A Case for Thinking and Living Theologically

Faith, Imagination, and Malcolm X

BY MARTIN NGUYEN

PUBLISHED OCT 2, 2025

⬩About the Author⬩

Martin Nguyen is Professor of Religious Studies at Fairfield University. His work revolves around Muslim theology, ethics, spirituality, Qur’anic studies, Malcolm X, and the intersection of race and religion. Among his books is Modern Muslim Theology: Engaging God and the World with Faith and Imagination, which presents a contemporary theology rooted in the religious imagination. He is currently writing on Islamic responses to global mass displacement and modern structural racism in addition to another work that explores the theological dimensions of Malcolm X’s life and thought. He writes regularly at https://substack.com/@martinnguyen. More about his work can be found at https://drmartinnguyen.com.

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Introduction to al-Tirmidhī and his Kitāb al-ʿIlal al-ṣaghīr by Jonathan A.C. Brown

Islamic Thought in West Africa from the Colonial Era to Present Day by Alexander Thurston

Rediscovering Faith: How New Testament Criticism Led an Englishman to Islam by Paul Williams

Falsafa, Tajdīd, and the Primacy of the Ethical: A Reflective Tour of Taha Abderrahmane’s Life and Thought by Uthman Badar

Wicked Beauty: A Ḥāshiya on Secular Desire by Ovamir Anjum