Who is Shabbir Akhtar, the Pakistani-British philosopher and author of
a 1990 book, A Faith for All Seasons: Islam and the Challenge of the
Modern World. Is he in an academic job, or what

Dear Rashtee, 

Shabbir Akhtar, a Pakistani-born British citizen, is an assistant
professor of philosophy and of comparative religious studies in Old
Dominion University, since the beginning of this academic year (1). In
attempting to arrive to the United States in order to fill his
position, prof. Akhtar was detained for few days by the security
authorities (2).

Akhtar was born in Pakistan and educated at St Catharine’s College,
Cambridge. He holds a PhD from the University Of Calgary, Alberta,
Canada. Before moving to the United States, he resided in Bradford,
where several Muslim-Christian tensions have aroused in the past few
years (3, 1) including where the anti-Rushdie protests.

Akhtar has written several books on Islam, Christianity and current
affairs. A list of the books could be seen at Amazon (4). He reviews
books regularly for The Times Higher Education Supplement. His first
major poetry collection, The Muslim Poetic Imagination (London, 1992),
was widely reviewed and admired as a significant new voice in English
poetry. (3)

His views on Islam and the need to adapt to the modern world were
criticised by some fundamentalists, and some argue (5) that Akhtar has
"been forced into a kind of exile from Islamic states... where (his)
work is anathema".

(1) Old Dominion University, Department of Philosophy and Religious
Studies, Faculty http://www.odu.edu/al/phil/faculty.htm

(2) KATRICE FRANKLIN HARDY, "Security delays school for some", The
Virginian-Pilot, October 8, 2002,
http://www.pilotonline.com/news/nw1008tra.html 
 
(3) Google Cache for Melisende, Byline for "Love in the Wrong Season"
http://216.239.53.100/search?q=cache:5YvtdbD1ao0C:www.melisende.com/titles/litws.htm+%22shabbir+akhtar%22&hl=en&ie=UTF-8

(4) Amazon, a search for Shabbir Akhtar
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/search-handle-url/index=books&field-author=Akhtar%2C%20Shabbir/002-6655399-4331257
; Amazon.Uk http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/search-handle-url/index=books-uk&field-author=Akhtar%2C%20Shabbir/026-7605096-5134807

(5) Jenny James, "The Secular Experience of God by Kenneth Cragg
Published by Gracewing - Christian Mission and Modern Culture Series
1998 (74pp)" (Book Review)
http://debate.org.uk/topics/politics/secular.htm

I hope this answers your question. To find information about Akhtar, I
searched his name ("Shabbir Akhtar") in Google, adding words such as
"faith" "all seasons" or the names of his alma mater universities. If
you need any clarifications on this answer, do not hesitate to ask. I
would be pleased to answer any clarification request before you rate
the answer.