Finding the Sacred in a Distracted Age: A Conversation with Professor Seyyed Hossein Nasr
On Sunday, October 18, 2026, the Diyanet Islamic Research Institute was honored to welcome Professor Seyyed Hossein Nasr to the Ottoman Hall of the Diyanet Center of America. Professor Nasr is University Professor of Islamic Studies Emeritus at The George Washington University. More than 100 guests attended in person, and more than 50 followed the live stream.
The program opened with welcoming remarks by Assoc. Prof. Dr. Fatih Kanca, Chair of the DCA Advisory Board. Dr. Kanca thanked Professor Nasr for sharing his knowledge and wisdom with the community, and recalled the saying “Wisdom is the believer’s lost treasure.”
In his lecture, Professor Nasr explained what the sacred means and where traditional civilizations found it: in revelation, religion, thought and art. He then turned to how we can find it again in an age of constant distraction. “The sacred is everywhere,” he reminded the audience. “It is we who are absent from it.” A question-and-answer session followed, covering modern science, artificial intelligence and the meaning of history. The program closed with a gift presentation by Dr. Kanca and a book signing.
“The sacred is everywhere. It is we who are absent from it.”
Finding the Sacred in a Distracted Age — Lecture Report
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