NCEIS currently hosts three blogs on diverse areas of Islam. Contributors to each blog include Centre staff, research students, community leaders and others. Readers are free to offer comment on blog posts, and approved comments will be published at the discretion of blog moderators.

Ijtihad Today

Moderator: Abdullah Saeed

This blog is about ijithad. What is ijtihad? Ijtihad is associated with the idea of striving to arrive at a considered opinion on an ethical-legal issue in light of the broad guidelines, principles and ideas provided in the primary sources of Islam, namely the Qur’an and Sunnah of the Prophet. In a sense, it is about thinking creatively within the broad framework of Islamic thought. It is also about ways of meeting the challenges Muslims face today, in the twenty first century. Though ijithad is often used in the context of Islamic legal thought, for the purpose of this blog we will not confine ourselves to ‘legal’ issues. We will cover a range of issues that are of interest to Muslims today.

Examples of the kind of issues I am hoping to discuss are:

1. Is there a need to reform aspects of classical Islamic law in the area of family law (marriage, divorce, custody, inheritance and the like)? If so how?
2. Is there a need to rethink some of the classical Islamic laws such as specific punishments mentioned in the Qur’an and Sunnah? If so, why and how?
3. Is there a need to reconcile some of the classical Islamic understandings of certain areas of human rights such as religious freedom, gender equality, Muslim and non-Muslim equality before the law, equal citizenship and the like? If so, why and how?
4. Is there a need to ‘Islamise’ Muslim societies in areas such as legal systems, economic and financial systems, education systems and the like? If so, why and how?
5. Is there a need to engage in inter-faith dialogue with people of other faiths? If so, how and on what basis?
6. Is there a need to establish an Islamic state today? If so, why and how?

If you are interested in these and similar questions, I welcome your contribution.

-- Abdullah Saeed

Politik

Moderator: Shahram Akbarzadeh

Politik is a forum that provides concise yet in-depth analysis of key political issues with a focus on the Middle East but with an eye to the broader Muslim world. Events critical to both domestic and international politics will be covered to explore the changing political dynamics of the region and to highlight emerging political and social trends. Comments and contributions to the NCEIS Politik are invited.

Studying Islam

Moderator: Eeqbal Hassim

This blog deals with the theory and practice of studying Islam, encompassing all stages and levels of education. There is a strong focus on three aspects of the study of Islam: 1) the historical dimension looks at how aspects of the study of Islam developed or remained consistent since the time of Prophet Muhammad; 2) current issues in the study of Islam; and 3) methodologies of scholarship on Islam (including Western perspectives). Useful and constructive contributions (to be moderated) are invited on any of these three aspects on the study of Islam.