Haroon Moghul was Director of Public Relations at the Islamic Center at New York University (NYU) from 2007-2009. Currently, he is Executive Director of The Maydan Institute, a communications and consulting company devoted to improving relationships and increasing understanding between Muslims and the West.
Haroon holds an M.A. in Middle East and South Asian Studies from Columbia University, where he is currently a Ph.D. candidate. His field of study includes on the intellectual history of Islam in colonial India, the Indian Ocean economy and the modern Muslim world. He graduated from NYU in 2002, with a B.A. in Middle Eastern Studies and Philosophy, and a minor in Arabic. He has additionally studied Arabic in Egypt and Pakistan, Persian (Iranian and Dari), French, Hindi, Urdu and Punjabi (Gurmukhi and Shahmukhi).
Haroon has spoken at numerous Muslim, Christian and Jewish institutions and has led educational and interfaith workshops to advance understanding and dialogue on the Islamic faith, Muslim thought and contemporary Muslim affairs. His speaking engagements include Columbia University, the University of Pennsylvania, the University of Michigan, Clark University and the University of Minnesota, as well as guest appearances on CNN, ABC-7, WNYC Radio and NPR. He has been interviewed or otherwise featured on UN Radio (Arabic), The New Yorker, TIME, Voice of America, the Guardian, al-Hurra and The National (Abu Dhabi).
Formerly contributing editor and end-page columnist for Islamica Magazine, Haroon also maintains a popular blog, Avari, which won several Brass Crescent Awards (in 2004 and 2005), including wins for Best Muslim Blog, Best Thinker and Best Writing. His essays and articles have been published in a variety of international media, including Pakistan's Dawn and The Friday Times, as well as American media, including Tikkun and Religion Dispatches. He prepares policy reports and analyses for Tabah Foundation, an Abu-Dhabi based think-tank devoted to bridging Muslim tradition and contemporary Western politics and thought. Haroon's first novel, "The Order of Light," was released by Penguin Global in 2006. A French translation, published by Cherche Midi, was released in late 2007.
Haroon Moghul has been selected as one of 300 global Muslim Leaders of Tomorrow, and participated in the Third Annual Muslim Leaders of Tomorrow Conference in Doha, Qatar (2009). In 2009, he was nominated for the Presidential Award for Best Teaching by a Graduate Student at Columbia University, which includes all departments at that university.
Haroon is married and lives in New York City.
