Meet the Author

Dr Muhammad Kamal

 A Universe in Constant Change

(Mulla Sadra and Transubstantial Change)

Friday 8th of July 2022

on Zoom

Zoom ID: 818 8858 9685

Passcode 642831

Link:  https://us06web.zoom.us/j/88205129425?pwd=VDVWUnJtMDJQTC84WTVhcHZTOUxDUT09

11:30 am – 1:00 pm (UK Time)

Meet the Author Programme

Organised by

The Islamic College

A Universe in Constant Change:

Mulla Sadra and Transubstantial Change

Friday 8th of July the online session (at 11:30 am UK Time)

Author: Dr Muhammad Kamal

Dr Zoheir Esmail will serve as the discussant

Meet the Author

Prof. Mashal Saif

 The ‘Ulama in Contemporary Pakistan: Contesting and Cultivating an Islamic Republic

Friday 4th of March 2022

on Zoom

Zoom ID: 882 0512 9425

Passcode  386449

Link:  https://us06web.zoom.us/j/88205129425?pwd=VDVWUnJtMDJQTC84WTVhcHZTOUxDUT09

7 pm – 8:30 pm (UK Time)

In this book, Mashal Saif explores how contemporary ‘ulama, the guardians of religious knowledge and law, engage with the world’s most populated Islamic nation-state: Pakistan. In mapping these engagements, she weds rigorous textual analysis with fieldwork and offers insight into some of the most significant and politically charged issues in recent Pakistani history. These include debates over the rights of women; the country’s notorious blasphemy laws; the legitimacy of religiously mandated insurrection against the state; sectarian violence; and the place of Shi’as within the Sunni majority nation. These diverse case studies are knit together by the project’s most significant contribution: a theoretical framework that understands the ‘ulama’s complex engagements with their state as a process of both contestation and cultivation of the Islamic Republic by citizen-subjects. This framework provides a new way of assessing state – ‘ulama relations not only in contemporary Pakistan but also across the Muslim world.

Professor Mohammad Fanaei Eshkevari studied both at the Qom seminary in Iran as well as McGill University in Montreal, Canada, where he received his PhD in philosophy. For the past two decades, he has been lecturing on comparative philosophy, mysticism and theology in Imam Khomeini Education and Research Institute in Qom. He has published more than fifty books and articles in Persian on different areas of Islamic thought.

Publications in English:

Mohammad Fanaei Eshkevari, An Introduction to Contemporary Islamic Philosophy, translated by Mostafa Hoda’i, London: MIU Press, 2012.

1. “Mysticism and Religion: A Shi’i View, ” in On Spirituality, ed. M. D. Bryant S. K. Harrison and A. J. Reimer, (Kitchener, Ontario: Pandora Press, 2010), pp. 87-97.

 

2. “Self-Knowledge and Soul,” in Soul: A Comparative Approach. Eds. Christian Kanzian & Muhammad Lagenhausen, Germany: Ontos Verlag, 2010, pp. 17-24.

 

3. “Reflection on Prayer: A Muslim Perspective,” reprinted in Spiritual Message of Islam, Ed. M.A. Shomali (London: Islamic Centre of England, 2009), pp. 103-112.

 

1. “God in Islamic Mysticism,” in Proofs for the Existence of God, eds. Christian Kanzian & Muhammad Legenhausen (Innsbruck: Innsbruck University Press, 2008), pp. 91-98.

 

5. “Mulla Sadra’s Theory of Substantial Motion,” in Substance and Attribute: Western and Islamic Traditions in Dialogue, eds. Christian Kanzian & Muhammad Legenhausen (Germany: Ontos Verlag, 2007), pp. 25-43.

 

6. “Sohravardi and the Question of Knowledge,” in Plato and Sohravardi (Athens: Hellenic Society for Philosophical Studies, 2007), pp. 48-62.

 

7. “Faith and Morality in Islam and Christianity,” in A Catholic-Shi’a Engagement: Faith and Reason in Theory and Practice, eds. Anthony O’Mahony and others, (London: Melisende, 2006), pp. 170-180.

 

8. “Prayer and Contemplation in Islamic Spirituality,” in Catholics and Shi’a in Dialogue: Studies in Theology and Spirituality, eds. Anthony O’Mahony and others, (London: Melisende, 2004), pp. 256-262.

 

9. “Mysticism and Dialogue among Cultures,” in Peace Office Newsletter, Vol. 36, No. 1, January-March 2006.

 

10. “God’s Inclusive Mercy,” in Peace and Justice: Essays from the Fourth Shi’I Muslim Mennonite Christian Dialogue, Winnipeg: 2011, pp. 120-124.

 

11. “Islamic Philosophy in Contemporary Iran,” in Al-Mustafa Journal of Islamic Studies, Vol. 1, Nu. 1, (Winter 2012), pp. 89-123.H

 

Professor David Bakewell Burrell is an American educator, theologian, writer and translator. He is the Theodore Hesburgh Professor emeritus in Philosophy and Theology at University of Notre Dame, USA. He has written and published extensively on Judeo-Christian and Islamic traditions.

Here is a selected list of Prof. Burrell’s publications:

 

Books

Burrell, David (1973). Analogy and Philosophical Language. Yale University Press..

—— (1974). Exercises in Religious Understanding. University of Notre Dame Press.

—— (1979). Aquinas: God and Action. University of Notre Dame Press..

—— (1986). Knowing the Unknowable God: Ibn-Sina, Maimonides, Aquinas. University of Notre Dame Press.

—— (1993). Freedom and Creation in Three Traditions. University of Notre Dame Press.

——; Elena Malits (1997). Original Peace: Restoring God’s Creations. Paulist.

—— (2000). Friendship and Ways to Truth. University of Notre Dame Press.

—— (2004). Faith and Freedom: An Interfaith Perspective. Blackwell.

—— (2008). Deconstructing Theodicy: A Philosophical Commentary on Job. Grand Rapids, MI: Brazos..

—— (2009). When Faith and Reason Meet: The Legacy of John Zahm CSC. Notre Dame, IN: Corby Publishing.

—— (2010). Learning to Trust in Freedom: Signs from Jewish, Christian and Muslim Traditions. University of Scranton Press.

—— (2011). Towards a Jewish-Christian-Muslim Theology. Wiley-Blackwell.

Translations

Al-Ghazali on the Ninety-Nine Beautiful Names of God (translation from Arabic with Nazih Daher) (Cambridge: Islamic Texts Society, 1992; Louisville, KY: Fons Vitae, 1998)

Al-Ghazali on Faith in Divine Unity and Trust in Divine Providence (translation of Bk. 35 of Ihya’ Ulum ad-Din) (Louisville, KY: Fons Vitae, 2000)

Roger Arnaldez’s Three Messengers for one God (Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press, 1998) – with Mary Louise Gude, C.S.C. and Gerald Schlabach.

Avital Wohlman’s Al-Ghazali, Averroes and the Interpretation of the Qur’an: Common Sense and Philosophy in Islam (London: Routledge, 2009) – translated from Contrepoint entre le sens commun et la philosophy en Islam: Ghazali et Averroès (Paris: Editions du Cerf, 2008)

Ayatollah Abolghasem Alidoust (Qom Seminary, Iran)

A senior Iranian cleric and legal scholar and professor of Fiqh at the Research Institute for Islamic Culture and Thought. He is a recipient of the Iranian Book of the Year Award for his book entitled Fiqh and Maslaha.

Prof. Abdullahi Ahmed An-Na’im (Emory University, USA)

An internationally recognized scholar of Islam and human rights, Prof. An-Na’im teaches courses in international law, comparative law, human rights, and Islamic law. He is the author of Islam and the Secular State (Harvard University Press, 2008)

Starting From 21st January 2021

Tuesdays & Thursdays – 6:30 pm to 8:30 pm

Course Fee: £50/Semester

The Islamic College has organized an Arabic Course for those who want to learn the language of the Islamic revelation. Classical Arabic refers to both the language of the Qur’an and of the various works produced during the early Islamic period.