Nayed is also regarded as one of the leading Muslim figures in the field of inter-faith relations and was one of the 138 original signatories of the “A Common Word”, initiated by His Majesty King Abdullah II of Jordan, and has been a leading member of the bilateral consultations and dialogue at Cambridge/Lambeth Palace, Rome, Amman and Geneva. Nayed has maintained dialogue and collaboration with key Christian institutions such as the Vatican, the World Council of Churches and various divinity centres at major universities. He has been listed for several years as one of the top 50 most influential Muslims by the Royal Aal Al-Bayt Institute.He has taught and lectured Islamic Theology, Logic, and Spirituality at the restored Uthman Pasha Madrasa in Tripoli, Libya, and was Professor at the Pontifical Institute for Arabic and Islamic Studies (Rome), and the International Institute for Islamic Thought and Civilization (Malaysia). He previously headed an Information Technology company based in the UAE and Libya. He has taught hundreds of undergraduate and graduate students and supervised doctoral dissertations in the fields of Western Philosophy (Ancient, Medieval and Scholastic Tradition, Modern and Post-modern), Logic, Islamic Philosophy, Theology (Kalam), Sufism, Hermeneutics, Philosophical Anthropology, Semiotics, Metaphysics, Ethics and Interfaith.During the Libyan revolution of 2011, he was the Chief Operations Manager of the Libya Stabilization Team.
He received his BSc in Engineering, MA in Philosophy of Science, and a Ph.D. in Hermeneutics from the University of Guelph (Canada). He also studied at the University of Toronto and the Pontifical Gregorian University. He has been involved in various Inter-Faith initiatives since 1987, including the seminal “A Common Word” process, which was one of the most important inter-faith initiated by Muslims.
His published works include Western Engagements: Speeches in Washington DC and London (KRM/LIAS, 2020); UN Engagements: Open Letters and Statements to the Special Envoys of the UN Mission to Libya (KRM/LIAS, 2020); Russian Engagements: On Libyan Politics and Libyan-Russian Relationsin Muslim-Catholic Dialogue (KRM, 2019); Radical Engagements: Essays on Religion, Extremism, Politics, and Libya (KRM, 2017); Vatican Engagements: A Muslim Theologian’s Journey in Muslim-Catholic Dialogue (KRM, 2016); Operational Hermeneutics: Interpretation as the Engagement of Operational Artifacts (KRM, 2011); co-authored with Jeff Mitscherling and Tanya Ditommaso, The Author’s Intention (Lexington Books, 2004); ISIS in Libya: Winning the Propaganda War (KRM, 2015); Overcoming ISIS Libya: A Disaster Recovery Plan (KRM, 2015); Libya: From Revolutionary Legitimacy to Constitutional Legitimacy (KRM, 2014); Beyond Fascism (KRM, 2013); Growing Ecologies of Peace, Compassion and Blessing: A Muslim Response to ‘A Muscat Manifesto’ (KRM, 2010); and Duties of Proximity: Towards a Theology of Neighborliness (KRM, 2010).
