April Update: 26 April Ibn Sina Lecture plus CM49 Scotland Issue Out Now

View this email in your browser APRIL 2024 HOLD THE DATE: 2024 MUSLIM INSTITUTE WINTER GATHERING:  FRIDAY 1st - SUNDAY 3rd NOVEMBER, SARUM COLLEGE, SALISBURY. DETAILS TO FOLLOW. The full video book launch held in March of the new ground-breaking The Qur'an: A Verse Translation and the CM Saliha launch and memorial event (with subtitles) held in January are now available to view. The Muslim Institute is proud to launch the Inaugural Annual Ibn Sina Lectures & Islamic Art Exhibition to be held at Leeds Civic Hall on Friday 26 April 2024: Ibn Sina – the Philosopher's Philosopher from the Golden Age of Islam Watch Promotional Video: Interview with Ibn Sina Inaugural Lecture speaker Dr Fedor Benevich  Abū ʿAlī al-Ḥusayn ibn ʿAbdallāh ibn Sīnā (980-1037 CE) is amongst the most influential philosophers in history.  Known in the Latin West under the name of Avicenna, Ibn Sīnā played a pivotal role in the history of philosophy and science within the Muslim world and beyond during the Golden Age of Islam. The speaker will Dr Fedor Benevich, a leading scholar on Ibn Sina. The event will also exhibit rare and precious Islamic artefacts, Qur'ans and calligraphy courtesy of the generosity of Razwan Baig, whose stunning private collection is one of the largest such collections in the UK. Mr Baig is a curator, master calligrapher & Islamic Art designer. Email info@musliminstitute.org to register. More event details below.  INAUGURAL IBN SINA LECTURE & ISLAMIC ART EXHIBITION Leeds Civic Hall, Friday 26 April 2024   Ibn Sina – the Philosopher's Philosopher from the Golden Age of Islam Exhibition opens from 1pm to 7pm. Lecture 5pm to 7pm. Followed by food. Abū ʿAlī al-Ḥusayn ibn ʿAbdallāh ibn Sīnā (980-1037 CE) is amongst the most influential philosophers in history.  Known in the Latin West under the name of Avicenna, Ibn Sīnā played a pivotal role in the history of philosophy and science within the Muslim world and beyond during the Golden Age of Islam. Ibn Sīnā gained fame at a young age as a prodigy in philosophy and medicine. After serving as a physician at the courts of Isfahan and Hamadhan, he authored what is arguably the most important medieval book in medicine, the Canon of Medicine. Translated into Latin in the 12th century, it remained one of the most widely read sources on medicine until the early modern period. In the Islamic world, Ibn Sīnā became the main authority in medicine, replacing Galen in this role.   If, in medicine, Ibn Sīnā replaced Galen, then in philosophy, he did so with Aristotle. Before Ibn Sīnā, philosophy in the Islamic world was largely focused on reacting against and developing Aristotelian philosophy. After Ibn Sīnā, the spotlight shifted to his philosophy. Ibn Sīnā proposed a new system of metaphysics, philosophy of mind, and epistemology that significantly reformed Aristotelian philosophy, aligning it with the religious and intellectual realities of the Islamic world. This system largely defines Islamic philosophical thought up to the present day. In this inaugural lecture, Dr Fedor Benevich, a leading scholar on Ibn Sina, will explore the life, works, and influence of Ibn Sīnā in the Islamic world. Was Ibn Sīnā's lifestyle as extravagant as some later reports suggest? Which works of Ibn Sīnā should we read to gain a good grasp of his thought? How does Ibn Sīnā understand God, and what are his views on the immortality of human beings? These, along with other related questions, will be in the spotlight of this lecture.    Dr Fedor Benevich is Lecturer in Islamic Philosophy at the University of Edinburgh. He completed his PhD in Philosophy at Ludwig Maximilian University (Munich) in 2016 under the supervision of Prof Peter Adamson, with the thesis titled "Essentiality and Necessity: Avicenna and the Aristotelian Tradition (in German)." This thesis was later published as a monograph (Brill, 2018).   Dr Benevich is the author of multiple articles and chapters on history of philosophy in the Islamic world, published in top Philosophy and Islamic studies journals. He is also a co-author of The Heirs of Avicenna: Philosophy in the Islamic East from the 12th to the 13th Century: Metaphysics and Theology (Brill, 2023). Dr Benevich's current research focuses on the philosophy of Ibn Sīnā (Avicenna), post-classical philosophy in the Islamic world, and the philosophy of kalām (Islamic philosophical theology). The lecture will be followed by food and drink generously donated by My Lahore British Asian Kitchen.    Islamic Art Exhibition To initiate the Ibn Sīnā lectures, the Muslim Institute in collaboration with the generosity of Razwan Baig, will exhibit rare and precious Islamic artefacts, Qur'ans and calligraphy. In Islam, various forms of artistic expression have been used to inspire believers towards devotion of God. This exhibition will provide a glimpse into the world of Islamic artefacts and calligraphy, showcasing a stunning variety of calligraphic forms over the last 1400 years and from a broad geographic expanse of the Muslim world. Mr Baig's private collection is one of the biggest collection of such items in the UK. Razwan Baig is a curator, a master calligrapher & Islamic Art designer. Register your place: info@musliminstitute.org Scotland: Issue 49 of Critical Muslim out now! Robin Yassin-Kassab travels to the most northerly mosque in Scotland, Jeremy Henzell-Thomas confesses his affection for all things Scottish, Leila Aboulela identifies three Scots who influenced her novels, Saqib Razzaq outlines the Muslim heritage of Scotland, Nayab Khalid tries to save the Scottish environment, Arusa Qureshi falls in love with hip hop, Kirsty MacDougall attempts to revive Gaelic language and culture, Robin Ade goes fishing, Alycia Pirmohamed meanders around Scottish coastline, James Brooks sits through the films of Ken Loach, Bill Holmes (Mohammad Ameen) paints the Galloway uplands, and our list of ten Scottish things. Also in this issue: John O'Donoghue reads a refreshing novel about refugees, Abdullah Geelah is impressed by Todd Webb's photographs of Africa, Steve Noyes sifts through five Muslim memoirs, short stories by Shah Tazrian Ashrafi and Parand, poems by Zahra Wadia, Deema K Shehabi, and David Pollard, Mishal Saif's analysis of blasphemy in Pakistan and Amandla Thomas-Johnson's American Diary.  Get your copy here. Fellows receive complimentary copies. Book launch -The Qur'an: A Verse Translation On Tuesday 5th March, days before the start of Ramadan, the Muslim Institute teamed up with publishers W. W. Norton & Company to host Bruce Lawrence and M.A.R. Habib for the London launch of their new ground-breaking publication The Qur'an: A Verse Translation.  The event, open to Muslim Institute fellows and the public, took place in the beautiful surroundings of the library at Conway Hall, central London. The chair, Farhana Mayer, engaged the two authors in an introductory conversation, interspersed by readings from their new translation. This gave the audience a fascinating insight into their 10 year endeavour to render the Qur'an into verse. The conversation was followed by an audience Q&A that made for a wide-ranging and deep engagement with the speakers and their newly wrought text. The evening ended with a book-signing, with everyone present receiving a specially designed and produced Muslim Institute/Critical Muslim bookmark to go along with their new copy of the Qur'an. The entire event was filmed. Click here to view the video and photos from the event.  The Muslim Institute at 50: What happened and how the world changed The biggest and most successful Muslim Institute Winter Gathering for many years took place in December 2023 at Sarum College, Salisbury. Fellows and friends heard an array of local and international speakers brought together by the Institute to celebrate and interrogate the 2023 theme The Muslim Institute at 50: What happened and how the world changed. Many of the speakers during the weekend residential were there at the start of the Institute's journey in 1973 and had flown from the Middle East, North America and Africa to be with us. They were joined with key activists who have built Muslim political, social and community organisations in the UK across the decades. Also taking part was Bosnia's Grand Mufti Emeritus Mustafa Cerić. As one new fellow told us "what an excellent and mentally-stimulating weekend this was". Three of our fellows have written their personal impressions of the Winter Gathering and what they took away from the event.  You can read them here. See photos of the event here. info@musliminstitute.org  |  www.musliminstitute.org 7 - 14 Great Dover Street, London, England, SE1 4YR   Copyright © 2023 Muslim Institute, All rights reserved. You are on our list because you have volunteered your email to us.

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