People who know

The people who know

Muhammad (570-632) Arguably one of the greatest human beings ever, the Prophet of Islam (aws), was the living example of the Qur'an -- a book of verse unequalled in Arabic and the spiritual heart of Islam... Rabi`a of Basra (d.801) O Allah! If I worship You for fear of Hell, burn me in Hell, and if I worship You in hope of Paradise, exclude me from Paradise. But if I worship You for Your Own sake, grudge me not Your everlasting Beauty... Ibn Sina (980-1037) Physician, encyclopaedist, mathematician and astronomer, known as al-Sheikh al-Rais (Leader among the wise men) by his students, Ibn Sina was one of the people of the Way and the greatest philosopher-scientist of the golden age of Islam... Suhrawardi (1154-91) His works established him as the founder of a new school of philosophy in the Muslim world, the school of Illuminationist philosophy (hikmat al-ishraq).. Al-Ghazali (1058-1111) One of the great jurists, theologians and Sufis of the 12th Century, Abu Hamid al-Ghazali authored a number of classic works, including 'Revival of Religious Sciences' and 'Deliverance from Error'... Ibn Arabi (1165-1240) Also known as Muhyiddin (the Revivifier of Religion), he is believed to have authored around 350 works, including Futūhāt al-Makkiyya, a vast encyclopaedia of spiritual knowledge... Ibn Qayyim Al-Jawziyya (1292-1350) Student of Ibn Taymiyah and commonly referred to as "the scholar of the heart" because of his extensive works pertaining to human behavior and ethics... Muhammad Abduh (1849-1905) An Egyptian jurist and liberal reformer, widely regarded as one of the fathers of Islamic Modernism and more recently as the founder of so-called Neo-Mu'tazilism... Muhammad Iqbal (1877-1938) A poet whose passionate and moral works are still recited in Mosques around the UK, as well as being a philosopher familiar with both European and Islamic traditions... Ali Abderraziq (1888-1966) One of the forerunners of the modern critical movement, Abderraziq's critical exploration of the early history of Islam led him to argue that the basic tenets of Islam are not the laws of a political organization, but moral values... Fazlur Rahman (1918-1988) Author of 'Islam', an intellectual history and call to reform, Rahman was known by his critics as the 'destroyer of hadiths' because of his belief of evaluating the Prophet's (aws) sayings against the overall spirit of the Qur'an... Shaykh Nazim (b.1922-) The world leader of the most distinguished Naqshbandi order of Sufis, Shaykh Nazim is both a scholar of the Divine Law (shari'ah), being the mufti of Turkish Cyprus, as well as the Shaykh of the Way (tariqah)... Zaki Badawi (1922-2006) UK-based Egyptian Islamic scholar, promoter of interfaith-dialogue, and founding principal of the Muslim College in London, Badawi was a renown writer and broadcaster on Islamic affairs... Idries Shah (1924-1996) Founder of Octagon Press, Shah's acerbic writings are both hilarious and profound, and his works continue to appeal to a wide audience within the developed world, having been translated into 12 languages... Yusuf al-Qaradawi (b.1926- ) Egyptian Muslim scholar and preacher best known for his website IslamOnline (founded 1997) and his popular al Jazeera program, ash-Shariah wal-Hayat ("Shariah and Life")... Nawal El Saadawi (b.1931- ) Doctor, vociferous campaigner against female genital mutilation, and author of 'The Hidden Face of Eve: Women in the Arab World' (1977; trans. Sherif Hetata, 1980)... Ali Shariati (1933-1977) An uncompromising critic of oppressive political regimes, Shariati argued that science, sociology, religion and love could deliver humankind from the prisons of nature, history, the social order and the self... Seyyed Hossein Nasr (b.1933- ) Born in Tehran and educated at MIT and Harvard, Nasr has held academic posts in Iran and studied Sufism. He is a prolific author and currently University Professor of Islamic Studies at the George Washington University... Fatima Mernissi (b.1940- ) Author of Beyond the Veil and Women and Islam, Mernissi was formerly one of the foremost writers on women's issues within Islam, but switched her research focus to civil society following the gulf war... Leila Ahmed (b.1940- ) Islamic feminist who argues that female oppression in the Middle East is due to the prevalence of patriarchal interpretations of Islam rather than Islam itself... Nasr Abu Zayd (b.1943- ) Academic whose literary Qur'anic hermeneutics saw him exiled from his native Egypt, Abu Zayd currently holds the Ibn Rushd Chair of Humanism and Islam at the University for Humanistics, Utrecht... Riffat Hassan (b.1943- ) A leading Islamic feminist and founder of The International Network for the Rights of Female Victims of Violence in Pakistan, which works against honor killings... Abdulkarim Soroush (b.1945- ) Turning a clear analytical eye upon the delusions of reactionary Muslim textual exegesis and thought, Soroush's 'positive revivalism' focuses on the philosophical and sociological foundations of textual interpretation... Abdullahi Ahmed An-Na'im (b.1946- ) Prominent follower of the late Mahmoud Mohamed Taha, now Charles Howard Candler Professor of Law at Emory Law School, a scholar of Islam and human rights in cross-cultural perspectives... Asma Barlas (b.1950- ) Director of the Center for the Study of Culture, Race, and Ethnicity of the department of politics at Ithaca College, New York, Barlas' specialities include international politics, Qur'anic hermeneutics, and gender... Amina Wadud (b.1952- ) Combining a gendered reading of the Qur'an with her own experiences as an African-American, Wadud argues that Islamic injunctions should be interpreted in relation to historical circumstances... Farid Esack (b.1959- ) One of the co-authors of The Progressive Muslim Declaration, Esack's humane vision of Islam was forged in the fight against Apartheid and he remains one of the more radical of the new progressive Muslims... Tariq Ramadan (b.1962- ) Teacher and author/co-author of over 20 books and over 700 articles, Ramadan has studied European philosophy and French literature, as well as Arabic and Islamic Studies at both Geneva and Al-Azhar... Khaled Abou El Fadl (b.1963- ) One of the leading authorities in Islamic law in the United States and Europe, and a staunch critic of 'Salafabi' Muslims and their so-called 'theology of power'...

The people who know

Muhammad (570-632)
Arguably one of the greatest human beings ever, the Prophet of Islam (aws), was the living example of the Qur'an -- a book of verse unequalled in Arabic and the spiritual heart of Islam...

Rabi`a of Basra (d.801)
O Allah! If I worship You for fear of Hell, burn me in Hell, and if I worship You in hope of Paradise, exclude me from Paradise. But if I worship You for Your Own sake, grudge me not Your everlasting Beauty...

Ibn Sina (980-1037)
Physician, encyclopaedist, mathematician and astronomer, known as al-Sheikh al-Rais (Leader among the wise men) by his students, Ibn Sina was one of the people of the Way and the greatest philosopher-scientist of the golden age of Islam...

Suhrawardi (1154-91)
His works established him as the founder of a new school of philosophy in the Muslim world, the school of Illuminationist philosophy (hikmat al-ishraq)..

Al-Ghazali (1058-1111)
One of the great jurists, theologians and Sufis of the 12th Century, Abu Hamid al-Ghazali authored a number of classic works, including 'Revival of Religious Sciences' and 'Deliverance from Error'...

Ibn Arabi (1165-1240)
Also known as Muhyiddin (the Revivifier of Religion), he is believed to have authored around 350 works, including Futūhāt al-Makkiyya, a vast encyclopaedia of spiritual knowledge...

Ibn Qayyim Al-Jawziyya (1292-1350)
Student of Ibn Taymiyah and commonly referred to as "the scholar of the heart" because of his extensive works pertaining to human behavior and ethics...

Muhammad Abduh (1849-1905)
An Egyptian jurist and liberal reformer, widely regarded as one of the fathers of Islamic Modernism and more recently as the founder of so-called Neo-Mu'tazilism...

Muhammad Iqbal (1877-1938)
A poet whose passionate and moral works are still recited in Mosques around the UK, as well as being a philosopher familiar with both European and Islamic traditions...

Ali Abderraziq (1888-1966)
One of the forerunners of the modern critical movement, Abderraziq's critical exploration of the early history of Islam led him to argue that the basic tenets of Islam are not the laws of a political organization, but moral values...

Fazlur Rahman (1918-1988)
Author of 'Islam', an intellectual history and call to reform, Rahman was known by his critics as the 'destroyer of hadiths' because of his belief of evaluating the Prophet's (aws) sayings against the overall spirit of the Qur'an...

Shaykh Nazim (b.1922-)
The world leader of the most distinguished Naqshbandi order of Sufis, Shaykh Nazim is both a scholar of the Divine Law (shari'ah), being the mufti of Turkish Cyprus, as well as the Shaykh of the Way (tariqah)...

Zaki Badawi (1922-2006)
UK-based Egyptian Islamic scholar, promoter of interfaith-dialogue, and founding principal of the Muslim College in London, Badawi was a renown writer and broadcaster on Islamic affairs...

Idries Shah (1924-1996)
Founder of Octagon Press, Shah's acerbic writings are both hilarious and profound, and his works continue to appeal to a wide audience within the developed world, having been translated into 12 languages...

Yusuf al-Qaradawi (b.1926- )
Egyptian Muslim scholar and preacher best known for his website IslamOnline (founded 1997) and his popular al Jazeera program, ash-Shariah wal-Hayat ("Shariah and Life")...

Nawal El Saadawi (b.1931- )
Doctor, vociferous campaigner against female genital mutilation, and author of 'The Hidden Face of Eve: Women in the Arab World' (1977; trans. Sherif Hetata, 1980)...

Ali Shariati (1933-1977)
An uncompromising critic of oppressive political regimes, Shariati argued that science, sociology, religion and love could deliver humankind from the prisons of nature, history, the social order and the self...

Seyyed Hossein Nasr (b.1933- )
Born in Tehran and educated at MIT and Harvard, Nasr has held academic posts in Iran and studied Sufism. He is a prolific author and currently University Professor of Islamic Studies at the George Washington University...

Fatima Mernissi (b.1940- )
Author of Beyond the Veil and Women and Islam, Mernissi was formerly one of the foremost writers on women's issues within Islam, but switched her research focus to civil society following the gulf war...

Leila Ahmed (b.1940- )
Islamic feminist who argues that female oppression in the Middle East is due to the prevalence of patriarchal interpretations of Islam rather than Islam itself...

Nasr Abu Zayd (b.1943- )
Academic whose literary Qur'anic hermeneutics saw him exiled from his native Egypt, Abu Zayd currently holds the Ibn Rushd Chair of Humanism and Islam at the University for Humanistics, Utrecht...

Riffat Hassan (b.1943- )
A leading Islamic feminist and founder of The International Network for the Rights of Female Victims of Violence in Pakistan, which works against honor killings...

Abdulkarim Soroush (b.1945- )
Turning a clear analytical eye upon the delusions of reactionary Muslim textual exegesis and thought, Soroush's 'positive revivalism' focuses on the philosophical and sociological foundations of textual interpretation...

Abdullahi Ahmed An-Na'im (b.1946- )
Prominent follower of the late Mahmoud Mohamed Taha, now Charles Howard Candler Professor of Law at Emory Law School, a scholar of Islam and human rights in cross-cultural perspectives...

Asma Barlas (b.1950- )
Director of the Center for the Study of Culture, Race, and Ethnicity of the department of politics at Ithaca College, New York, Barlas' specialities include international politics, Qur'anic hermeneutics, and gender...

Amina Wadud (b.1952- )
Combining a gendered reading of the Qur'an with her own experiences as an African-American, Wadud argues that Islamic injunctions should be interpreted in relation to historical circumstances...

Farid Esack (b.1959- )
One of the co-authors of The Progressive Muslim Declaration, Esack's humane vision of Islam was forged in the fight against Apartheid and he remains one of the more radical of the new progressive Muslims...

Tariq Ramadan (b.1962- )
Teacher and author/co-author of over 20 books and over 700 articles, Ramadan has studied European philosophy and French literature, as well as Arabic and Islamic Studies at both Geneva and Al-Azhar...

Khaled Abou El Fadl (b.1963- )
One of the leading authorities in Islamic law in the United States and Europe, and a staunch critic of 'Salafabi' Muslims and their so-called 'theology of power'...