."

21 "Barbara Day-Hickman" Barbday@temple.edu "Please convey to Professor Ayoub our respect and esteem for his generous contribution to the students and faculty  during his career at Temple. We also applaud his remarkable scholarly offerings to our global community.  We regret any injury he has suffered due to a lack of understanding or intolerance."

22 "Steven Edelman" edelsteven@hotmail.com 

23 "Per Faaland" pfaaland@beaconcollege.edu 

24 "Gregory J. W. Urwin" gurwin@temple.edu "As a military historian who works with the U.S. military and also supports Israel, I appreciate the threat posed by certain Islamic extremist groups and I favor an aggressive policy for combatting terrorism.  At the same time, I realize that intolerance and persecuting a peaceful scholar will only exacerbate the situation and contribute nothing to a just and lasting victory.  Hence, I am pleased to voice my support for Mahmoud Ayoub, who I have always considered a valued colleague.  Slanders and baseless appeals to fear will not make America safe."

25 "Arthur Schmidt" arturo@temple.edu 

26 "Susan E. Klepp, Professor of History" sklepp@temple.edu 

27 "William Cutler" wcutler@temple.edu 

28 "Achmad Munjid" amunjid@temple.edu 

29 "Elizabeth Victoria Lawson" elizabethlawson@gmail.com 

30 "Florian Pohl" fpohl@emory.edu 

31 "Jay Lockenour" jay.lockenour@temple.edu 

32 "Ahmad Rafiq" Ahmad.Rafiq@temple.edu 

33 "Mark Haller" hallerm@temple.edu "Those of us who teach at universities have a special interest in protecting academic freedom.  Especially in the humanities and social sciences, it is central to what we do both in research and teaching. Even before 9/11, those teaching about the Middle East were often subject to monitoring and attack if they seemed to deviate from from support for Israeli policies.  So I am pleased to sign the petition."

34 "Jo-Anna J. Moore" jmoore06@temple.edu 

35 "Stephen Zelnick" szelnick@temple.edu "Professor Ayoub has been a treasured colleague over the years and deserves the kindest respect and consideration for his efforts to spread good will and understanding across troubled boundaries."

36 "Jessica Marion" lotus48@temple.edu "Dr. Ayoub is an esteemed colleague and good friend and I find the slanderous statements against his good character to be absolutely deplorable.  He has my full and unrelenting support."

37 "Ed Godfrey" godfrey@temple.edu 

38 "Omer Awass" oawass@temple.edu 

39 "Stuart M. Schmidt" schmidt@temple.edu 

40 "Howard Spodek" spodek@temple.edu 

41 Nilgun nilgun.okur@gmail.com 

42 "Donald Wargo" docwargo@temple.edu "Temple MUST be a place of acceptance, diversity and free speech!"

43 "Rev. Dr. Andrei Vashestov" resoykfx@comcast.net 

44 "Phillip Hoefs" PHOEFS@TEMPLE.EDU 

45 "Kunihiiko Terasawa" k.terasawa@att.net "I fully support Dr. Ayoub. His great contribution for interreligious dialogue between Islam and other religions is very significant not only in our academic world but also world peace."

46 "Joseph M. Schwartz" jschw@temple.edu "Associate Professor of Political Science"

47 "Philip Alperson" alperson@temple.edu 

48 "Scott Gratson" sgratson@temple.edu 

49 "Steve Newman" snewman@temple.edu 

50 "Jacqueline Tanaka" jtanaka@temple.edu "I have never met Professor Ayoub but I am honored to sign and am grateful for my colleagues who have shared with us their perspective on Professor Ayoub's life and work."

51 "James Earl Davis" jdavis21@temple.edu 

52 "Laurie Hack" lhack001@temple.edu 

53 "Gary Milsark" gmilsark@temple.edu "Prof. Ayoub and I have never interacted on a scholarly level, since our fields are quite different.  Furthermore, I have no interest in organized religion of any sort.  However, our daughters were classmates at Germantown Friends School many years ago, and I remember him as a profoundly decent man.  If he is indeed being slandered on anti-Islamic websites, I am appalled.  I wish him all good fortune, and I wish confusion on his enemies."

54 "Anne Shlay" ashlay@temple.edu "This is shameful"

55 "Stephen Pilder" stephen.pilder@temple.edu 

56 "Christopher J. Anderson" chris.anderson@temple.edu 

57 "dona Nelson" paint@temple.edu 

58 "Steven Zohn" szohn@temple.edu 

59 "Rachel Blau DuPlessis" rdupless@temple.edu "I support your scholarship, your career, praise your distinction, and am in colidarity with the idea of inter-religious dialogue. As the daughter of a distinguished scholar of American religion and American Judaism (Joseph L. Blau, Columbia University), I particularly want to register that I come from a tradition of free inquiry about religion."

60 "Khalid Blankinship" kblankin@temple.edu "Actually, the chair was to be named in the honor of an earlier Temple professor, the late Isma`il al-Faruqi. Dr. Ayoub was to be honored by being the chair's first occupant before his retirement. The imputation that Dr. Ayoub supports or has ever supported any ""Islamist"" agenda is completely false and is simply a part of a defamatory campaign to prevent Muslims from representing themselves and their religion in the United States at all."

61 "Daniel P. Tompkins" pericles@temple.edu "I have worked often Prof. Ayoub in developing ways to introduce Temple students to the Qur'an.  I have read his scholarship..  In all of our meetings, he has been generous, insightful and modest, never forcing an ideological position.  He's a wonderful human being: it's a privilege to know him."

62 "Elliot Koffman" koffman@temple.edu 

63 "Michel Boufadel" boufadel@temple.edu 

64 "Lee-Yuan Liu-Chen" lliuche@temple.edu 

65 "John Sorrentino" jsorrent@temple.edu "Professor Ayoub: Please consider the hate-related remarks as cries for help by those who need to learn more."

66 "David Elesh" delesh@temple.edu 

67 "Ron Baenninger" ronald.baenninger@temple.edu 

68 "Dr. Michael F. Smith" msmith@temple.edu

69 "Molefi Kete Asante" masante@Temple.edu "Mahmoud Mustafa Ayoub is one of the preeminent scholars in his field. The fact that his name has been maligned is an expression of real ignorance."

70 "Harvey Wedeen" hwedeen@temple.edu "I am astonished that anyone who prizes objective scholarship and an open mind can sanction this unjustified and biased condemnation.  President Hart, despite her good intentions, has not handled the situation forcefully, nor has she shown the kind of leadership required to put this matter to rest."

71 "James Salazar" jamesbsalazar@gmail.com 

72 "Novella Keith" novella.keith@temple.edu "I never met Prof. Ayoub but I was prompted by the  controversy surrounding the Islamic Studies Endowed Chair to read some of his work.  In it, I find someone who is deeply committed to dialogue.  With his insider's understanding of Islam and Christianity, he is uniquely placed to help build bridges across this chasm.  I am deeply saddened that slander and bias seem to have been at work in denying him and Temple this honor.  As an academic institution that values freedom and diversity, we must do better!"

73 "Sheryl Burt Ruzek" sruzek@temple.edu 

74 "Jeffrey Solow" solowcello@gmail.com 

75 "Omar Hijab" hijab@temple.edu 

76 "Catherine A. Fiorello" catherine.fiorello@temple.edu 

77 "Bob Yantorno" robert.yantorno@temple.edu "We should all be ashamed of what happened. Ignorance is a road that leads to totalitarianism. Here we are in the 21st century acting like we havenít learned from our thousands of years of  history."

78 "Katherine Henry" khenry@temple.edu 

79 "Reinhardt Heuer" rheuer@temple.edu 

80 "Dan O'Hara" danohara@temple.edu "I served on dissertation with Prof. Ayoub as an external reader, and know he is a brilliant, accomplished, and generous person. Temple has been cowardly in its capitulation to right-wing political pressures. My heart goes out to Prof. Ayoub."

81 "Susan Wells" suewells@temple.edu 

82 "Wayne Welsh" wwelsh@temple.edu """I swore never to be silent whenever and wherever human beings endure suffering and humiliation. We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented.""-Elie Wiesel"

83 "Louis Mangione" mangione@temple.edu 

84 "Kelly Holohan" kholohan@temple.edu 

85 "Zein-Eddine Meziani" meziani@temple.edu 

86 "Paul LaFollette" paul.lafollette@temple.edu 

87 "Dieter Forster" dieter@temple.edu 

88 "Monte S. Hull" mhull@temple.edu "Professor Ayoub has outstanding personal, professional, and intellectual integrity.  He is truly an inspiration to all who genuinely seek mutual understanding and respect ."

89 "Gisela Webb" webbgise@shu.edu 

90 Raghu raghu@temple.edu

91 "alan singer" alan.singer2@verizon.net 

92 "Mark C. Rahdert" mark.rahdert@temple.edu

93 "Miriam Solomon" msolomon@temple.edu 

94 "Fred Rowland" frowland@temple.edu "Professor Ayoub is an esteemed scholar and this campaign against him is shameful, inspired by hate and fear."

95 "Anthony J. Ranere" ranere@temple.edu 

96 "teresa dianne langford" tdl@temple.edu 

97 "Eli Goldblatt" eligold@temple.edu 

98 "Shannon  Miller" smiller@temple.edu 

99 "Helen Pearson" hpearson@temple.edu

100 "Alistair Howard" alistair@temple.edu 

101 "Eleanor Myers" emyers@temple.edu 

102 "Thomas Daymont" daym@temple.edu 

103 "Arvind Phatak" phatak@temple.edu 

104 "Joanna Maselko" maselko@temple.edu 

105 "Dave Krueger" dkrueger@temple.edu 

106 "Suzanne Gauch" sgauch@temple.edu 

107 "Michelle D. Byng" mbyng@temple.edu 

108 "Jennifer Ibrahim" jibrahim@temple.edu 

109 "professor martha madigan" mmadigan@temple.edu 

110 "Kevin Arceneaux" ktar3@hotmail.com 

111 "John Deckop" jdeckop@temple.edu 

112 "Camillia N. Keach" ckeach@temple.edu 

113 "Philip Harris" philharris@fast.net 

114 "Martha A. Davis" madavis@temple.edu 

115 "J. David Cummins" cummins@temple.edu 

116 "marina angel" marina.angel@temple.edu 

117 "Winifred Lutz" wlutz@temple.edu 

118 "Billie Goldstein" bsgoldstein@temple.edu 

119 "Ben Kohl" bkohl@temple.edu 

120 "Gordon Witty" gwitty@temple.edu

121 "Todd Shepard" tshepard@temple.edu 

122 "sophie smyth" smyths@temple.edu 

123 "Robert B. Wright" RBWright@Temple.edu "Bless you, my Friend. I know you will stand strong in the face of senseless evil. You are a good man and worthy of the greatest praise."

124 "Jessica Winegar" winegar@temple.edu 

125 "Marilyn Silberfein" pawling@temple.edu 

126 "Nancy Morris" nancy.morris@temple.edu 

127 "Aram A. Aghazarian" aram.aghazarian@temple.edu 

128 "abu abarry" aabarry@temple.edu "Dr. Ayoub is  a distinguished  scholar, and I am proud to have worked with him on several doctoral dissertations at Temple University."

129 "Harriet Freidenreich" hfreiden@temple.edu 

130 "Rebecca Medel" rmedel@temple.edu 

131 "Dan Kern" dankern@temple.edu 

132 "Bruce Conrad" conrad@temple.edu 

133 "Kathy  L. Walker" kwalker@temple.edu 

134 "Muffy Siegel" muffy.siegel@temple.edu 

135 "Bradley Flamm" bflamm@temple.edu 

136 "Abbe Forman" abbe.forman@temple.edu 

137 "Lois Millner" lmillner@temple.edu 

138 "finbarr mc carthy" mccarthy@tuj.ac.jp 

139 "Bernie Newman" bnewman@temple.edu 

140 "David M. Barclay III, M.D., M.P.H." dbarclay@temple.edu  

141 "Randall Pabich" rpabich@temple.edu 

142 "Carolyn Adams" carolyn.adams@temple.edu 

143 "Jena Osman" josman@temple.edu 

144 "Donald E. Wagner" dwagner@northpark.edu "Thank you for this support and I hope Temple will name a chair in his honor and expose the Islamophobic attacks and the sources."

145 "James Korsh" korsh@temple.edu 

146 "George Rengert" grengert@temple.edu 

147 "Rickie Sanders" rsanders@temple.edu 

148 "J. M. Albandar" albandar@temple.edu 

149 "Pablo Vila" pvila@temple.edu 

150 "Herbert W. Simons" hsimons@temple.edu

151 "Joshua Kime Lawson" klawson@temple.edu 

152 "Zameer Hasan" zhasan@temple.edu "Dr. Ayoub is a unique scholar who is respected for his frank and unbiased criticism of all that he sees to be wrong and all that he feels should be corrected. He is greatly respected nationally and internationally.  Slander agaist him is slander against scholarship and dedication and courage in academic  pursuit.  Mahmoud has earned respect by his hard work and unceasing efforts to bring people of different faiths together, locally, nationally and internationally."

153 "Mary Virginia Cale" mvcale@temple.edu "Dr. Ayoub is an excellent teacher and should be recognized as such.  Though I was his student briefly, I can state that Mahmoud Ayoub is, in addition being a brilliant member of the Temple faculty, is also extremely fair-minded and kind."

154 "Michele Masucci" mmmdiglio@gmail.com 

155 mbassiouny mbassiouny@dental.temple.edu "I am saddened to see the level of our current academic life being influinced by the politically motivated storms. I have learned of the high caliber of integrity of Dr. Ayoub duing my 30 years of tenure as a professor serving Temple University and the community. I wish him well in his future intellectual endevour and retirement."

156 "julia ericksen" Julia@temple.edu 

157 "Jan Krzywicki" jkrzywic@temple.edu "Prof. Ayoub deserves our full support"

158 L.Clarke lclarke@alcor.concordia.ca 

159 "Matthew Hunter" mhunter@messiah.edu 

160 "Sarah Drury" sdrury@temple.edu 

161 "The Rev. Ann S. Coburn" acoburn@cdsp.edu 

162 "Robert Kidder" rlkidder@temple.edu "How can a university maintain its fundamental integrity as a center of unchained intellectual investigation if it bows so cravenly to the passing whims of political intrigue?"

163 "Francis Sullivan" francis.sullivan@temple.edu "I am outraged that the Temple University Board of Trustees has so little regard for its own faculty that it would rescind an offer to which it had already agreed because of behing-the-backs whispering. Shame!"

164 "Henry Richardson" henry.richardson@temple.edu 

165 "Peter Gran" pgran@temple.edu "Dr. Ayoub is a distinguished scholar and has been an important colleague at Temple U."