Islamic philosophy
All topics-
Arabist Tim Mackintosh-Smith
"Reading Arabic is a bit like playing chess"
Tim Mackintosh-Smith's latest book – "Arabs" – reveals how linguistic developments helped and hindered the progress of Arab history. In interview with Qantara.de, he talks to Elisabeth Knoblauch about how, even in today’s politically fractured post–Arab Spring environment, Arabic itself is still a source of unity and disunity
-
40th anniversary of the death of Shia scholar Allameh Tabatabai
The modest scholar of Qom
Right up until his death, Allameh Tabatabai dedicated himself to the revival of Shia Islam’s intellectual traditions. But few in the West have even heard of this exceptional philosopher. A portrait by Marian Brehmer
-
Execution for a Facebook post?
Why blasphemy is a capital offence in some Muslim countries
The Prophet Muhammad never executed anyone for apostasy, nor encouraged his followers to do so. Nor is criminalising sacrilege based on Islam’s main sacred text, the Koran. In this essay, Ahmet Kuru exposes the political motivations for criminalising blasphemy and apostasy
-
"What is Islamic art?" with art historian Wendy Shaw
What is art, when the primary sensory organ is the heart?
How can we truly appreciate the richness of cultures not our own? In her recent book "What is Islamic art? Between religion and perception", art historian Wendy Shaw explains the need to abandon our vision-centred perception of art and the aesthetic, embarking instead on a multi-sensory voyage of discovery. Interview by Lucy James
-
German angst and the Sheikh Zayed Book Award
Habermas, philosopher of communication, rejects dialogue
Philosopher Juergen Habermas was due to be awarded a major Arab prize in Abu Dhabi, but has turned it down following criticism. This decision torpedoes Arab efforts at a substantive cultural dialogue and exposes the West’s moral hubris, says Stefan Weidner
-
The Sufi Trail
Anatolia through the eyes of a pilgrim
The Sufi Trail is a long-distance hiking route from Istanbul to Konya that seeks to revive the ancient tracks used by foot pilgrims on their way to Mecca. Marian Brehmer spoke to the trail's founder and hiking route developer Sedat Cakir
-
The Persian poetry of mathematics
From Omar Khayyam to Mirzakhani – Iran’s beautiful minds
Presenting a more nuanced vision of their common homeland, Iran, to Western imaginations, kindred spirits Omar Khayyam and Maryam Mirzakhani stand out against the twenty-first century backdrop of anti-Iranian sentiment and Islamophobia. By Hamid Dabashi
-
Rationality in Islamic theology
Muslims – believers caught between reason and revelation
How readers approach the Koran and Islam's prophetic tradition determines their understanding of these sources. Textual interpretation depends on your perspective: rational and liberal – or dogmatic. A new collection of essays on rationality in Islamic theology focuses on the sheer scope to be found in early Islam. By Musa Bagrac
-
Review of Leor Halevi's "Modern Things on Trial"
Bottom-up fatwas – Rashid Rida and laissez-faire Salafism
Leor Halevi’s latest work examines how Muhammad Rashid Rida with his pro-capitalist and open-market fatwas promoted a version of "laissez-faire Salafism" at the turn of the 20th century. Muhammed Nafih Wafy read the book
-
Interview with pioneering Islamic thinker Fehmi Jadaane
What is the essence of Islam, and does it need reforming?
Renowned Jordanian Islamic scholar Fehmi Jadaane vehemently objects to the transformation of Islam into an ideology. The religion ends up mired in a political swamp, he says, its message nothing more than an instrument of governance. Interview by Alia Al-Rabeo
-
Contemporary political discourse
What can Europe learn from Arab philosophy?
Michael Frey has written a fascinating book about the contemporary political thinker Nassif Nassar. Since 1967, Nassar has devoted his life’s work to the question of a fair social order both within and beyond Lebanon. Now Frey offers us the first introduction to his work in a European language. By Sonja Hegasy
-
Interview with James Morris
Ibn Arabi's vision for a fully human global civilisation
Muhyiddin Ibn Arabi (1165-1240) is one of the most influential Arab philosophers and mystics. James Morris, Professor of Islamic Theology at Boston College, explains why his writings are still popular and why, today, they give the most productive answer to fundamentalist approaches in Islam. Interview by Claudia Mende