Muddathir Abdel-Rahim obtained a B.A. (Gen.) in Economics, History and Arabic from the University of London (1955); B.A. (Hons.) First Class in Politics, Nottingham University, U.K. (1958); and Ph.D. in Economic and Social Studies (Government), Manchester University (1964). Muddathir was formerly Vice-Chancellor of Omdurman Islamic University, UNESCO Senior Expert in Social Sciences and Ambassador to the Nordic countries. He is a political scientist with special interest in Islamic political thought and institutions, international relations, human rights, minorities and inter-civilizational dialogue. He has taught in a number of universities in the Arab World, Africa, Europe, and the United States including Khartoum, Kano, Rabat Manchester University in the UK and Temple University in the U.S. His published works include Imperialism and Nationalism in The Sudan : A Study in Constitutional and Political Development 1899–1956 (Oxford, 1969); Human Rights in Theory and Practice ( Beirut , 1968); Islam in the Sudan (Cairo, 1987); Islam in Africa (Damascus, 2001) and The Human Rights Tradition in Islam, Praeger, (Westpoint, U.S. and London, 2005). A member of the Jordanian Royal Academy of Islamic Civilization Studies since 1984, Professor Muddathir was a consultant at the Institute of Islamic Understanding (IKIM) from 1995 to 1997. Since 1997 he has been Professor of Political Science and Islamic Studies at ISTAC where he has recently (April 2007) been designated a Very Distinguished Academic Fellow.

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