Naqshbandiya Foundation for Islamic Education

The Naqshbandiya Foundation for Islamic Education (NFIE) is a non-profit, tax exempt, religious and educational organization dedicated to serve Islam with a special focus on Tasawwuf(Sufism),

Wednesday, August 5, 2026

Sufi Master and Qur'an Scholar: Abu al-Qasim al-Qushayri and the Lata'if al-isharat: Dr.Martin Nguyen

 Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/Sufi-Master-Quran-Scholar-al-Qushayr/dp/0197265138

This book is the first extensive examination of the medieval Qur'an commentary known as the Lata'if al-isharat and the first critical biography of its author, the famous spiritual master Abu al-Qasim al-Qushayri. Written in 5th/11th century Nishapur, an intellectual and cultural crossroads of the Muslim world, the Lata'if al-isharat has endured down through the centuries as an important work of Sufi exegesis. A mystical vision of reality is taught through its line-by-line treatment of the Qur'an as its author was writing as both a Sufi teacher and scholar. This study fully investigates al-Qushayri's life and historical horizon and carefully analyses the structure and method of the commentary. The primary aim of the book is to draw greater attention to the other traditions of exegesis that inform the Sufi approach of the Lata'if al-isharat, an understudied feature of many Sufi commentaries in general. In the case of this commentary, scholarly and pedagogical concerns for language, prophetic sayings, law and theology are interwoven into al-Qushayri's overarching mystical exegesis. Other important aspects of the author's intellectual identity and education clearly influenced the formation of al-Qushayri's Sufi worldview and as a consequence his interpretation of God's word. By delineating these other traditions of exegesis mentioned in al-Qushayri's biography and embedded in his Lata'if al-isharat, we can better appreciate how he and his commentary were part of a wider Sunni historical heritage in addition to the developing Sufi tradition.
Review:
"The detailed analyses and the vast cumulative data presented in Nguyen's work have produced a fresh, original, thorough and well-articulated book. It has the potential to become one of the main textbooks in the study of Sufism as well as, more generally, in the fields of hermeneutics and medieval Muslim culture." --Sara Sviri, Department of Arabic and Department of Comparative Religions, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
"This excellent book is the first in-depth study in English of one of the monuments of Sufi Qur'an commentary, the Lata'if al-isharat of Abu'l-Qasim al-Qushayr?. Clearly written and well-annotated throughout, this timely study brings to light some important and hitherto unexplored aspects of the celebrated Sufi theologian Nishapur." --Annabel Keeler, Wolfson College, University of Cambridge
About the Author:
Dr. Martin Nguyen is Assistant Professor of Islamic Religious Traditions at Fairfield University, CT.

Website: Dr.Martin Nguyen, Scholar. Professor. Bibliophile. Theologian.

PDF:Laṭāʾif al-Ishārāt: Subtle Allusions:Sūras 1–4 -Abū l-Qāsim ʿAbd al-Karīm al-Qushayrī -Translated by Kristin Zahra Sands - Royal Aal al-Bayt Institute for Islamic Thought
https://rissc.jo/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Abul-Qasim-al-Qushayris-Lataif-al-Isharat-ebook.pdf

Book Review:Sufi Master and Qur'an Scholar: Ab ul-Qasim al-Qushayri and the Lata'if al-isharat: Dr.Martin Nguyen by Francesco Chiabotti Teaching and Research Temporary Attaché, The Institute for Research and Studies on the Arab and Muslim World (IREMAM) Aix-Marseille Université de Provence, France

PDF:Al-Tafsīr al-kabīr: An Investigation of al-Qushayrī’s Major Qur’an Commentary: Martin Nguyen Fairfield University USA

Abstract: The mystic and scholar of Nishapur, Abū l-Qāsim al-Qushayrī, is widely acclaimed for his important treatise on the Sufiji Path, al-Risāla, and his Sufiji commentary of the Qur’an, Laṭāʾif al-ishārāt. However, a commentary composed during his early career has been largely overlooked despite its wide attestation in the biographical literature. Called al-Tafsīr al-kabīr or “the Major Commentary,” this work may only survive in manuscript form. At the center of the present study are two manuscripts from Leiden and Istanbul that appear to partially preserve Qushayrī’s earliest work of Qur’anic exegesis. By examining the various authorities cited in the text and cross-referencing relevant works, this study works to date the commentary of each text, to identify their respective commentarial influences and authorities, and to draw possible conclusions concerning how the manuscripts relate to one another and ultimately to Qushayrī, the alleged author.

posted by NFIE @ 10:43 PM 0 Comments

Tuesday, August 4, 2026

A Cartography of Love: In Malcolm, with Malcolm, and through Malcolm I Martin Nguyen:Bridges of Virtues,Unity Productions Foundation- August4,2026

 YouTube Video: Malcolm X & the Virtue of Love

https://youtu.be/WolO0brI5rI?si=pXfeqXZmDT6WvldL

What if Malcolm X’s life was not simply a story of political awakening, but a profound spiritual journey shaped by love, imagination, and the search for God? In this feature interview with Bridges of Virtue, Martin Nguyen—Professor of Religious Studies at Fairfield University and a scholar of Islam, theology, storytelling, and the religious imagination—offers a fresh reading of Malcolm X’s life and legacy. Moving beyond familiar narratives of activism and racial justice, Nguyen explores how Malcolm’s intellectual and spiritual evolution reveals a deeper map of human transformation. Through the lenses of Islamic thought, memory, and moral imagination, the conversation examines Malcolm X as a figure whose life traced a path from anger to compassion, from certainty to openness, and from division toward a more expansive vision of human dignity. Together, we reflect on the role of faith, storytelling, and love in reshaping both individual lives and collective futures. This conversation invites viewers to reconsider Malcolm X not only as a revolutionary leader, but as a spiritual seeker whose journey continues to illuminate the possibilities of transformation today. Martin Nguyen is a Professor of Religious Studies at Fairfield University engaged in and committed to the work of Islam, theology, storytelling, and the religious imagination. Support our mission by: Subscribing ► @UPFTVWATCH Donating ► https://tinyurl.com/7dnxvcdn Learning more ► https://www.upf.tv 

Host: Abdul-Rehman Malik is an award winning journalist, educator and cultural organizer. Since June 2019 he has been Lecturer and Associate Research Scholar at the Yale Divinity School. He also serves as the Program Coordinator at Yale University’s Council on Middle East Studies & Director of the Muslim Leadership Lab, an innovative student leadership program being incubated at the Dwight Hall Center of Social Justice at Yale.

Professor Martin Nguyen's Website:

Bridges of Virtues-Brochure PDF:Unity Productions Foundation:How Islam, the Abrahamic Faiths, and Philosophy Illuminate Love 
https://www.upf.tv/wp-content/uploads/sites/196/2025/09/Bridges-of-Virtue-Classroom-Guide.pdf

YouTube Video:The Life and Legacy of Malcolm X :: with Dr. Umar Faruq Abd-Allah and Imam Zaid Shakir-Ta'leef Collective January 18,2015
Ta'leef Collective presents, in its entirety, a lecture given by Dr. Umar Faruq Abd-Allah and Imam Zaid Shakir on the life and legacy of our beloved leader and teacher Malcolm X (El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz).

posted by NFIE @ 8:34 PM 0 Comments

The Qur'an and the Just Society - Dr. Ramon Harvey: Centre for Islamic Knowledge-July,2024

 YouTube Video:

https://youtu.be/XNZlEkMXwL8?si=-NtdoyHsOGgIYamu

Dr. Ramon Harvey is Aziz Foundation Lecturer in Islamic Studies at Cambridge Muslim College where he teaches Revealed Foundations on the BA in Islamic Studies. He received his MA and Ph.D. in Islamic studies from SOAS, University of London. His research focuses on Qur’anic studies, philosophical theology, and ethics, both studying the intellectual history of these disciplines and making his own contemporary interventions. Dr. Harvey’s first book, The Qur’an and the Just Society, was published by Edinburgh University Press in 2018. His latest book is Transcendent God, Rational World: A Maturidi Theology (Edinburgh University Press, 2021). It is a work of contemporary Muslim theology, drawing substantially on the Maturidi tradition (especially its eponym Abu Mansur al-Maturidi), as well as modern analytic and continental philosophy. He is also a member of the Editorial Board for the Journal of Comparative Islamic Studies and the series editor of the Edinburgh Studies in Islamic Scripture and Theology. Alongside his academic training, he has spent several years studying with traditionally trained Islamic scholars in the UK, has attended an intensive programme at Al-Azhar in Cairo, graduated from the Al-Salam Institute Islamic Scholarship Programme and was awarded the shahada al-‘alimiyya (Licence in Islamic Scholarship) under the supervision of Shaykh Mohammad Akram Nadwi.

Amazon:The Qur'an and the Just Society: Ramon Harvey (Author), M.A.S. Abdel Haleem (Foreword)
https://www.amazon.com/Quran-Just-Society-Ramon-Harvey/dp/1474403298

What is justice? How can it be realised within society? These are universal concerns and are central to the primary scripture of Islam, the Qur’an. Utilising a pioneering theological and hermeneutic framework adapted from both classical Muslim literature and contemporary academic studies of the Qur’an, Ramon Harvey explores the underlying principles of its system of social justice. Dividing his book into four parts, he covers Qur’anic Ethics, Political Justice (politics, peace, war), Distributive Justice (fair trade, alms, marriage, inheritance) and Corrective Justice (public and private crimes). His reading of the Qur’an reconstructs the text as normatively engaging these spheres of justice in their socio-historical context and lays the foundations for future contemporary articulations of Qur’anic ethics.
Review:
An excellent book, clear, comprehensive, and well-argued throughout...for anyone interested in this aspect of the Qur’an this monograph is going to be an important addition to the literature...If the book has one merit above others, and it has many merits, it is in the close reading that Harvey gives to the text and the very varied sources of interpretation on which he draws; it really is an exercise in hermeneutic virtuosity. -- Oliver Leaman, University of Kentucky ― Journal of Qur’anic Studies

This is a very significant study of the Qur’an… Insightful and timely, it leads the reader on an exploratory journey through the various manifestations of the objective of divine scripture, "so that people may uphold justice". ― M. Abdel Haleem, School of Oriental and African Studies

Book Review:The Qur'an and the Just Society:Arnold Yasin Mol -The Maydan-Sept4,2019
https://themaydan.com/2019/09/book-review-the-quran-and-the-just-society-by-ramon-harvey-part-i-reviewed-by-arnold-yasin-mol/

Amazon:Justice in Islam: New Ethical Perspectives: Ramon Harvey, Daniel Tutt 

From its roots in the Qur’an and the life of the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) to its branches in contemporary political and social movements, Islam has always been concerned with the question of social justice. The promise of a just order on earth has motivated both the reflections of the community of scholars and the actions of Muslims who have striven to realize it within their societies. Despite the disappointments that history has often delivered, the hope for justice remains undimmed as does the struggle to achieve it today. This concise volume focuses on some of the ways that the theme of justice is explored in emerging currents of Islamic thought. Chapters discuss new theological and ethical proposals in the light of contemporary philosophical developments; ideas of gender justice that provoke a reformist challenge to the received tradition; and regional contexts, such as Turkey, Iran and Japan, in which the question of Islam’s relationship to justice is sharpened by the particularities of history and locale. The contributions to this collection raise the prospect that if justice can be imagined more perfectly as an Islamic ideal, perhaps it can be brought into reality.
Ramon Harvey, Ed. (Aziz Foundation Lecturer in Islamic Studies, Cambridge Muslim College) works in the fields of Qur’anic studies, theology, and ethics, both as an intellectual historian and theologian. He is the author of The Qur’an and the Just Society (2018) and Transcendent God, Rational World: A Māturīdī Theology (2021), which are published by Edinburgh University Press. He is also the editor of the monograph series Edinburgh Studies in Islamic Scripture and Theology. He earned his doctorate from SOAS, University of London. 
Daniel Tutt, Ed. (Lecturer in Philosophy, George Washington University) works on continental philosophy, contemporary social and political movements, Islamic thought and psychoanalysis. His forthcoming book is entitled Psychoanalysis and the Politics of the Family: The Crisis of Initiation and will be published in the Palgrave Lacan Series in 2022. His writing has been published in Philosophy Now, The Islamic Monthly and Crisis and Critique, among other publications. He teaches philosophy at George Washington University, Marymount University and has taught inmates through the Georgetown University Prisons and Justice Initiative.
Daniel Tutt's Website: https://danieltutt.com/
Daniel Tutt, Producer & Director of Programs, Unity Productons Foundation

PDF: Justice in Islam: New Ethical Perspectives:Ramon Harvey, Daniel Tutt

posted by NFIE @ 3:07 PM 0 Comments

Sunday, August 2, 2026

Modern Muslim Theology:Engaging God and the World with Faith and Imagination- Dr. Martin Nguyen (CICW Book Talks): CICW Media-April 10,2020

 YouTube Video:

https://www.youtube.com/live/2MUdXva5j68?si=z_wkW5CY5D6fJ9sL

Dr. Martin Nguyen (Professor of Islamic Studies at Fairfield University in Fairfield, Connecticut, USA) is interviewed about his latest book, "Modern Muslim Theology: Engaging God and the World with Faith and Imagination." This book aims to bring Muslim theology into the present day. Focused on the relationship of the human to the divine and of faith to righteousness, the book presents a new theological vision rooted in the practice of the religious imagination. Rather than a purely academic pursuit, Modern Muslim Theology argues that theology is a creative process and discusses how the Islamic tradition can help contemporary practitioners negotiate their relationships with God, with one another, and with the rest of creation. Center for Islam in the Contemporary World (CICW) at Shenandoah University is a non-profit, 501(c)(3), tax-exempt private foundation, affiliated with Shenandoah University in Winchester, Virginia, USA. You can learn more about CICW at https://www.contemporaryislam.org/.
Host: Ermin Sinanović: Executive Director of the Center for Islam in the Contemporary World (CICW) at Shenandoah University. 
Website of Ermin Sinanović: Scholarship and Policy analysis:The Muslim world
https://www.erminsinanovic.com/

Amazon:Modern Muslim Theology: Engaging God and the World with Faith and Imagination- Martin Nguyen his book aims to bring Muslim theology into the present day. Focused on the relationship of the human to the divine and of faith to righteousness, the book presents a new theological vision rooted in the practice of the religious imagination. Rather than a purely academic pursuit, Modern Muslim Theology argues that theology is a creative process and discusses how the Islamic tradition can help contemporary practitioners negotiate their relationships with God, with one another, and with the rest of creation. The book re-conceptualizes key religious ideas, symbols, and rites - like revelation, tradition, and prayer - in order to develop an engaged approach to Islam that simultaneously fosters faith and enacts righteousness in the modern world. The theological framework developed within draws widely from the intellectual and spiritual traditions of Islam that stretch from the religion's prophetic past up to the present. With the aim of making the work of theology accessible to all, Modern Muslim Theology uses vivid narratives and evocative images of famous religious personalities, sacred sites, and aspects of everyday life to explore and define concepts central for a theology of engagement.
Review:
“Muslim theology has traditionally been understood as involving doctrines and beliefs, as emphasizing the conceptual and cognitive aspects of the faith. Nguyen (Fairfield Univ.) considers Muslim theology in a different way. He understands it as encompassing all aspects of a believer’s life―the intellectual, emotional, physical, and spiritual elements. He believes Muslim theology should lead people to see their lives as an ongoing response to God involving active engagement with others and society. Nguyen looks at prayer, the Koran, imagination, creativity, Muslim tradition, prostration before God, righteousness in words and actions, and protest. He intends this book for both laypersons and scholars, since he believes that theology should address all believers and not just a small, elite segment of them. Nguyen's fresh approach makes Islam relevant to the present time, in which people are influenced by postmodernism and need to see faith in action and not simply through its doctrines and ideas. Nguyen likely will encounter resistance and criticism from other Muslim scholars, but his creative vision for theology may well have significant influence.
Summing Up: Recommended. Lower-division undergraduates through faculty; general readers.” ―Choice Reviews
“Informed by his deep reading of scripture and the Islamic tradition, as well as his grounding in the academic study of religion, Nguyen offers a theology that is of interest to academics as well as to people of faith, and to those who wish to learn more about Islam regardless of their orientation.” ―Zayn Kassam, Pomona College
“Nguyen successfully inhabits the pastoral voice―the book is as much an intellectual and spiritual reflection as a motivating call to action.” ―Mairaj Syed, University of California, Davis
“This is a courageous and bold voice which brings together the layers of tradition and worship in an engaged conversation on the topic of theological ethics. Learned as well as accessible, Martin Nguyen shows how a lived Islam reflects the ethical life Muslims around the world as well as in America practice and cherish. It is a fascinating search of a scholar and an engaged participant for a Muslim ethical narrative in late modernity.” ―Ebrahim Moosa, professor of Islamic Studies, University of Notre Dame
From the Back Cover:
This book aims to bring Muslim theology into the present day. Rather than a purely academic pursuit, Modern Muslim Theology argues that theology is a creative process and discusses how the Islamic tradition can help contemporary practitioners negotiate their relationships with God, with one another, and with the rest of creation.
About the Author:
Martin Nguyen is Associate Professor of Religious Studies, Faculty Chair for Diversity, and Director of Islamic Studies at Fairfield University. His work revolves around the Qur'an and its interpretation, theology and ethics, Sufism, and the intersection of race and religion.


PDF: Book Review:Amani Khelifa -Journal of Islamic Faith and Practice | Vol. 4, Issue 1

Article PDF:Faith-Rooted Thinking on Matters of Public Concern: A Muslim Response to William L. Sachs :Martin Nguyen 

Article: Could the Kaaba Represent Tradition? Martin Nguyen - Renovatio, The Journal of Zaytuna College-Feb6,2018

"Today, many avenues exist for Muslim communities to pursue the pressing theological questions they face. Unsurprisingly, the doors of possibility opened by the imagination are manifold. Past generations found theological recourse in scholastic theology and in the rhetoric of eschatology. They found it in deep readings of the word of God. They found it in art, poetry, and sacred spaces. They found it in transformative experiences and pious pursuits of many varieties. By what routes of the imagination can theologies be crafted that respond most faithfully and effectively to the religious expectations, lived realities, and salvific aspirations of communities of faith today? Or phrased differently, where will our traditions take us and where will we take our traditions?"



posted by NFIE @ 3:58 PM 0 Comments

Neo-traditionalism in Islam in the West: Orthodoxy, Spirituality and Politics | Dr. Walaa Quisay: CICW Media-Sep 26, 2023

 YouTube Video:

https://www.youtube.com/live/9az9kJF4-Fo?si=jR7xkXJlNySx4E3L

Walaa Quisay is a Leverhulme Early Career Fellow in the School of Divinity at the University of Edinburgh. She is the author of Neo-Traditionalism in Islam in the West: Orthodoxy, Spirituality, and Politics and co-author of When Only God can See: The Faith of Muslim Political Prisoners. She worked at numerous academic institutions, including the University of Manchester, the University of Birmingham, and Istanbul Sehir University. In 2019, she received her DPhil from the University of Oxford at the Faculty of Oriental Studies. She is the author of Neo-Traditionalism in Islam in the West: Orthodoxy, Spirituality, and Politics. Her research interests include the anthropology of religion, the study of Muslim political and religious subjectivities, carceral theology, theodicy, spirituality, and traditionalism and modernism in contemporary Islamic thought. 
Book Description: Neo-traditionalism in Islam in the West looks at an emerging trend within Anglo-American Islam that emphasises the primacy of a notion of ‘tradition’ and sees a moral and political imperative in its resurrection. The shaykhs at the forefront of this movement guide seekers through a paradigmatic critique of modernity that emphasises the importance of reconnecting with the tradition. They focus on affirming spirituality, self-purification, religious orthodoxy, and advocating for the notion of traditional metaphysical worldview and recognition and deference to spiritual (and at times political) authorities. This book goes beyond mere theoretical analysis to address contemporary, timely issues such as the role of religion in contemporary geopolitics, race and identity, gender and sexuality, new-found coalitions between Muslim scholars and the religious right, and religious authority and spiritual abuse.
Host: Ermin Sinanović is executive director of the Center for Islam in the Contemporary World (CICW) at Shenandoah University. 
Website of Ermin Sinanović: Scholarship and policy analysis:The Muslim world
https://www.erminsinanovic.com/

Amazon: Neo-traditionalism in Islam in the West: Orthodoxy, Spirituality and Politics | Dr. Walaa Quisay

Examining Muslim neo-traditionalist scholars in the West and their community of young seekers of sacred knowledge, Walaa Quisay explores the emerging trend within Anglo-American Islam that emphasises the importance of ‘tradition’. This book focuses on spiritual retreats hosted by three main shaykhs – Hamza Yusuf, Abdal Hakim Murad and Umar Faruq Abd-Allah – to examine how religious authority is formed and affirmed.
Through interviews with seekers who have attended retreats, the author sheds light on how discourses are shaped and practised and analyses how neo-traditionalist shaykhs construct the notion of ‘tradition’ concerning what they perceive to have been lost in modernity. The book highlights the importance of neo-traditionalism in the changing conceptions of religious orthodoxy, religious authority and spirituality for young Muslims in the West, and Quisay examines the political implications to the shaykhs’ critiques of modernity as it pertains to political quietism, race and gender.

PDF: Neo-traditionalism in Islam in the West: Orthodoxy, Spirituality and Politics | Dr. Walaa Quisay

"In this book, I examine the ways in which leading neo-traditionalist shaykhs—Hamza Yusuf, Abdal Hakim Murad, and Umar Faruq Abd-Allah— and the seekers of sacred knowledge navigate modernity, tradition, and politics."

Dr. Walaa Quisay's Website:

YouTube Video:Being Young and Faithful in America - Dr. Walaa Quisay-Unity Productions Foundation - August 15,2024

Dr. Walaa Quisay offers a lecture on the experience of navigating faith, spirituality, and growing up as a faithful Muslim in today's society. This event was hosted by PBS station OPB in Portland Oregon and was held at the Muslim Educational Trust on June 23, 2024. Learn more about this lecture as part of UPF's American Muslim Pathways project at https://muslimpathways.com. Walaa Quisay is a Leverhulme Early Career Fellow in the School of Divinity at the University of Edinburgh. She is the author of Neo-Traditionalism in Islam in the West: Orthodoxy, Spirituality, and Politics and co-author of When Only God can See: The Faith of Muslim Political Prisoners. She worked at numerous academic institutions, including the University of Manchester, the University of Birmingham, and Istanbul Sehir University. In 2019, she received her DPhil from the University of Oxford at the Faculty of Oriental Studies.

posted by NFIE @ 12:02 AM 0 Comments

Wednesday, July 29, 2026

Kalam Philosophy, Islam and Science by Bruno Abd-al-Haqq Guiderdoni: TVIslamScience-Apr 24, 2020

 YouTube Video:

https://youtu.be/t7n6QvRaWp8?si=5FJ8dVqkXmM6FIpI

Research Seminar given by Prof. Bruno Guiderdoni, at the Faraday Institute for Science and Religion, on November 20th 2018.

YouTube Video: Science's Spiritual Quest: The Case of Islam: Cambridge Muslim College-Sep 24, 2013

Article:An introduction to Islam & Science by Bruno Abd-Al-Haqq Guiderdoni:Islam & Science The 6 April 2015
https://islam-science.net/an-introduction-to-islam-science-by-bruno-abd-al-haqq-guiderdoni-3247/


Article:On Mystic Nature of Science: A Conversation with French Muslim Scientist Dr. Bruno Abd al Haqq Guiderdoni:Dr. Jafar Paramboor-Dec 31, 2020-Islamonweb:The Window to Islam

Article:Are Science and Islam Compatible?Interview with Bruno Guiderdoni,conducted by Motaz Al-Khateeb- Islamic Research Foundation International, Inc.
https://www.irfi.org/articles/articles_551_600/are_science_and_islam_compatible.htm


Article:Science and religion:Why setting new foundations for the dialogue should matter for Muslims?-
Bruno Abd-al-Haqq Guiderdoni-Science and Islam

Video:Islam and Science:Bruno Abd-al-Haqq Guiderdoni-17 April 2008-James Gregory Lectures on Science & Human Flourishing

PDF:Muslim Responses to Science’s Big Questions Report of the İhsanoğlu Task Force on Islam & Science Foreword by: Ekmeleddin İhsanoğlu Chair of the Task Force Edited by: Usama Hasan and Athar Osama Produced by: Muslim World Science Initiative

Bruno Abd al-Haqq Guiderdoni Biography:Grokipedia

"French astrophysicist and Sufi scholar renowned for his research in galaxy formation and evolution, as well as his efforts to bridge science and Islamic spirituality.[1][2][3] As a Director of Research at the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) and the Centre de Recherche Astrophysique de Lyon (CRAL), University of Lyon, he has authored over 140 scientific papers on observational cosmology and theoretical astrophysics, including contributions to understanding the cosmic web and early universe structures.[4][2][5] Guiderdoni earned his PhD in 1986 from Université Paris Diderot with a dissertation on the photometric evolution of galaxies in clusters."Full Bio at Grokipedia

posted by NFIE @ 7:43 PM 0 Comments

Monday, July 27, 2026

Reviving the Spirit of the Sirah | Shaykh Abdal Hakim Murad (Dr Timothy Winter) |JAKtalks- Jamia Al-Karam- June 4, 2026

 YouTube Video:

https://youtu.be/kfeFNbga_gw?si=NoSgoo__3lBMkpF6

In this beautiful and reflective lecture, Shaykh Abdal Hakim Murad explores the living meanings of the Sirah of the sublime Messenger, Prophet Muhammad (upon him be peace), drawing particular attention to the month of Muharram, the Hijrah, and the blessed arrival of the Prophet (upon him be peace) in Madinah. Reflecting on the Prophet’s first words in Madinah, of spreading peace, feeding people, praying at night and entering Paradise in peace, Shaykh Abdal Hakim Murad reminds us that the prophetic mission was one of mercy, reconciliation, unity and spiritual transformation. The talk also reflects on the founding of the Prophet’s Mosque as a non-tribal sacred space, where the old divisions of lineage, power and status were replaced by taqwa (God-fearingness), love, service and equality before Allah Almighty. From the noble Companions Bilal, the Abysinian, and Salman, the Persian, to the growing number of people embracing Islam today, the lecture calls us to revive the prophetic spirit of da‘wah, welcome and care for those coming closer to Islam. Delivered at the JAK 2025 Convention at Jamia Al-Karam on Sunday 6 July 2025, this lecture is part of the JAKtalks initiative, through which Jamia Al-Karam shares scholarly reflections, spiritual reminders and educational content with wider audiences.

Amazon:British Muslim Identity: Past, Problems, Prospects: T. J. Winter

Muslims are now the largest religious minority in the United Kingdom. Some media accounts have even suggested that the country is now home to more practicing Muslims than practicing Anglicans. Many studies have investigated British Muslim communities and their strategies of accommodation to the host society, yet there has been little interest in identifying the cultural paths by which Islam in Britain might become a British Islam, given both the historical tenor of British religion and longstanding native perceptions of Muslims. This experimental survey of the issues seeks to explore the possibility of grafting Muslim religion onto the tree of the country's religious and cultural life, as an alternative to illiberal agendas of rejection, or liberal and postmodern affirmations of an external radical otherness. It is suggested that the 'Pelagian' possibility recurrent within British religion offers a suitable point at which this hugely important grafting might take place.
Timothy John Winter (born in 1960), also known as Shaykh Abdal Hakim Murad, is a British Sunni Muslim Shaykh, researcher, writer and academic. He is the Dean of the Cambridge Muslim College, Director of Studies (Theology and Religious Studies) at Wolfson College and the Shaykh Zayed Lecturer in Islamic Studies at Cambridge University. His work includes publications on Islamic theology and Muslim-Christian relations. In 2003 he was awarded the Pilkington Teaching Prize by Cambridge University and in 2007 he was awarded the King Abdullah I Prize for Islamic Thought for his short booklet Bombing Without Moonlight. He has consistently been included in the "500 Most Influential Muslims" list published annually by the Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Centre and was ranked in 2012 as the 50th most influential.

Amazon:Understanding the Four Madhhabs: The Facts about Ijtihad and Taqlid- Abdal Hakim Murad

Why four schools of thought? Is it necessary to follow one? Discussion on these and other questions. A great book for those confused about this subject. Because of the traditional pious fear of distorting the Law of Islam, the overwhelming majority of the great scholars of the past - certainly well over ninety-nine percent of them - have adhered loyally to a madhhab. It is true that in the troubled fourteenth century a handful of dissenters appeared, but even these individuals never recommended that semi-educated Muslims should attempt ijtihad without expert help.

Amazon:Understanding Islam and the Muslims: The Muslim Family and Islam and World Peace- T. J. Winter, John A. Williams   amazon.com

Myths and misunderstandings continue to proliferate about Islam and its millions of followers worldwide. To refute these misconceptions, this newly-expanded, magnificently illustrated version offers succinct, and sometimes surprising, answers to the frequent questions about the Muslim faith in an accessible question and answer format.

YouTube Video:Converting to Islam and the Pursuit of Meaning with Dr Timothy Winter (Abdal Hakim Murad)- The Sacred - October 15, 2024

Elizabeth Oldfield sits down with renowned Islamic theologian Dr. Timothy Winter (Abdal Hakim Murad) to explore his journey to Islam and the depth and richness that he finds within the Islamic spiritual tradition. Dr. Winter shares the story of his own transformative journey, from attending a Christian school to a deep immersion in the world of Islam. Beyond his personal narrative, Dr. Winter delves into the surprising commonalities between Christianity and Islam, challenging common misconceptions and inviting listeners to consider the universal human yearning for the sacred. He also reflects on the resurgence of interest in traditional forms of religion and the need for a more prophetic, counter-cultural approach to faith. Episode transcript: https://www.theosthinktank.co.uk/comm...

posted by NFIE @ 11:33 PM 0 Comments