Omar Imady (, born July 8, 1966) is a Syrian American scholar, novelist, and poet. In 2016, a second edition of his novel, The Gospel of Damascus, was published, along with an Arabic, French and Spanish translation.

Early life and education He was born in Damascus on July 8, 1966, to Muhammad Imadi and Mildred Elaine Rippey.A Letter from Elaine Imady in Damascus (2009). Retrieved August 29, 2023.

Imady received his BA from Macalester College, and holds a PhD from the University of Pennsylvania.Franklin Library: Journals, associations and political parties: The institutions of Islamic reform (1871-1949). (1993, December 10). Retrieved April 24, 2018. He was the disciple of , a Sufi Damascene Muslim scholar, from 1985 and until al-Bani's death in 2008.Imady, O., 2005. When you’re shoved from the right, look to your left: Metaphors of Islamic Humanism. Hollister: MSI.

Publications Imady is the author of Erasures (2024), winner of the Literary Titan Gold Award,Imady, O. (2024). Erasures. Villa Magna Publishing. Retrieved March 9, 2024. Catfishing Caitlyn (2023) and The Celest Experiment (2022), both recipients of the Literary Titan Silver Award,Imady, O. (2022). The Celeste Experiment. Villa Magna Publishing. . Retrieved February 10, 2023Imady, O. Catfishing Caitlyn. (2023). Villa Magna Publishing. Retrieved August 29, 2023. Transference (2022), a Pushcart Prize nominee (Litro Magazine),READ OUR SIX PUSHCART PRIZE NOMINEES!. (2023, January 25). . Retrieved February 10, 2023 When Her Hand Moves (2022), a collection of three novellas,Imady, O. (2022). When Her Hand Moves. Villa Magna Publishing. . Retrieved February 10, 2023 and The Gospel of Damascus, a Book of the Year Award (BOTYA) finalist (2012),Your Guide to Fiction Books. (2012, April 01). The Gospel of Damascus by Omar Imady. Retrieved April 24, 2018 published in three English editions, and subsequently translated into Arabic, French and Spanish.Virginia Institute Press. (2016, August 8). Virginia Institute Press. Virginia Institute Press Announces The November 16, 2016 Publication Of Omar Imady's Novel The Gospel Of Damascus In Four Languages. Retrieved April 24, 2018. The novel weaves Jewish, Christian, and Muslim traditions to tell the story of a Damascene man who becomes totally consumed with the idea that Damascus is the site of the Second Coming of Jesus.Trask, Shelia M. (2012). The Gospel of Damascus. The US Review of Books.BBC Radio. 2016. Author and academic Omar Imady, on the current situation in Syria and his latest novel, The Gospel of Damascus.

Imady is also the author, coauthor, and editor of several works on Syria, Islam and Sufism, including: Divine Pronouns: Unlocking the Definitive Quran: Part 1: Principles (2024),Imady, O. (2024) Divine Pronouns: Unlocking the Definitive Quran: Part 1: Principles. Independently published . Retrieved January 16, 2024 An Inside Story of Modern Syria: The Unauthorised Biography of a Damascene Reformer (2023),Imady, O. (2023) Inside Story of Modern Syria: The Unauthorised Biography of a Damascene Reformer. PEN & SWORD Books . Retrieved February 10, 2023 Historical Dictionary of Syria Fourth Edition (2021),Commins, D., Imady, O. and Lesch, D.W. (2021) Historical dictionary of Syria. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield. Retrieved February 10, 2023. Syria at War, Eight Years On (2020),Khalid Abu-Ismail, Bilal Al-Kiswani, Salim Araji, Omar Dahi, Raymond Hinnebusch, Omar Imady, Manuella Nehme and Ahmad Shikh Ebid, 2020. Syria At War: Eight Years On. ESCWA & St Andrews. . Retrieved February 10, 2023. Sufism and the Preservation of Syrian Spiritual Identity (2020),Imady, O. (2020). Sufism and the Preservation of Syrian Spiritual Identity. Sufism: A Theoretical Intervention in Global International Relations, 83. Retrieved February 10, 2022. The Weaponization of Syria's Reconstruction (2019),Imady, O., 2021. . Syria Studies, 13 (1), 169–183. Retrieved August 29, 2023. The Syrian Uprising Domestic Origins and Early Trajectory (2018),Imady, O. (2018, February 15). The Syrian Uprising: Domestic Origins and Early Trajectory (Paperback) - Routledge (R. Hinnebusch, Ed.). Retrieved April 24, 2018. Syria’s Reconciliation Agreements (2017),Imady, O., 2017. . Syria Studies, 9 (2), 1–14. Retrieved April 29, 2023. Organisationally Secular: Damascene Islamist Movements and the Syrian Uprising (2016),Imady, O., 2018. "Organisationally Secular: Damascene Islamist Movements and the Syrian Uprising".Retrieved April 24, 2018. Syria at War, Five Years On (2016),Abu Ismail, K., Imady, O., Kuncic, A., and Nujum, U., 2016. Syria At War: Five Years Later. ESCWA & St Andrews. Syria at war: Five years on. Retrieved April 24, 2018. Civil Resistance in the Syrian Uprising: From Democratic Transition to Sectarian Civil War (2016),Hinnebusch, R., Imady, O., & Zintl, T. J. (2016). Civil resistance in the Syrian Uprising: from democratic transition to sectarian civil war. In A. Roberts, M. J. Willis, R. McCarthy, & T. G. Ash (Eds.), Civil Resistance in the Arab Spring: Triumphs and Disasters Oxford University Press.Retrieved February 10, 2022. How a microfinance network could have preempted the Syrian uprising (2014),Imady, O., 2014. How a Microfinance Network Could Have Preempted the Syrian Uprising. Syria Studies, 6 (1), 81–122. Retrieved April 24, 2018. When You're Shoved from the Right, Look to Your Left: Metaphors of Islamic Humanism (2005),Imady, O., 2005. When you’re shoved from the right, look to your left: Metaphors of Islamic Humanism. Hollister: MSI. The Rise and Fall of Muslim Civil Society (2005),Imady, O., 2005. The Rise and Fall of Muslim Civil Society. Hollister: MSI. and Sanduq: A Microfinance Innovation in Jabal Al-Hoss, Syria (2003).Seibel, H. D., & Imady, O. (2003). Sanduq: A microfinance innovation in Jabal Al-Hoss, Syria. Working Papers.

Center for Syrian Studies After careers at the UNDP,Alexander, M. (2019, October 25). FEATURE: Roots of Syrian war ‘cast aside’ amid Turkey crisis, claims Syrian-born St Andrews University expert. The Courier Evening Telegraph. . Retrieved August 29, 2018. and the New York Institute of Technology (Amman Campus),Al Bawaba. (2010, June 13). NYIT Jordan Celebrates Class of 2010. Retrieved April 24, 2018. Imady joined the Center for Syrian Studies at the University of St Andrews in 2012. He was the deputy director of the center, Managing Editor of the center's journal, Syria Studies, and a Senior Fellow.Omar Imady - Centre for Syrian Studies, University of St Andrews. In this capacity, he wrote regularly to the center's blog Inspired by Syria,Syria Blog - Inspired By Syria. and appeared frequently on TV and Radio channels, including FRANCE 24,Interview with Dr. Omar Imady - FRANCE24. TRT World,Interview with Dr. Omar Imady - TRT WORLD. and Euronews.Interview with Dr. Omar Imady - euronews. In the spring of 2021, Imady left the Center for Syrian Studies to become a full time author, though he remains a Fellow at the centre.Fellows. Centre for Syrian Studies (CSS) - University of St Andrews. . Retrieved August 29, 2023

Media Appearances Interviews on Syria Interviews on Works of Fiction Interviews on Works of Spirituality

External links Omar Imady - Personal Website

References