Please join me in congratulating Professor Muhammad Sid-Ahmad from the Department of English in the School of Liberal Arts & Sciences, on the successful completion of his doctorate at the University of Toronto.

Muhammad’s thesis, titled, Hayy bin Yaqzan and His Influence on Early-Modern England was supervised by Dr. Mary Nyquist, who has been recognized on numerous occasions for her works on Milton and feminism. Other members of his committee included Professor Suzanne Akbari, noted author in the field of Medieval Literary History and Western Literature; Professor Paul Stevens, Canada Research Chair in Early Modern Literature and culture, and Nabil Matar, external examiner, whose work has changed the perception of Anglo-Muslim relations in the early modern period.

As noted by his external examiners, “this dissertation presents an innovative interpretation of the influence of Hayy ibn Yaqzan on three English writers: John Milton, John Locke, and Daniel Defoe.”