“In the academic year 1997-98, he took my course, "Islamic Theology and Philosophy." This is a course designed for the fourth year undergraduates and graduate students. Undergraduates, not in the their fourth-year, are allowed to take the course if permitted by the instructor. Mr. Kamadia was then a second-year student. I interviewed him and was impressed by his intelligence and broad outlook: I permitted to take the course. he did very well in it and his performance was on par with his older classmates and better than some."

 

"Since then I have had several occasions of talking to him. He has impressed me not only with his academic abilities, but also as a person. Academically, he is versatile, very much the humanist, and competent. As an individual, he is positive, without being egoistical. He is kind, concerned for others. To my mind, he has the qualities needed for good leadership, certainly on the educational level. I recommend him without hesitation, very highly.”

 

 

“As a doctoral candidate, I have been both involved in academia as a student and as an educator. This has exposed me to many academic paths, teaching styles and pedagogical efforts. From this standpoint, I can confidently state that Mehboob Kamadia’s educational efforts are, enviable. He has the capacity to bring clear analytic and humanistic thinking to the area of Islamic studies in particular and philosophic studies in general. What is most impressive is the combination of scientific interest he has brought to an expansive interdisciplinary scholarly arena.

 

One of the saddest requirements that academia has of students today is to force them to narrow and limit their choice of courses. From Mr. Kamadia’s efforts, it is quite obvious that he has broadened his field of study in order to benefit from the best that a liberal humanistic education can offer while at the same time keeping a strong focus on socio-intellectual issues. His present research demonstrates originality and insight and is consistent with present academic and political discourse.”

 

“In order for members of the Islamic tradition to interact meaningfully in a global community, they will have to explore thoroughly the interrelatedness of different traditions and their contacts with the scientific, secular and non-secular worlds. It is my conviction that Mehboob Kamadia’s intellectual efforts demonstrate that he is capable of doing so within a scholarly framework. This coupled with his extensive travelling, have clearly set the stage for much fruitful and relevant thinking.”

 

 

"I have known Mr. Kamadia for several years, during which time he has taken several undergraduate courses with me (on religion in India) in the University of Toronto. Mr. Kamadia proved to be an intelligent and diligent student. ...Mr. Kamadia related well with the other students, even though most of them were younger than he and virtually none of them were fellow Ismailis. His...travels in diverse settings presumably had developed his ability to communicate easily with diverse people. He was always a constructive presence."

 

"One characteristic of Mr. Kamadia's term papers and formal oral reports was the comparative dimension he would bring to our subjects, which usually were in the religious Hindu tradition. He would typically define as his subject to require a comparison of some aspect of the Hindu (or other Indian) tradition with a more or less analogous or historically related aspect of Ismaili tradition. I emphasize Mr. Kamadia's pattern of shaping such comparative inquiries to illustrate his considerable knowledge of the Ismaili tradition and his ability to relate meaningfully--with due attention to differences as well as similarities--his Ismaili heritage to the religio-cultural and social traditions of those around him. This ability to relate his own interests, experience and knowledge to the those of the persons with whom he works or studies should make him all the more effective ..."

 

 

 

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