The Story of the Three Authors

Saudi Arabia

Sadig Malki from Mecca, Saudi Arabia

Sadig Malki was born in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, in 1955. He studied in different cities in Saudi Arabia, Lebanon and later finished his undergraduate degree at the University of Jordan in Amman. In America he completed two Master degrees in Political Science, Education and Economics. In 1990 he completed his Ph.D. in Comparative Politics and Political Economy from Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, and currently is a professor of Political Science at King Abdul-Aziz University, Jeddah.

Professor Malki has been a visiting scholar at a number of academic institutions including Georgetown University and the Dubai School of Government in cooperation with the Harvard School of Government. He was the head of Dar Al-Hekma University Scientific Council. He has published several books and articles; the most relevant of his works to the idea of a common human faith is the book he co-authored with The Rev. Robert Stucky (a former pastor at St. Mark's on the Hill Church in Pikesville, Maryland) entitled Reductionism and the Globalization of Faith. It was launched at the European Parliament in 2012, is available on Amazon and Virgin, and can be downloaded in 11 languages at www.logicforOneGod.com. Malki is married and has two daughters and two sons.

United States

Samuel E. Shropshire from Charleston, South Carolina USA

Samuel Shropshire was born in Charleston, South Carolina USA, in 1947. Shropshire is well known as a peacemaker and a human and civil rights leader working in the field of reconciliation for more than fifty years. In the beginning of his life Shropshire studied Christian theology at Bob Jones Academy (Greenville, South Carolina), and continued his formal theological studies at Shelton College (Cape May, New Jersey), Faith Theological Seminary (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania), Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary (Lynchburg, Virginia) and California Graduate School of Theology (Glendale, California).

Since he was 18 years of age, he traveled, studied and worked in different countries around the world, preaching the Gospel of Jesus while continuing his studies abroad and improving his language abilities in French, Slovak, Russian and Chinese. In Shropshire's journey of faith, he found that the Quran provided him with a more logical concept of God and a better road map for life. In the center of the Quran is the belief in the One God of All that he intended to serve based on the first commandment according to Jesus: "Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is One; you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength" (see Mark 12:28 to 31).

Among his most recent accomplishments, he co-founded Muslim Voice for Peace and Reconciliation (2017), a US international nonprofit organization committed to speaking up on behalf of persecuted men, women and children, regardless of their faith. MVP works collaboratively with interfaith groups and other non-government organizations across the world, seeking to be a voice for peace and reason in the midst of civil unrest and war.

Shropshire has addressed numerous government entities and universities throughout the world. His work has been cited by the New York Times and Time Magazine, and he has appeared on many international television programs. Shropshire is married and has a daughter living in Slovakia.

Germany

Torsten Michael Peschek from Kelbra, Germany

Torsten was born December 9th, 1961, in the town of Kelbra, a short distance from Eisleben, Germany, the birthplace of Martin Luther. In 1980 Torsten took an 18 month service tour in the German army as a sergeant in a mechanized unit in Erfurt, another place where Martin Luther lived for some time as an Augustinian Catholic monk.

From 1982 till 1987 he studied International Economic Relations in Russia at the elite Moscow Institute for International Relations. In addition to Russian, Torsten speaks English and Spanish. Back in Eastern Germany he worked in the Ministry of Foreign Trade as an analyst. Torsten started working for McKinsey and Company, first in the Eastern European Research Department and then as a leader of the Consumer Goods and Retail Research. Subsequently he worked as a principal for other consulting companies like Roland Berger and Partners and Capgemini Consulting.

In 2014 he moved to Saudi Arabia and joined the Binladin Holding Company as an associate director in the Strategic Development Department. The most recent book by Torsten is a book in German titled Alles Unter Kontrolle! Monolithisches Zeit- und Aufgabenmanagement, published in 2023.

Torsten's interests are broad, including philosophy, history, natural sciences, finance and business, painting and blacksmithing. He is an avid sportsman and does athletics, bicycling and archery. Torsten is married and has a son and a daughter.