Category: Philosophy
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Differences in Approaching History Between Reform Oriented and Traditionalist Muslims
Contemporary rifts between reform oriented and traditionalist Muslims might be traced back to differences in their respective philosophies on the progress of history. By first examining the three most prominent enlightenment philosophies of history, which share much in common, and then contrasting them with pre-modern philosophies of history, I will lead us to the possible…
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Quranic Soundscapes: Bonding Beyond the Meanings
God has arranged the human heart like a fiery stone: its warmth inspires the soul to a new state. Its aesthetic world of sublime inner echoes is called the world of consciousness. The recitation of the Holy Qur’an touches the hearts of its readers in this way. The wonderful supernatural power of the Qur’an is…
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Reclaiming the Question
You wake up one day to find yourself in an ornate and decorated room. You have no recollection of who you are or how you got there. From the moment you are conscious, you are beset by a relentless curiosity: Who am I? Why am I here? You are attempting to make sense of the…
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Logic as a Tool for Adab
There is something quite bizarre about walking into an Islamic studies lecture to hear figures of the past defined in modern terms. With ease, the figure of Rābi’ah al-’Adawiyyah is described not just as a Ṣūfī but someone who “emphasise[s] the autonomy and capacity to remain free of any male authority”; this definition is then…
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Ramadan: Beyond the Nafs, Towards the Lord
The reduction of Islamic practices to an incentive of material or individualist well-being is in effect a liberal remaking of Islam. In essence fasting cultivates a self that is conscious of the truth: that we do not have the right to food, water, and sex when Allah decrees such. The feeling of hunger and thirst,…
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Scriptural Reasoning: Healing the Divide Between the Self and the Other
The purpose of this piece is to bring attention to the field of scriptural reasoning which, among other approaches, proposes the use of logic of relations and a constructive-critical engagement with the Other. These approaches help curb the colonial instinct, or what has been identified as the subsuming nature of the Western philosophical thought, that…
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A Primer on Islamic Legal Theory (Usūl 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.
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Secularism and The Spiderweb Simile of Surah Al-’Ankabut
The spiderweb simile found in Surah Al-‘Ankabut of The Qur’an occurs in reference to the recipients of God’s message before the time of Prophet Muhammad ﷺ.
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Fate and Free Will in No Country for Old Men
Whilst No Country for Old Men never alludes directly to the existence of God, it spurs us to think about the cycle of life as we inevitably come to the conclusion that there has to be a higher being in charge of the good and bad things that come our way.
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The Illusion of Moral Progress
The concept of continuous moral progress over time, born out of the Enlightenment era and continuing into postmodernity, has become a paradigm by which we critique the past, gauge our ethical compass, and form policy.