Category: Courses

Understanding the Qur’an

The Spring 2024 course explores the history of revelation or words of God in Islam; the formation of the Qur’an as a book; its interpretation from medieval to modern times; its major themes; how the Qur’an introduces itself: the book of guidance, and virtues; the question of translatability; teaching the Qur’an as religious literature from a neutral viewpoint that could be understood from a secular/non-theological perspective; the lessons one might apply from literary criticism, biblical studies, and historical methodology; and its message for human beings in the contemporary world.

The Problem of Evil

The 2024 course explores the key concepts and major issues of the problem of evil and its three types of responses. ‘The problem of evil’ as the challenge of reconciling the existence of a perfect being (Omnipotent, Omniscient, and omnibenevolent God) with the existence of evil, suffering, and sin has been one of the greatest intellectual problems. The epistemic question posed by evil is whether the world contains undesirable states of affairs that provide the basis for an argument that makes it unreasonable to believe in the existence of God.

Islamic Philosophy and Mysticism (Sufi’s Approach to Philosophy)

This course focuses on Sufi’s approach to philosophy, especially on the Philosophy of Illumination of Suhrawardi and The Transcendent Philosophy of Mulla Sadra. The course starts with an introduction to the philosophy of Suhrawardi, and Mulla Sadra as well as the mystical works of Avicenna, al-Gazali, and Ibn Tufail. The main body of the course is studying and analyzing symbolic and mystical recitals of Avicenna, Suhrawardi, Gazali, Ibn Tufail, and others. We try to examine the key themes of philosophy, Sufism, and philosophical Sufism through these symbolic and mystical recitals.

MUSLIM ETHICS AND ISLAMIC LAW

Understanding the shari‘a is key to understanding the Islamic tradition. The ethical debates impact policy questions ranging from gender, democratic citizenship, technology, and sexual violence to matters related to the ethics of war and peace. We will be attentive to the confluence of various discourses: history, politics, and anthropology in dialogue with the interpretative regimes of Islamic discourses. Ethics provide maps of the histories of interpretative communities and allow us to identify the various typologies as well as trajectories of the Muslim subject in the present and the past.

Islam & the Meaning of Life

The range of topics implicated by the “meaning of life” as essentials of Islamic philosophy and theology includes the features of the good life; true happiness; the quest for eternity and not to be forgotten; overcoming loneliness and alienation; peacefulness; seeking truth and reducing suffering; living in a purposeful universe; free will; the ultimate purpose of the human life; necessary cause for moral obligations; faith and reason; human dignity; the quest for absolute beauty and good; knowing the Beginning and the Return; the observation of transcendence and immanence.

Religion and Politics in Post-Revolutionary Iran

What is the relationship between religion and politics in general and Islam and politics in particular? What does ‘political Islam’ or ‘Islamism mean’? What was Khomeini’s political thought? What does theocracy do with secularism and democracy? What is the role of election in a quasi-democratic regime? How did regime expediency secularize the administration? What is the relationship between civil law and Islamic law (sharia)? Why did the Islamic Republic of Iran transform from a competitive electoral to a non-competitive electoral authoritarian regime?

Comparative Medieval Philosophy

Medieval philosophy is a prerequisite to understanding the theology of Abrahamic traditions, metaphysics, philosophical psychology, and political philosophy. We will focus on six top philosophers: Alfarabi, Avicenna, al-Ghazali, Averroes, Maimonides, and Thomas Aquinas. After discussing general information about two translation movements, these distinguished philosophers, their works, and their philosophical innovations through the translation of a few of their major works, we will focus on comparative studies on three important subjects: God, creation, and freedom in three Abrahamic traditions, focusing on Avicenna, Averroes, Maimonides, and Aquinas in detail.

Religion and Science

This course discusses the relationship between religion and science from four perspectives: religion and ‘history’ of science; religion and ‘method’ of science; religion and the ‘theories’ of science; ‘philosophical and theological’ reflections. The major subjects of discussions: first, physics: quantum theory, relativity, order and complexity, and metaphysical implications; second, astronomy: the Big Bang, creation in Abrahamic religions, design, chance and necessity, and theological implications; third, biology: Darwinism and evolutionary theory, natural theology, a hierarchy of levels, and theological implications; fourth, psychology & neuroscience: conciseness, self, soul, dream and religious experience.

The Problem of Evil

Spring 2022 Course: This is an introduction to the problem of evil that examines writings from ancient to present. ‘The problem of evil’ as the challenge of reconciling the existence of an absolutely perfect being (Omnipotent, Omniscient, and omnibenevolent God) with the existence of evil, suffering and sin has been one of the greatest problems of intellectual. The epistemic question posed by evil is whether the world contains undesirable states of affairs that provide the basis for an argument that makes it unreasonable to believe in the existence of God.

Islam

Spring 2022 Course: Islam is simultaneously one of the most frequently discussed and least understood of the world’s major religious traditions. It serves as an introduction to this religious tradition, including the foundational scripture (the Qur’an), the life of the Prophet (Muhammad), and major dimensions of Islamic thought and practice ranging from ethics/law and theology to mysticism and philosophy, as well as contemporary American Muslims. It is designed for any student (of any faith background, or none) who wants to learn about Islam, its essential teachings and its major sources.

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Contact

Email: kadivar.mohsen59 (at) gmail.com

About

Mohsen Kadivar is a mujtahid, Islamic theologian, philosopher, writer, leading intellectual reformist, and research professor of Islamic Studies at Duke University.