A Brief on Islamic Bioethics and Intersex Persons
There was a paper published in August 2020 by Dr. Nasir Malim and Dr. Aasim Padela, the Director of the Initiative on Islam and Medicine at University of Chicago, titled Islamic Bioethical Perspectives on Gender Identity for Intersex Patients. The paper introduces how intersex individuals and their medical needs can be approached in contemporary medicine by giving primacy to an Islamic lens, instead of a secular-liberal one. Continue reading A Brief on Islamic Bioethics and Intersex Persons
Urban Places Rich in Islam? – The Ethos of an Islamic City in the Modern World
Istanbul’s enigmatic name mirrors its versatile history. While today Istanbul’s name is considered etymologically related to the quotidian expression of its well-established Christian population εις την Πόλιν (is tim polis, to the city), folk-etymological accounts of Turkish people attibutes its origin to the phrase Islam bol which means “rich in Islam” (Inalcık 2001). But how can a city be “rich in Islam?” To rephrase the question: What does an idealized vision of an Islamic city look like? Continue reading Urban Places Rich in Islam? – The Ethos of an Islamic City in the Modern World
Shaykh Amin Kholwadia on Theology and Ontology in Medical Ethics
I’m going to try and explain the terminologies so it becomes easier for us to explain what we hope to do with bioethics or Islamic bioethics. Theology as the owner: the study of God and what God wants, God’s will, and what God wants us to believe in. That is the Islamic outlook. Ontology is the study of being and existence: the different layers and levels of being, not of God but of creation. God’s existence does not flow into the existence of creation. There is a separation there according to Islamic metaphysics. We have to be clear from the outset that when we are talking ontology and the theory of being in Islam, we are about not God’s being, but about how God has created being in layers. Continue reading Shaykh Amin Kholwadia on Theology and Ontology in Medical Ethics
Hate Crimes Against Humanity: Contrasting Prejudice and Rahma
The forces of globalization and mass migration have resulted in clashes of cultures amongst various metropolitan cities in the west. Continue reading Hate Crimes Against Humanity: Contrasting Prejudice and Rahma
Islamic Investment in US Healthcare
Medieval hospitals in the Islamic world were backed by endowments (Waqf), and the impoverished were supported through charity (Sadaqah and Zakat-ul-fitr). Continue reading Islamic Investment in US Healthcare
A Very French Inquisition
The political establishment, left and right, perceives Muslims and their continued adherence to Islam as not only a danger to the French Fifth Republic but also an affront to French secularism known as Laïcité … As the state turns the screw on all Muslims through the passing of new draconian legislation, its experiment will serve as a blueprint for other European countries. Continue reading A Very French Inquisition
Q&A with Aisha Hasan of The Qarawiyyin Project
What’s the story behind the name of the project? A rare stroke of inspiration alhamdulillah! We decided to rebrand the website in mid-2018 and I was playing around with words like ‘initiative’ and ‘project,’ but we wanted to signify that the website was something run by, and aimed at Muslim women, without having either of those words in the name. That was when the Al-Qarawiyyin … Continue reading Q&A with Aisha Hasan of The Qarawiyyin Project
Will ‘Hindutva’ Only Yield Oppression and Genocide?
India has witnessed another two murders of Muslim men in a week. Asif Khan, a gym trainer from India’s Haryana state was lynched by a Hindutva mob while returning home after buying medicine. A week later, 17-year-old Mohammad Faisal died in police custody, sustaining heavy injuries after he was arrested for allegedly violating coronavirus restrictions. The incident took place while he was selling vegetables outside his home in the Uttar Pradesh district. These men are some of the hundreds of innocent men lynched or burned to death by a Hindu mob. As a victim of this hate, Faisal is the face of Hindutva state violence on Muslims. These killings have become normalized in a highly radicalized society, which often hails the murderers as “heroes.” [1] Continue reading Will ‘Hindutva’ Only Yield Oppression and Genocide?
A Primer On Islamic Legal Theory (Uṣūl Al-Fiqh)
The best way to understand the object of the study of Uṣūl is to imagine yourself in the position of a scholar who is tasked with finding answers to legal questions. Before you embark on finding answers to legal questions, there are a number of preliminary matters you must determine. Continue reading A Primer On Islamic Legal Theory (Uṣūl Al-Fiqh)
Re-examining Evolution Through the Theological Lens of Ḥujjatul Islām
Having emerged from a particular European intellectual milieu, Darwin’s ideas have influenced the world in a way nobody could have imagined. In disciplines ranging from science to theology, Darwinism and later Neo-Darwinism continue to widen their reach. Religious traditions, particularly Islam, are no exception. There exists a long history of tension and attempted reconciliation between Islamic belief and the modern evolutionary paradigm. Continue reading Re-examining Evolution Through the Theological Lens of Ḥujjatul Islām
