The Ibn Rushd Prize for the Freedom of Thought 2022 was co-awarded to Dr. Saad Salloum, an Iraqi expert on diversity and a champion in advocating religious freedoms in the Arab world, and his Baghdad-based MASARAT. Since 1999, the prestigious prize is annually awarded by the Germany-based Ibn Rushd Foundation for Freedom of Thought, to “individuals or organizations who contributed to democracy and freedom of speech in the Arab world.” This year’s award was allocated to an individual or organization that contributed to the promotion and protection of religious freedoms, combating sectarianism and discrimination among citizens on religious grounds, and supporting the recognition of diversity to build a peaceful society. Salloum chairs the MASARAT Foundation for Cultural and Media Development, an organization specializing in diversity, interfaith dialogue, and collective memory. Salloum has published 18 books in Arabic on diversity issues, He also published other books in English, while some of his works were translated into French, Italian and Dutch. In his career and activism, Salloum was awarded the 2018 Stefanus Alliance International Award, in Oslo, for his efforts in advocating the freedom of religion and belief in Iraq and the Middle East; the 2019 Chaldean Patriarchate Award for his book (Christians in Iraq: Comprehensive History and Current Challenges); and the Kamel Shiaa Prize for Enlightenment Culture for his entire intellectual work. MASARAT, an Iraq-registered non-profit organization (NGO), focuses on minorities, collective memory studies, and interfaith dialogue. MASARAT is active in the production of various media, including a magazine dedicated to cultural diversity in Iraq and the Arab world; several books on cultural diversity, literature, sociology, and history; and a series of documentary films on minority rights and public freedoms MASARAT took part in numerous civic initiatives such as the National Campaign for the Defense of Civil Society in 2009, the civil initiative to preserve the Constitution in 2010, and the initiative for Civil Peace in 2012. In the past two decades, several prominent Arab thinkers and intellectuals won the award, including Mohammed Arkoun, Mohammed Abed Al-Jabri, Nasr Hamid Abu Zayd, Samir Amin, Mahmoud Amin El Alem, Azmi Bishara, Sonallah Ibrahim, and Rachid Ghannouchi. Salloum is the first Iraqi intellectual to win the prize. The award is scheduled to be delivered in Berlin, early in September, at an international conference held by Ibn Rushd Foundation for Freedom of Thought. The foundation, a registered entity in Germany, was established in 1998 to celebrate the 800th anniversary of the death of the Arab Andalusian philosopher Ibn Rushd
