Great Books and Thinkers of Islamic Civilization

With Dr. Timothy Gianotti

This new series, open to everyone, calls attention to the rich diversity of the Islamic tradition by showcasing great books, thinkers, and ideas from all over the world and all fields of endeavor, from all periods of Islamic history and all realms and persuasions of thought.

Time: 7:30 p.m.
Location: Lower social room, Noor Cultural Centre
Admission: $5 per session

SESSION 1 Wednesday January 13, 2010

Abu Hamid al-Ghazali

SESSION 2 Friday February 12, 2010
Abu Nasr al-Farabi

SESSION 3 Friday March 19, 2010
The Mu’tazilah

This session is a philosophical, theological, historical, and political consideration of the Mu’tazilah, a rationalist theological movement of the 8th & 9th centuries, CE. Attention will be given to the great theological debates prior to the rise of the Mu’tazilah, the main features of Mu’tazili thought, the brief ‘Abbasid-Mu’tazili alliance, and the eventual triumph of non-Mu’tazili theologies in the classical or formative period of Islamic intellectual history.

Having finished his one-year term as the Noor Chair of Islamic Studiesat York University and Noor Cultural Centre, Timothy J. Gianotti currently serves as the Noor Fellow in Islamic Studies at York University. Holding a B.A. (1988) from the University of Notre Dame (Great Books, Classics), his M.A. (1990) from the University of Toronto (Islamic Intellectual History, Arabic language & literature), and his Ph.D. (1998) also from the University of Toronto (classical Islamic Philosophy & Theology), his undergraduate and graduate studies included several periods of residence in the West Bank and Jordan, where he studied literary Arabic, Islamic History, various topics in Christian and Jewish thought, and the traditional Islamic religious sciences. Now, in addition to introductory courses in Islamic religious history, theology, and mysticism, he teaches upper level undergraduate and graduate seminars that deal specifically with Islamic spirituality, Islamic theology, Islamic political thought, medieval Islamic and Jewish philosophy, and the language and imagery of war within the Abrahamic religious traditions. He is the author of Al-Ghazali’s Unspeakable Doctrine of the Soul (Leiden: E.J. Brill, 2001), a study of controversies surrounding the soul and the Afterlife in medieval Islam, and he is currently working on two new book projects: an introductory (trade/educational) text titled, In the Light of a Sacred Tree: Illuminations of Islamic Belief, Practice and History, and a second scholarly book titled, Walking the Way of the Afterlife: al-Ghazali on the Jurisprudence of the Heart (fiqh al-qalb).

 Print This Post