Islam Through The Ages

Islam Through The Ages

By Islam Through the AgesReligion & SpiritualityIslam
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Islam Through The Ages episodes

  • How Islam Dealt With Jews #2 - with Dr Mohammed Ahmed (S1-E11)

    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

    43 min
  • How Islam Dealt With Jews - with Dr Mohammed Ahmed (S1-E10)

    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

    55 min
  • History of Theology in Islam - with Dr Ramon Harvey (S1-E8)

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    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

    1 hr 9 min
  • History of Hadith - with Dr Belal Abu-Alabbas (S1-E7)

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    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?

    55 min
  • History of Qur'an Exegesis - with Dr Sohaib Saeed (S1-E6)

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    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?

    1 hr 15 min
  • Compilation of the Qur'an - with Dr Ramon Harvey (S1-E5)

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    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?

    1 hr 6 min
  • Orientalism - with Dr Joseph Lumbard (S1-E4)

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    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?

    52 min
  • Periodization of Islamic History - with Dr Fozia Bora (S1-E3)

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    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?

    53 min
  • Approaches to Islamic History - with Dr Ovamir Anjum (S1-E2)

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    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?

    59 min

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