The AMI Podcast

This paper will discuss the impact of the case method on three  separate cohorts, all in the context of Islamic education. Although a  very widely used tool in higher education, the use of the case method is  rare in Islamic education, normally being superseded by a traditional  didactic or instructive style of teaching, a feature that often extends  across most age groups and even into specialised seminary learning.  Retrospective observational analysis was conducted on three separate  cohorts in the community who were exposed to the case methodology over a  period of five years. Three separate areas of growth were seen in the  cohorts in varying degrees. Personal growth and mentoring of  the individual through the acquisition of key life skills such as  critical analysis, public speaking, presentation skills and ability to  collaborate with others. Increasing knowledge base of the individual in a wide variety of Islamic and non-Islamic disciplines. Triggers for community action following identification of critical societal issues. Significant  areas requiring greater engagement by community leaders were also  frequently flagged up such as suppressed atheism, apostasy, child abuse,  mental health and ethical practices of Muslims. Above all, the nature  of the case method ensured cross-generational as well as cross-gender  conversations on major neglected issues affecting Muslims in the UK,  ultimately allowing participants to critically evaluate their faith in a  safe space without judgement, develop key life skills and study Islam  in context of the modern world and tackle major societal issues relevant  not only to Muslims, but society as a whole.

Averroes adopted a legal-centric epistemological framework in order  to prove #Philosophy as #Islamic. The main focus was to demonstrate to  what extent philosophy was Islamic using Averroes’ systematised  framework from his legal treatise, Kitāb faṣl al-maqāl as a rebuttal to  Muslim jurists who considered philosophy as anti-Islamic. Using  Averroes’ legal treatise, Sayyid Wajee showed how Averroes employs the  legal methodology and the principles adopted by Muslim jurists against  them, highlighting the compatibility between philosophy and Islam. Moreover, Averroes’ grounds his assertions of philosophy as an Islamic  endeavour by combining the technical jargon of the jurists with Qurʾānic  passages as a way of conclusively affirming the concept of ‘Islamic  philosophy’. The presentation highlighted the negative attitude towards philosophy in the 12th century and this attitude persisting in the 21st century  in certain Islamic institutions. Sayyid Wajee emphasised on #Averroes  premise that the study of law which is widely accepted by Muslim  thinkers as an Islamic enterprise according to the jurists themselves,  the same sentiment should be afforded to Muslim philosophers

The presentation aimed to cover the question of whether Muslims are allowed to reside in non-Muslim majority countries under the condition of religious freedom. It encompassed an analysis of the major textual  evidence on this topic, regardless of whether they argue for  permissibility or prohibition. The focus is to engage with the seemingly  contradictory arguments considering their authenticity, historical  context and meaning, in the hope of coming close to, or advancing, the  understanding of the religious opinion on the matter. Shaykh Zaini  argued that emigration was mandatory under certain historical  circumstances experienced by early companions, then it became advisory  following the conquest of Mecca and the establishment of the religion.

Diversity within Shia Islam 

Dr. Jones presented a paper on ‘Islam and Science’, which drew on  previous research on perceptions of evolution by the research team for  the project ‘Science and Religion: Exploring the Spectrum’, as well as new research being  conducted on views of Islam and science among Muslim religious leaders.  He spoke about the findings of a survey of British Muslims on science  and evolution, highlighting that British Muslims are marginally more  likely to identify with science than the wider British public but remain  both sceptical and uncertain about biological evolution. Muslims’  evolution scepticism varies significantly depending on how questions are  asked, while they are also considerably more likely to suggest that  they do not know how to respond.

This presentation looked at narratives dealing with the experiences  of female scholars within the Sunni Muslim community in the UK, with a focus on the South Asian community. The South Asian community is  responsible for setting up many of the traditional Islamic learning  institutions (darul ulums) in the UK for both male and female students. Many  of these institutions will follow the same curriculum whereby students will study the same texts and subjects, yet female graduates often face greater challenges upon graduation. Often their education is questioned  and their opportunities to serve their communities are more limited.  This presentation highlighted some of those challenges through personal  narratives taken from various studies conducted in the UK. Finally, it called for greater community participation in creating a more accepting  space for female scholars and a more supportive community network so  that they are able to better serve their communities, and the community  is able to benefit from their knowledge and expertise.

Dr. Rajani explained the dynamics of the abovementioned Centre,  explaining how scholars from various denominations come together and  attempt to give unified responses to some of the questions and  challenges facing Muslims today. Dr. Rajani clarified the processes and  methods that the Centre employs to try and arrive at jointly agreed  opinions, which are then disseminated in the form of online statements. Hitherto,  the Centre has produces 43 statements, ranging from jurisprudential  issues – like the permissibility of consuming stunned meat – to  theological matters – like the finality of the prophethood of Prophet  Muhammad (pbuh). The Centre’s work has shown what can be achieved when  Muslims work together despite the differences in their ideological and  even theological stances.

Providing an in-depth and extensive analysis of the concept of power as articulated by Muhammad Husayn Fadlallah (1935–2010), this case study analyses the systemic conceptualisation of power and his argumentation of sacralising Islamised power. The volume also offers a quick overview of how the concept was understood and articulated by other Shi‛ite jurists such as Ayatollah Khomeini. Examining Fadlallah’s oeuvre, in particular his seminal book Islam and the Logic of Power [ al-Islam wa-mantiq al-quwwa ], this book focuses on the narrative itself, which played a central role in the radical transformation that occurred in the Shi‛te concept of empowerment and its recognition as a necessity. The analysis of Fadlallah’s conceptualisation and argumentation illustrates the mechanism of sacralising righteous power as well as the means of gaining it. Fadlallah reinterpreted Shi‛sm as a project of empowerment to initiate and sustain an “impulse of power” amongst the Lebanese Shi‛tes in the most critical moment of modern Lebanese history.

Dr Zarepour demonstrated Fārābī’s interpretation of Aristotle’s work  on logical fallibilism. He showed how Fārābī’s views differs from  Aristotle on logical and theological fatalism. To reject these types of  fatalism, Fārābī argues that the truth values of future contingent  propositions are already distributed but this distribution is  indefinite. As a result, that a contingent proposition is now true does  not make it necessary in itself. Formalising Fārābī’s solutions to the  problems of logical and theological fatalism in the language of  contemporary modal logic, Dr Zarepour discussed its strength and  weakness. He also showed that although Fārābī defends these solutions,  there can be found passages in his commentary which signal that he is  not totally satisfied with them. These passages can be taken as a sign  for his implicit inclination towards a specific sort of open theism  which was later explicitly defended by some important figures of Arabic  philosophy.

Dr Amina Inloes presents "Female Scholarship and Authority in Islamic Scripture"