"The History and Future of Islamic Philosophy: A Foundational, Critical, and Comparative Approach"

About the Series:

This lecture series, presented in collaboration with the Muslim Association of Canada, contributed to the reconstruction of Islamic rationalism by explaining the fundamentals and creating a discourse around the following three tracks: 

1. The specific characteristics of Islamic rationalism in the classical and post-classical periods.

2. The prospects through which this system of rationalism can respond to the failures of modernist rationalism and its critiques by  contemporary post-modernist projects.

3. The needs and methods for young Muslims in colleges in the west to develop any Islamic perspective on the humanities ultimately leading to  the development of Islamic humanities.

The Speakers and Panelists:

Dr. Ahmed El-Sayed Abdel Meguid has been an Assistant Professor of Religion at Syracuse University since 2011. He received his Ph.D from the Department of Philosophy at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, in the same year.

His areas of specialization include the history of philosophy and philosophy of religion with a special focus on late 18th, 19th and early 20th century German philosophy, as well as Islamic philosophy, theology, and mysticism. He has significantly contributed to the Princeton Encyclopedia of Islamic Political Thought and has also contributed to other books and articles on Islamic philosophy and political realism.

He has received multiple awards and honours including the Fund for Innovative Teaching Award from Emory University in 2011.

Dr. Mohammad H. Fadel is a Professor at the University of Toronto Faculty of Law, which he joined in January 2006. Professor Fadel wrote his Ph.D. dissertation on legal process in medieval Islamic law while at the University of Chicago and received his JD from the University of Virginia School of Law. Professor Fadel was admitted to the Bar of New York in 2000 and practiced law with the firm of Sullivan & Cromwell LLP in New York, New York, where he worked on a wide variety of corporate finance transactions and securities-related regulatory investigations.

Professor Fadel also served as a law clerk to the Honorable Paul V. Niemeyer of the United States Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit and the Honorable Anthony A. Alaimo of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Georgia. Professor Fadel has published numerous articles in Islamic legal history and Islam and liberalism.

Event Topics:

This series took place over three separate events: 

First lecture: Islamic Philosophy and Contemporary Humanities: A Reconsideration (July 12, 2019)

Presented by Dr. Ahmed Abdel Meguid at IRSS’s Oakville Headquarters.

Second lecture: Islamic Philosophy and the Foundations of Political Theory: The Problem of Sovereignty (August 2, 2019)

Presented by Dr. Ahmed Abdel Meguid at the University of Toronto Mississauga.

Third panel: Panel on Morality and Aesthetics in Islamic Law and Philosophy (August 30, 2019)

Presented by Dr. Ahmed Abdel Meguid and Dr. Mohammad Fadel at the University of Toronto St. George Campus.

Lecture Videos:

Clicking on the videos will also bring you to the playlist for each lecture/panel. The second lecture is broken up into 6 videos, and the third lecture, 9 videos.