Islam Through The Ages

Watch on YouTube Contact Dr Mohammed Ahmed on LinkedIn or Academia Further Reading 1. ⁠Muslim-Jewish Harmony: A Politically-Contingent Reality⁠ 2. ⁠Islam and Judaism: Religious Attitudes and Identity in the Medinan Era⁠ In this episode, we cover: (00:00) Introduction (01:35) Recap of Part 1 (02:25) The fall of Granada and displacement of Muslim and Jews (06:52) Why Christendom had antisemitic tendencies (14:54) Christian Europe's antisemitism trickles into Ottoman lands (18:44) Dönmeh - followers of Sabbatai Zevi (25:08) Popular associations between Kabbalah, Jewry and Freemasonry (26:47) Response of Arabs and the Jewish diaspora to Israel's creation (29:30) Modern antisemitic tropes by Muslims (33:04) Islam-friendly Anti-Zionism Rabbis (36:59) Summing it all up (40:32) Conclusion

Watch on YouTube Contact Dr Mohammed Ahmed on LinkedIn or Academia Further Reading 1. Muslim-Jewish Harmony: A Politically-Contingent Reality 2. Islam and Judaism: Religious Attitudes and Identity in the Medinan Era In this episode, we cover: (00:00) Introduction (02:15) References to Jews in the Quran (06:41) Where is the term "Yahud" derived from? (09:13) Brief sketch of early Jewish history (15:06) Jews and Muslims in the Prophet's city (24:17) Jews as dhimmis in the Rashidun Caliphate (32:55) Jewish presence in the Hijaz (36:32) Jews and Jizya under the Umayyads (40:03) Jews in positions of power - rule or exception? (45:45) La Convivencia - myth or fact? (50:33) Jews under the Ottoman Millet system (53:08) Conclusion

Watch on YouTube In this episode, we cover: (00:00) Introduction (02:10) What is "Ontology"? (27:35) What is "Epistemology"? (46:40) The fallacy of the "Islamic Golden Period" (59:40) Muslims need to change how they view their history (01:12:10) Conclusion

Watch on YouTube In this episode, we cover: (00:00) Introduction (01:30) What is Theology? (04:40) What is Aqeedah? (11:00) Where does Kalam come from? (16:17) How did differences in Aqeedah develop in early Islamic History? (24:20) What was Mu'tazilism? (35:33) What is the Aqeedah Tahawiyyah? (37:15) Is there a correlation between the schools of Fiqh and Aqeedah? (40:40) What other theological groups have existed in the past? (47:55) Contribution of disagreements to the Islamic tradition (49:25) Muslim Philosophers and their impact on Islamic theology (52:25) Differences between mainstream schools of Aqeedah in Sunni Islam (01:00:10) How relevant are abstract theological details for the lay person? (01:06:10) Dr Ramon Harvey's books

Watch on YouTube In this episode, we cover: (00:00) How were Ahadith recorded at the time of the Prophet (Peace and blessings upon him)? (09:54) How did Hadith literature develop into the canonical collections we know today? (15:54) Are Ahadith less reliable than the Qur'an due to later compilation? (19:57) Is written word always more reliable than oral transmission? (23:37) How can we be certain that Bukhari and Muslim are reliable? (28:06) What is the size of the Hadith corpus? (33:43) What are some other notable Hadith collections? (36:42) How has Hadith scholarship evolved since the 5th century of Islam? (39:19) How common is it to re-evaluate the authenticity of a Hadith? (42:06) What is the unique contribution of Sheikh Al-Albani to Hadith Scholarship? (47:21) What groups within Islam reject the reliability of Bukhari and Muslim? (50:00) How has Orientalism and colonization influenced Muslims' engagement with Hadith? (51:07) What reading material would you recommend for those new to Hadith?

Watch on YouTube In this episode, we cover: (00:00) What is Hermeneutics? (05:10) What are the boundaries of Qur'anic Tafsir? (10:14) Historically, what have been the genres of Qur'anic Tafsir? (18:41) How has the popularity of "Tafsir based on educated opinion" varied historically? (34:24) Do the earliest Tafsir works have greater epistemological significance than later ones? (41:15) Are opinions valid due to Tafsir consensus? Is challenging consensus possible? (51:39) Could the works of Hadith, Seerah, Qira'at and Fiqh be affected by a 'selection bias'? (57:10) How should we navigate a Tafsir where the author propagates heterodox theological views? (01:06:00) For beginners, what works of Qur'an translation and Tafsir would you recommend?

Watch on YouTube⁠ In this episode, we cover: (00:00) What do we mean by scriptural preservation? (02:52) What are the Qira'at and Ahruf? (10:08) Do the 7 Ahruf still exist today? (11:58) Are the Qira'at recited today all come from a single Harf? (12:25) What are the origins of the 10 Qira'at common today? (14:27) How was the Qur'an compiled from the time of the Prophet ﷺ to the rule of Uthman? (26:16) Did the manuscript compiled at the time of Abu Bakr preserve multiple Ahruf? (31:13) How to explain the differing readings and manuscripts of the Companions? (35:40) Why did Uthman destroy alternative manuscripts after his official compilation? (38:34) What is the Sana'a Palimpsest? (42:10) Was the ordering of the Surahs in the manuscripts preserved? (47:39) Do non-Uthmanic manuscripts exist, and are there signs of attempts to destroy them? (51:12) How have the Qur'anic manuscripts evolved after the Uthmanic compilation? (58:59) What does Western scholarship say about the compilation and preservation of the Qur'an?

Watch on YouTube In this episode, we cover: (00:00) What is Orientalism? (05:02) Is Orientalism still relevant today? (07:30) How has Orientalism distorted Western consciousness regarding Islam and Muslims? (10:53) What came first, Orientalism or political domination? (14:59) How has Orientalism impacted Muslims since the Enlightenment? (19:08) Have religious movements in the Islamic World been influenced by Orientalist narratives? (20:36) Has political domination of the Orient always been the subject of Orientalism? (24:09) How did 'Christian' become 'Judeo-Christian'? (26:09) How have the perceptions of Western elite and laymen, regarding Muslims, changed over time? (34:03) Did Western academia marginalize Islamic epistemology in the pre-colonial era? (37:41) What Orientalist concepts have been absorbed by Muslims today? (43:14) Are Orientalism and the political and epistemic subjugation of the 'Other' unprecedented? (46:25) Why did the Mongol invasion not damage the Muslims as much as Western colonisation?

Watch on YouTube In this episode, we cover: (00:00) Why is periodization of history important? (05:56) How does periodization affect contextual understanding of history? (08:46) Comparison of Islamic Golden Age with European Dark Ages have in Islamic History (11:44) How does the use of political events as 'historical pivots' affect Muslims' view of their history? (17:34) What are some other historical pivots that can be used to understand history? (22:13) How have Muslim historians present history through the ages? (25:46) Should Muslim historians adopt the modern-day Eurocentric periodization of history? (31:28) How would you periodise the past 14 centuries of Islamic History? (34:56) Where do you draw the line between Classical and Medieval Islam? (39:39) Top-down vs Bottom-up approach to history (41:52) How will future historians talk about us? (47:35) How may we interpret the periodization of history in the Hadith of Nouman ibn Bashir?

Watch on YouTube In this episode, we cover: (00:00) What are the different approaches to framing Islamic History? (15:55) Thematic Approaches to Islamic History (18:27) Periodical Approaches to Islamic History (22:35) The dynamism of Islam beyond the Formative Approach (31:51) How should Muslims understand the current phase of their history (37:06) How has colonisation affected Muslims' confidence in their own historical narratives? (42:19) Have Caliphate and Christendom always be in conflict ? (51:31) What are the geographical boundaries of the Islamic World?