Muslim Intellectuals Responses to Modernity in the 19th Century

This short course brings together the ideas of several Muslim thinkers (Reformers) in the 19th century and their responses to modernism. How they reinterpreted the sacred sources in order to highlight the universalism of Islam as a religion. The course will demonstrate how those thinkers led religious and political changes at their times. Moreover, the influence of the thinkers on the 20th-century Muslim intellectuals will be examined to demonstrate the link between the two generations.

• Understand the Reform Movement in the 19th Century in relation to modernity.
• Understand the approaches of Muslim reformers to reinterpret the sacred sources.
• Learn the influence of some thinkers in the religious and political changes in some countries.

Dr Walid Ghali is an Associate Professor at AKU-ISMC. He received his PhD from the Faculty of Arts, Cairo University, in 2012. Dr Ghali is Head Librarian at the Aga Khan Centre, where his current research focuses on the Islamic manuscript traditions, including Qur’anic manuscripts. He also teaches various subjects for MA students including Introduction to Sufism, Arabic Literature, and Muslim Thinkers in the 19th Century.

24 – 25 October | 11:00 – 15:00 (London time)

• The course will be delivered via Zoom. Readings and further details will be provided later upon registration.
• This course will not be recorded.
• The programme fee is non-refundable.