UNDERSTANDING SALAFISM SEEKING THE PATH OF THE PIOUS PREDECESSORS

[PLEASE NOTE - The course is BOTH in person ONSITE in London and for those who can not attend in person can purchase the LIVE ONLINE STREAMING ticket to watch it from their device and those coming in person, should you not decide to attend person on the day or half the day, you will still recieve a link to the live online streaming, irrespective but are encouraged to attend in person if you have registered for that ticket, as this helps with allows room allocation, respectively for fellow participants].

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Islamic Courses present:

BOOK LAUNCH COURSE: 'UNDERSTANDING SALAFISM: SEEKING THE PATH OF THE PIOUS PREDECESSORS' - Review of the minhaj

With author: Shaykh Dr Yasir Qadhi [Dean of the Islamic Seminary of America]

Respondents:

Professor Jon Hoover [Professor of Islamic Studies, Nottingham University]

Professor Raihan Ismail [Professor of Contemporary Islamic Studies, Oxford University]

Hosts/chairs include:

Paul Williams [Blogging Theology Academy - www.bloggingtheologyacademy.com ]

Mufti Shafiur Rahman [ Al-Salam Institute (ASI), London]

Dr Engy Moussa [Cambridge University]

Nasim Ahmed [Middle East Monitor [MEMO]]

Dr Mohammed Sinan Siyech [Wolverhampton University]

Date: Sunday 13th July 2025

Time: 8.30am - 4pm

Location: London - Birbeck College, University of London

In Understanding Salafism, Dr Yasir Qadhi delves into the origins of the movement, from the earliest debates in Islam to Salafism today, in both the Western and Islamic worlds. In an analysis covering Salafism in the Middle East, Europe, the United States and Africa, he illuminates Salafism’s theological ideas, the debates within Salafism about political participation, and its relationship to other schools in Sunni Islam.

In this intensive one day course, we will cover the following chapters of the book with fellow academic Respondent reflections and critique and open Q and sessions:

1. A Bird’s Eye View of Salafism til today

2. A Comprehensive History of Salafi Thought: From its Origins to Modernity

3. Wahhabism and Salafism

4. Salafism and the other schools/groups: Case Studies

5. Global Salafism in the Contemporary World

6. Summary and conclusions and the future of Salafi dawah

Copies of the book will be available for purchase [Published by Oneworld Publications]

About the main presenter: *Shaykh Dr Yasir Qadhi is a resident scholar of the East Plano Islamic Center in Texas, and dean of the Islamic Seminary of America. He is one of the few people who has combined a traditional Eastern Islamic seminary education with Western academic training in the study of Islam. He has a bachelor’s degree from the Islamic University of Madinah, a master’s from the College of Dawah, and a PhD in Religious Studies from Yale University.

Respondants:

Professor Jon Hoover [Professor of Islamic Studies, Nottingham University]- Professor Jon Hoover is Professor of Islamic Studies at the University of Nottingham. He specialises in Islamic intellectual history, medieval Islamic theology and philosophy, Christian–Muslim relations, and the thought of Ibn Taymiyya. He is the author of Ibn Taymiyya’s Theodicy of Perpetual Optimism, and numerous articles and book chapters on Ibn Taymiyya’s theology and ethics.

Professor Raihan Ismail [Professor of Contemporary Islamic Studies, Oxford University] - Professor Raihan Ismail is the His Highness Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al-Thani Professor of Contemporary Islamic Studies. Raihan’s research interests include Political Islam, sectarianism, and the intertwining nature of religion and politics in the Middle East. Before moving to Oxford, Raihan was based at the Australian National University, teaching courses on Islam, the Modern Middle East, Sunni-Shia relations, Gender and Culture in the Middle East, and Muslim Politics. She was the co-recipient of the 2018 Max Crawford Medal, awarded by the Australian Academy of the Humanities for ‘outstanding achievement in the humanities by an early-career scholar’. She also delivered the 8th Hancock Lecture for the Academy, titled “Hybrid Civilisation or the Clash of Civilisations: Rethinking the Muslim Other.” From 2019 to 2022, Raihan was an Australian Research Council Fellow (DECRA). She was the Goldman Faculty Leave Fellow at Brandeis University for the 2022-2023 academic year. Raihan has been the co-convenor (2015-2018) and convenor (2019-2020) of the Political Islam seminar series for various Australian Commonwealth government agencies. She has also delivered consultancies for the Australian Attorney General’s Department and Departments of Defence and Foreign Affairs. She is a regular commentator in international media on Islam and Middle East politics. She shares her research expertise on various media outlets, and has given numerous interviews including on Voice of America, BBC World, BBC Arabic, ABC TV and ABC Radio National. She has appeared as a panellist on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s Q&A program. In 2019, she was placed in the ABC’s Top 5 Media Residency Program for humanities scholars in Australia. She has written in academic and non-academic outlets including the Washin gton Post’s Monkey Cage publication. She is the author of Saudi Clerics and Shia Islam (Oxford University Press, 2016) and Rethinking Salafism: The Transnational Networks of Salafi ‘Ulama in Egypt, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia (Oxford University Press, 2021). She has a Bachelors Degree in Political Science, with a minor in Islamic Studies, and a Masters in International Relations from the International Islamic University of Malaysia, and a PhD from the ANU.

Paul Williams [Blogging Theology Academy - www.bloggingtheologyacademy.com ] is host of the Blogging Theology channel, one of the world's most popular YouTube channels discussing comparative religion by introducing some academic and scholarly content to the subject matter, especially concerning the Abrahamic faiths Judaism, Christianity and Islam. He is a blogger and bibliophile based in London and the South of France.

*Dr Engy Moussa is a supervisor of Politics at Cambridge University and was a research fellow at Cambridge Muslim College. She is also James Buchanan Fellow at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University and a Bye-Fellow at Hughes Hall College at the University of Cambridge. She received her PhD in Politics and International Studies from the University of Cambridge, and earned the Alimiyyah Degree in Arabic and Islamic Studies. She is also a graduate of the Diploma in Contextual Islamic Studies and Leadership from Cambridge Muslim College. Her research interests include Islamic governance and politics, social and political movements, authoritarian rule, and critical security studies. She was a senior teaching associate at the Department of Politics and International Studies at the University of Cambridge.

*Mufti Shafiur Rahman began his Arabic and Islamic studies under notable scholars in the UK. He later studied Shariah at Ma’had al-Fath in Damascus (2006) and then travelled to Cairo to study Shariah at the prestigious Al-Azhar University. He has spent a number of years studying the classical Islamic disciplines under a variety of traditionally-trained ulama and has received ijazah in hadith from scholars including Shaykh Akram Nadwi and others. He graduated from Al-Salam Institute and was awarded with the shahada al-‘alimiyya (Licence in Islamic Scholarship) and later the Takhassus fi al-Ifta’ [Licence of Specialisation in Legal Verdicts] under the supervision of Shaykh Akram Nadwi.

*Dr Mohammed Sinan Siyech is a Senior Researcher at Equi who was awarded his doctorate from the University of Edinburgh in 2024. His research at Equi focuses on supervising and developing studies addressing social issues impacting British Muslim communities, with an emphasis on political, religious, and security concerns. Sinan also teaches politics at King’s College London and the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS). His academic expertise is complemented by practical experience from his time at global think tanks, including the Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD) in London and the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS) in Singapore. Sinan pursued an Arabic Language Diploma from Summit Academy in Mukalla, Yemen. His research at RSIS focusses on insurgency, civil war and terrorism in Yemen and India. He has written various articles on Al Qaeda and the Islamic State and foreign policy pertaining to these countries. Additionally, Sinan also works on combatting violent extremism. He studies Hindutva and Salafism apart from extremism in the online sphere. In addition to his academic career, Sinan has consulted for various international organisations and government bodies in Asia and Europe. He has presented his work on politics, security and religion in forums hosted by and alongside notable organisations such as the United Nations, Interpol, and Meta. With over 150 publications, he has made significant contributions to discussions on security, religion and politics across Europe, South Asia, and the Middle East. Currently he is an International Relations lecturer at the Wolverhampton University.

*Nasim Ahmed is a political analyst. He publishes articles on a daily basis with the London based Middle East Monitor (MEMO) focusing in particular on Israel and Palestine and the Gulf region. He also hosts a regular show interviewing prominent authors and academics on topics related to the Middle East.

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AUDIENCE: Because of the academic and theological nature of the subject, it is aimed at Imams, duaat, students of Islamic Sciences, Islamic Studies post graduates, academics, policy makers, think-tank agencies, senior community Muslim thinkers, as well as from the general public who are interested in at a nuanced and advanced level of discourse of the subject matter at hand.

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All welcome, limited spaces, pre-registration required!

DEADLINE FOR BOOKINGS APPLY after which prices increase

For more information call/tel: 07956735301 or email: info@islamiccourses.org

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* Please note, time and resources have been set aside to ensure the programme runs in a smooth and professional manner for the maximum benefit of participants and thus unless the programme has been postponed or cancelled, there are NO REFUNDS as part of the terms and condition policy.

*Lunch and refreshments can be purchased at cafe's or restaurant's near to the venue and NOT included in ticket price.

*The course is BOTH in person ONSITE in London and for those who can not attend in person can purchase the LIVE ONLINE STREAMING ticket to watch it from their device and those coming in person, should decide not to attend person on the day or half the day, you will still recieve a link to the live online streaming, irrespective but are encouraged to attend in person if you have registered for that ticket, as this helps with allows room allocation, respectively for fellow participants

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