Towfighi, Parviz S.

Parviz S. Towfighi studied architecture and urban planning in Iran before coming to the United States for further studies at Harvard and Massachusetts Institute of Technology, receiving his Ph.D. from the latter. Dr. Towfighi has worked in service to the United Nations in both New York and the Center for Human Settlements in Nairobi, Kenya.

1400 Year War Between Islam and the West: The Paradigm for Understanding and Overcoming Enmity Among Civilizations

2015 0-7734-0917-3
Searches the development of Judaism, Christianity and Islam to provide reasons for the hatred of a faction of the Islamic world toward the West in general, and the United States in particular. It examines the possibility that the roots of this animosity are the result of the historical interactions between these three Abrahamic religions and more fundamentally the result of corruption of the original message of each religion.

FROM PERSIAN EMPIRE TO ISLAMIC IRAN: A History of Nationalism in the Middle East

2009 0-7734-4779-2
This book examines the relationship between Iranian nationalism and Islam, especially Shi ‘ism as the adopted official religion of the country by the founder of the Safavid Dynasty in 1501 A.D. The study covers selected periods in fourteen centuries of Iranian history with greatest emphasis on the last two centuries where secular Western reformist ideas overlap with progressive religious thinking.

Ten Reformist Movements Within Islam: al-Ghazali to Khomeini (Softcover)

2021 1-4955-0902-8
(softcover) "[There are two] areas of inquiry of this book: historical and political. They are used in: (1) the interpretation of past relationships between the West and the world of Islam; (2) the analysis of the complexity of this relationship at present; and (3) the plausibility of development of a new paradigm based on respect for all civilizations co-existing side-by-side, thus avoiding catastrophic consequences for humanity. ...This retrospective historical and political study is based on the premise that the knowledge of historical facts is important to the understanding of present world conflicts and those that might be developed in the future, and is capable of offering solutions for the resolutions of those conflicts. Since Islam as a religion has been the target of criticism as the main cause of terrorism around the world, I have paid more attention to the history of development of that religion (its past as well as its reform movements), and less attention to the other two main world religions since Western readers should be more familiar with them." -From the Author's introduction

The 1500 Year War Between Christianity and Islam: Conquest, Crusaders, and Jihad

2021 1-4955-0901-X
(softcover) "This retrospective historical and political study is based on the premise that the knowledge of historical facts is important to understanding of the present world conflicts and those that might be developed in the future, and is capable of offering solutions for the resolutions of those conflicts. Since Islam as a religion has been the target of criticism as the supposed main cause of the spread of terrorism around the world, I have paid more attention to the history of development of that religion." -From the Author's Introduction