Muhammad Asad Madni

Education and Academic Career

• 2003 - 2008: Traditional Islamic Studies at Jamia Uloom-e-Islamia, Faisalabad, Pakistan
• 2012 - 2016: Bachelor of Studies in Modern Languages (English & French) at the National University of Modern Languages, Islamabad, Pakistan
• 2021 - 2023: Master of Arts in Religion Studies at the University of Erfurt, Germany
• Since 2024: PhD project: From Soul to Silicon: An Anthropology of Transhumanism and the Transformation of Religious Thought at the Faculty of Catholic Theology, University of Erfurt, under the supervision of Professor Dr Patrick Becker and co-supervision of Professor Dr Kocku von Stuckrad (University of Groningen, Netherlands)
• Since 2025: Associate Member of the Graduate Centre "Glocal Religiosities: Entanglements, Identities, Belongings" at the University of Erfurt, Germany

Professional Experience

• 2017 - 2020: Project Coordinator & Consultant at the International Ulama Foundation, Pakistan
• 2023 - 2024: Traineeship in Project Management with SCI Poland and AREAAA Luxembourg, funded by Erasmus+

From Soul to Silicon: An Anthropology of Transhumanism and the Transformation of Religious Thought

This doctoral project posits transhumanism as a significant contemporary worldview where technology is sacralised and becomes a tangible source of meaning and transcendence. Moving beyond a purely philosophical analysis, the research investigates transhumanism as a lived, techno-spiritual reality. Grounded in Hartmut Rosa's resonance theory, the project employs a multi-sited ethnographic approach, combining participant observation at international conferences and biohacking communities with digital ethnography on platforms such as Reddit and Discord. Through in-depth interviews and ritual analysis, it examines the narratives, practices, and ethical frameworks through which transhumanists construct a sense of the sacred and pursue self-transformation. The study aims to develop a dialogical anthropology that systematically places transhumanist visions of salvation and posthumanity in conversation with theological conceptions of personhood, mortality, and transcendence. By doing so, it seeks to generate critical insights for academic discourse and provide practical frameworks for constructive ethical and inter-religious dialogue in a technologically complex world.

Journal Articles:

• Madni, Asad. (2025). Translating Transcendence: Cultural Transposition between Yoga and Sufism in the Mirror of Islam. Dialogue Social Science Review (DSSR), 3(7), 1086-1100. dialoguessr.com/index.php/2/article/view/799

Theses:

• Madni, Asad. (2023). From Himalaya to Bukhara: The Cross-Cultural Influences of Yoga on Sufism. M.A. Thesis, University of Erfurt, Germany.