POSTPONED – Al-Ghazali Ihya’ Ulum Al-Din Weekend Intensive

Date: Saturday May 14 – Sunday May 15, 2022
Time: 10am – 5pm (Saturday) and 10am – 4pm (Sunday)

This course will provide a brief introduction to Imam Al-Ghazali’s life and the aims and format of Ihya. It will cover the epistemological basis of the Ihya itself, and while utilizing kitab al-ilm, it will touch upon the defense of the Ihya in al-imla lil-Ghazali, as well as critiques of the hadith methodology. The course will look at Ghazali’s admittance of his knowledge of the field in Qanun al-ta’wil and its essential rectification by Iraqi’s takhrij, as well as the hadith principles of using the da’if in fada’il, which was outlined by Ibn Hajar. Additionally, the course will give an overview of kitab al-aqa’id, touching on its methodology (in light of its use of the Greek heritage), and touch upon the warnings in Iljam al-awamm and how they relate to the principles of the Ihya.

We will go over: Kitab Dhamm al-ghurur; Kitab al-Nikah; Kitab Adab Al-Ulfah wal-Ukhuwwah; Kitab Al-Tawbah; Kitab Al-Tafakkur and then provide as summary, conclusion and hold an extended Q & A.

Professor Mustafa Abu Sway has recently been appointed as the first holder of the Integral Chair for the Study of Imam Ghazali’s Work at Al-Masjid Al-Aqsa and at Al-Quds University. He is Professor of Philosophy and Islamic Studies at Al-Quds University in Jerusalem, Palestine. He earned his BA and MA from Bethlehem University and PhD (1993) from and Boston College, USA. His dissertation was on “The Development of Al-Ghazali’s Genetic Epistemology.” He taught at the International Islamic University in Malaysia (1993-96), and was a visiting Fulbright Scholar-in-Residence at the Wilkes Honors College at Florida Atlantic University (2003-4), as well as a visiting professor of Islamic Studies at Bard College, NY (Fall 2008 and 2010/2011). Among his published works are two books: 1) Islamic Epistemology: The Case of Al-Ghazali (1995), and 1) Fatawa Al-Ghazali (ISTAC, 1996). His area of expertise is in Islamic Philosophy, Studies on Al-Ghazali, and Islamic Epistemology. In 2001 he was the winner of the Science and Religion Course Award, from The Center for Theology and the Natural Sciences in Berkeley, CA.

Shaykh Dr Afifi al-Akiti is the Kuwait Fellow in Islamic Studies at the Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies. Among his areas of expertise are Ash’ari theology, Shafi’i fiqh and the sufi tradition of Imam al-Ghazali. Shaykh Afifi, who is originally from Malaysia, was educated at the feet of the ulama of the Muslim world. In 2010, he was appointed into the Ulama Council in Malaysia. In 2012, he was made a Life Peer and joined the Privy Council of the Royal State of Perak. Since 2010, Shaykh Afifi has been listed in The Muslim 500: The World’s 500 Most Influential Muslims.

Serving as AIC’s President as well as Acting Provost, Dr. Timothy J. Gianotti is an accomplished scholar of classical Islamic theology, philosophy, and spirituality with strong interests in Islamic Psychology, Moral Theology, Ethics, Political Thought, comparative religion and spirituality, and interfaith relations; more specifically, he is a scholar of Abu Hamid al-Ghazali (d.1111), one of the most important religious thinkers of the classical period. Dr. Gianotti is also recognized as a Muslim theologian, pastoral leader, and committed interfaith advocate with extensive experience promoting interfaith engagement around the globe.

For full bio, click here. 

Open to the general public and intermediate and advanced students of Islamic Sciences, Islamic Studies, post-graduates and academics.

All are welcome. Participants should be familiar with the basics of Imam Ghazali’s life, work and thoughts, familiar with the Ihya, and reasonable understanding of kalam, metaphysics, philosophy, and epistemology as well as other Islamic sciences.

Reading of Ihya, Ghazalian epistemology, and understanding of Al-Ghazali’s philosophical theology