Ron Geaves

Ron Geaves BA, MA, PhD, CertEd, is a Professor of Religion at Liverpool Hope University in England. He was formerly Programme Leader and Chair in religious studies at the University of Chester in England and Head of Department at the University of Chichester. He is currently Chair of the Muslims in Britain Research Network. His Ph.D. from the University of Leeds was achieved on the topic of community formation amongst British Muslims. He has become known by his expertise in the adaptation and transmigration of religions to the West, especially Islam, Sikhism and Hinduism. He is the author of several books, including The Sufis of Britain (Cardiff: Academic Press, 2000), which explored the manifestations of Islamic mysticism in the UK and The Continuum Glossary of Religious Terminology (London: Continuum, 2001) an extensive glossary of seven major world faiths.

Geaves resume discusses teaching in different areas including Islam, Hinduism, Sikhism, Sociology and Anthropology of Religion, Judaism, Christianity and ancient religions. His interests lie in the spiritual manifestations of Islam and Indian traditions.

Geaves has also written a number of papers related to Prem Rawat, known as "Maharaji", and affiliated organizations. An on-line open letter by Professor Geaves states that David Barrett, working for INFORM, suggested to him to combine his first hand knowledge of the subject (Geaves is one of the earliest Western students of Prem Rawat) with his academic training to provide insights into this movement

In July 2006 he commented, as he prepared to give an inaugural lecture at the University of Chester to dignitaries and members of the Muslim community in the North West of England, that the 7 July 2005 London bombings had to be seen within a long history of protests by British Muslims and that to refer to these attacks as terrorism merely "demonised" those involved without taking us any further in understanding the causes and motivations. The statements led to various strong disagreements from various spokespersons. . He responded by stating that "the word terrorism, like the word evil, does not take us very far" and that it is possible to draw parallels between the July 7 attacks and atrocities in Northern Ireland during The Troubles and that the terrorism which occurred during these times could also be seen as an extreme form of protest.

Geaves has recently published books entitled Study of Religion written in collaboration with George Chryssides of Wolverhampton University. (2007) and Isms: Understanding Religion with Theodore Gabriel (2006), of the University of Gloucester. He is currently engaged in two collaborative edited works, one exploring local and global manifestations of Sufism and the other an Encyclopedic Handbook of Islamic Sects.

Bibliography

Books

• Peripatetic Mystics: The Renunciate Order of the Terapanthi Jains (2003) in Mysticisms East and West: Studies in Mystical Experience eds C.Partridge & T.Gabriel . Carlisle: Paternoster Press, ISBN 1-84227-092-3
• The Sufis of Britain: An Exploration of Muslim Identity, Cardiff Academic Press (January 1, 2000), ISBN 1-899025-07-3
• Continuum Glossary Of Religious Terms, Continuum International Publishing Group (May 1, 2005), ISBN 0-8264-7921-9
• Aspects of Islam, Georgetown University Press (September 30, 2005), ISBN 1-58901-073-6
• Islam And The West Post-september 11th, with Theodore Gabriel and Yvonne Haddad, Ashgate Publishing (December 30, 2004), ISBN 0-7546-5005-7

Articles

• The legitimisation of a North Indian form of Skanda worship in the UK: the transmigration of Baba Balaknath from rural Punjab to urban centres of Britain, with Catherine Barnes, 2nd Skanda-Murukan Conference, Published in DISKUS Vol. 4, No.2 (1996)
• Baba Balaknath: an exploration of religious identity delivered to the British Association for the Study of Religions' Annual Conference September 16th - 19th 1996 at University College of St. Martin, Lancaster.
• From Divine Light Mission to Elan Vital and Beyond: An Exploration of Change and Adaptation. Nova Religio, March 2004, Vol. 7, No. 3, Pages 45-62
• From Totapuri to Maharaji: Reflections on a Lineage (Parampara), (2002). Paper presented at the 27th Spalding Symposium on Indian Religions, Oxford. March 2002.

Contributions

• Christopher Partridge (Ed.) New Religions: A Guide: New Religious Movements, Sects and Alternative Spiritualities, Oxford University Press, USA (February 6, 2004), ISBN 978-0-195-22042-1

External links

• Biographical page at the University of Chester website