Instructor: Shaykh Ahmed El-Azhary
Course Overview
This course is a unique combination of beliefs and logic based on Imam Sanusi’s foundational theology treatise Umm al-Baraheen (The Summary of Theological Proofs) and Abhari’s indispensable Logic manual Isaghuji. A solid study of these two texts prepares seekers of knowledge to study the Rational Sciences at a higher level as they cover the most essential notions of Theology and Logic. In addition, combining the study of these two sciences together allows students to be equipped with both theory and practice. In this course, students will not only learn the methods of reasoning in general, but they will also learn about how to reason, specifically, in theological contexts. Students will also learn about the different approaches to the study of Beliefs and they will be able to define the role and scope of Theology.
About the Texts
Isaghuji by Imam Athir al-Din al-Abhari (d. 663 A.H. / 1265 C.E.) is the most popular foundational logic primer in traditional Islamic schools (madrasas). It provides students with the necessary basic principles and introduces them to the key terminologies and methodologies of Logic. The Sanusiyya by Shaykh Muhammad ibn Yusuf al-Sanusi (d. 895 AH / 1489 CE) has arguably been the most popular introduction to mainstream Islamic Theology ever since it was written five hundred years ago by the learned and pious West African theologian.
About the Authors
Athir al-Din al-Abhari (d. 663 A.H. / 1265 C.E.) is famous as an astronomer, scientist, and philosopher, but he was also a scholar of Islamic Theology (kalam) and Sacred Legal Theory (usul al-fiqh). His primer on Logic is his most famous work, studied in religious seminaries all over the Islamic world ever since it was written all the way down to the present day.
Shaykh Muhammad b. Yusuf al-Sanusi (d. 895 AH / 1489 CE) was a North African theologian and mystic. He is widely known for his series of theological manuals. He authored an entire curriculum of theological treatises of varying lengths and for varying pedagogical levels.
Learning Outcomes
• Explain what Muslims believe about Allah Most High and His Messengers.
• Prove the truthfulness of these beliefs.
• Respond to common objections to belief in Allah Most High and His Messengers.
• Describe the historical development of mainstream Islamic Theology.
• Appreciate the scholarly depth of the Islamic theological tradition.
• Understand the importance and the nature of Classical Logic.
• Identify and explain key Logic concepts and terms.
• Distinguish the different forms of logical reasoning within traditional texts.
Note:
Both are level two required courses in Islamic Studies Curriculum
About The Instructor
Shaykh Ahmed El Azhary is a researcher in Islamic intellectual history and a teacher of Islamic traditional sciences. He’s currently a teacher of Hadith, Usūl, Logic and Kalam at Rawdatul-Na`īm under the supervision of Habib `Ali al-Jifrī; and at Madyafat Shaykh Ismaīl Sadiq al-`Adawī (RA), a prominent learning center by al-Azhar Mosque in Cairo.
Shaykh Ahmed studied Anthropology at American University in Cairo and received his training in Leadership Communication from Tulane University and The University of Alabama at Birmingham. He is also a life-long learner. He holds a diversified portfolio of almost 50 certificates in a variety of subjects – extending from Teaching Character and Clinical Psychology of Children and Young People to Complexity Theory, Model Thinking and Conflict Analysis.
Shaykh Ahmed began his journey of studying traditional sciences about 20 years ago. In addition to studying with scholars from al-Azhar, he had the privilege of studying with visiting scholars from Algeria and India in a one-on-one format, and was thus given an exceptional opportunity to study and discuss advanced-level texts of different sorts and over a long period of time. Shaykh Ahmed has more than 70 Ijazas from scholars from all over the Muslim world.
Beside a number of edited works about to be released in Islamic pedagogy, linguistics and Hanafi Usūl, Shaykh Ahmed has authored Rūh al-`Ilm – a treatise in the art of scientific investigation, based on a survey of roughly 200 traditional Islamic texts, and has been endorsed by Dr. Jamāl Fārūq, the Dean of Islamic Da`wah College at al-Azhar University and Dr. Ahmed Mamdūh, the Chair of Research Division at Dar al-Iftaa’ al-Masrīyah. Rūh al-`Ilm will be published by Tabah Foundation in the early of summer of 2019.
- Teacher: Shaykh Ahmed El Azhary
