Lectures

The Arab world has struggled with the application of transitional justice in post-war times, which on several occasions has led to renewed cycles of violence; in some cases, countries have slid into brutal civil wars. In his lecture on transitional justice in the Arab world, Dr. Fraihat will present the lessons learned from different experiences in Iraq, Libya, Morocco, and Tunisia, and share his thoughts on how to achieve peaceful and successful political transitions with transitional justice at the heart of the process.

The Great Mosque of Damascus is an iconic monument of world architecture, and the old mosque still stands in a state closer to its original state. It was built at the end of the first Islamic century on a site previously occupied by a Roman temple of Jupiter and a church of John the Baptist. This lecture explores this pre-Islamic past, the political crisis that erupted with Damascene Christians upon the foundation of the mosque, and the aesthetic values that underpinned the Umayyad monument.

Social sciences were created in aftermath of a century of religious wars in Europe, which demonstrated to Europeans that religion does not offer viable methods to organize society. Rejection of God, Judgment, and the Afterlife led to grounding of social sciences on the assumptions that man is just another animal, with pursuit of pleasure as the only goal. Furthermore, society consists of competing groups operating in an environment of war of all against all, with survival of the fittest being the only moral principle.

Interest is deeply embedded into modern capitalist economies. Setting interest rate to zero is likely to crash such economies; modern forms of financial capitalism cannot function with zero interest.

Following on the previous research, Dr. Tarek Swelim will deliver a lecture to revisit the discoveries in the Lost City of al-Qata'i'. The city of al-Qata’i’ was founded by Ahmad Ibn Tulun in 870 A.D., being the third capital of Islamic Egypt, after those of al-Fustat and al-Askar. Historical sources tell us that it had splendid buildings never seen before in Egypt, since the time of the Ptolemies. The flourishing city of al-Qata’i’ was seized and destroyed by the Abbasids in 905 A.D. The city is well described by its contemporary historians.

Studying the religion of

The life and teachings of our beloved Prophet (PBUH) are the source of our manners and etiquettes. In this Minaretein Center X CIS Foresight Talks Series event, we will outline the guidance of the Prophet (PBUH) in dealing with stress and anxiety. Turning to the Sirah for guidance, this lecture will elaborate on the Prophetic model for combatting stress and overcoming grief in our lives.

Speaker: Dr. Yasir Qadhi

Orientalism has been rightly held accountable for complicity with colonialism, empire, prejudice, and racism. The wave of critique that was launched against it over the last half century did nothing but insulate it, if not strengthen it, through vaccination and mutation. Held as a part of the Dean’s Foresight Talks series, the lecture will explore the significance of this phenomenon to many academic disciplines and how remolded Orientalism must lead the way in redefining the modern and freeing it from its malevolent tendencies.

This lecture argues against the dominant narrative that the debate on ethical theory in classical Islamic thought can be reduced to a conflict between ethical rationalism and ethical anti-rationalism, or more simply put, a conflict between reason and revelation. Focusing on the Ash‘arī and Mu‘tazilī schools of thought, the speaker will analyse the concept of ‘intellect’ (‘aql) and examine its complex theoretical contexts, chronological development, and application in ethical and legal epistemology.

الأسرة هي ركيزة بناء المجتمع وتواجهها الكثير من التحديات الاجتماعية والاقتصادية والثقافية والقانونية وغيرها في ظل الانفتاح والتطور التكنولوجي المعاصر. تسلط هذه السلسلة من المحاضرات "حماية الأسرة في ظل التحديات المعاصرة" الضوء على آليات الحماية الذاتية للأسرة من منظور علم الاجتماع والفقه الإسلامي والقانون القطري وتنفيذه عبر الأجهزة القضائية.