Islamic artifacts dating back hundreds of years, including the cloth used to cover the Kaaba in Mecca, were showcased at Bradford City Hall in a special exhibition on February 22, 2025.

Riyaz Maniar, the organizer from Dewsbury, described the event as a “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”

“These artifacts and relics hold immense significance for the Muslim world. Even in Mecca and Medina, you can’t get this close to such items,” he said.

“Some of the pieces are from inside the Kaaba, which is extremely rare. Others are from inside the tomb of Prophet Muhammad, which is typically inaccessible unless you’re a member of the Saudi Arabian royal family,” he added.

Among the highlights of the exhibition is the Kiswa, a 29-foot-long (9-meter) cloth that drapes the Kaaba, the sacred structure at the center of the Great Mosque in Mecca. The Kaaba is considered the spiritual heart of Islam.

Crafted from pure silk and adorned with 22-carat gold and silver threads, the Kiswa is embroidered with Quranic verses. It is replaced annually on the ninth day of the Islamic month of Dhul-Hijjah.

The exhibition also featured artifacts from the Ottoman Empire, some over 270 years old, as well as the lock and key from the Kaaba—which is replaced every few years—and a draping from the inner wall of Prophet Muhammad’s tomb.

According to Mr. Maniar, all the pieces on display were generously donated by the Saudi Arabian authorities.

“In Medina, you can only view the external tomb from behind a grill. This exhibition offers a rare chance to see these treasures up close,” he explained.

“Many of the artifacts are made of gold, with intricate calligraphy crafted from gold threads that take a full year to complete.”

The exhibition has previously toured the UK, with stops in Birmingham and Dewsbury, and will be displayed at Batley Town Hall in April.

The event was supported by the Council of Mosques, Bradford City Council, and the restaurant Mr. T’s.

Source: BBC

Studies in Islamic Traditions and Literature

By Roberto Tottoli

Publisher: Routledge

Publication Date: December 18, 2024

Hardcover: 284 Pages

ISBN: 9780367531690

A collection of articles and studies discussing early Islamic tenets and beliefs based on Islamic traditions and literature. A number of studies appear for the first time in English. The topics dealt with relate to the Islamic prostration in ritual prayer, Islamic traditions which are discussed through the analysis of hadith literature and reports and narratives related to the literary genre of the qiṣaṣ al-anbiyā’ (Stories of the Prophets). The readers of this collection of essays are scholars and students of early Islam, of the development hadith literature and of the narratives on Islamic prophets; all together the studies bring to light the dynamics between the formation of early traditions and their role in the origin and developments of Islamic literature.

Table of Contents

About the Author

Roberto Tottoli is Professor of Islamic studies at the Università di Napoli L’Orientale, Italy. His fields of interest are early Islamic traditions and literature and the Qur’an in European history. He completed his bachelor’s degree in Oriental Languages and Literatures at Ca’ Foscari University in Venice and later earned a PhD from the University of Naples “L’Orientale. He studied from 1993 to 1994 at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem under the tutelage of M.J. Kister.

Tottoli taught at the University of Turin from 1999 to 2002 and has been a faculty member at the University of Naples “L’Orientale since 2002. He became a full professor of Islamic studies in 2011 and took on the role of Rector in November 2020. He has held visiting positions at institutions such as Princeton, Harvard, the School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences, the Institute for Advanced Study in Tokyo, and the University of Pennsylvania. Additionally, he was a member of the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton.

In 2019, he began serving as the principal investigator for the ERC-Synergy project EUQU—the European Qur’an, and he is a member of the Italian Academy of sciences.

Source: Routledge

Article by Audrey Thibert

Imam Anwer Imam, a Muslim clergyman in Austin, Texas, remembers his wife telling him that he seemed more himself in his sessions talking to college students about their faith. “Even my own parents,” he said in a recent interview, would tell him, “Your jokes are funnier. You look happier when you’re preparing for those sessions. I used to joke, ‘I wish there was a mosque just full of college kids.’”

Now, he leads one — or rather, he allows the kids to do so.

At Nueces mosque, a three-minute walk from the University of Texas at Austin but with no official affiliation with the university, a majority of the congregation is made up of students and young professionals. Under Imam’s supervision the teens and 20-somethings take the lead in the liturgies and even mosque administration.

It’s a community that Inaya Sheikh, a senior at the school and public relations director at Nueces, said most of the students have never had before.

“A majority of religious centers are run by older people who have experience and wisdom but also lack in certain areas when it comes to connecting with younger folks and catering to their needs, making them feel welcome and helping them grow,” Sheikh said.

Filling that gap, mosques like Nueces and others on and near university campuses around the United States tailor their services to younger congregants, encouraging them to learn to lead prayers and providing opportunities for students interested in public speaking or leadership roles.

They also provide community for many young Muslims, who make up the bulk of the U.S. Muslim population. In 2017, Pew Research Center found that Muslims are “considerably younger than the overall U.S. adult population,” with more than a third between 18 and 29 years old, “a far higher percentage than the share of the general population that falls in that age bracket (21%),” Pew said.

A 2020 study by PRRI, a research group that tracks American religion, similarly showed that the average age among Muslim adults in the U.S. is 33, “significantly lower than the median for all Americans (47), and among the youngest of all religious groups.”

At least nine universities in the U.S. have mosques on or near their campuses that serve younger congregations, including Texas A&M in College Station, Texas Tech in Lubbock, University of Arizona, University of Washington Notre Dame, New York University, University of Wisconsin-Madison, University of Texas at Austin and Georgetown.

Imam, who has led Nueces mosque since finishing a seminary program in Dallas three years ago, said he fell in love with the community at Nueces.

“It’s a very niche kind of time in university students’ lives,” he said. “It’s beneficial for them to plug into any mosque, but having one on campus, where even the day-to-day programs, classes and seminars are managed and curated by students, for students adds a layer.”

He added: “They’ve dedicated a portion of their life to serve something beyond themselves, to serve the community. I think it’s something very, very beautiful.”

Another near-campus mosque, the Islamic Center of Madison, is located minutes from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Ibrahim Saeed, president of the mosque, called it a “training ground” for students who want to get more involved with reciting the Quran or giving the khutbah — the formal sermon given during Friday prayer or on special occasions.

“We test students who show interest to see how good is their reading on the Quran, all kinds of things,” Saeed said. “If I’m not there or somebody else is not there, then some of the students will lead. That’s very interesting for them. They are very happy with that.”

Saeed said about 10 students help lead night prayer during Ramadan, which can take over an hour to complete.

Saeed, who is also the imam at the Islamic Center of Madison, has committed to making the mosque a home for the students. “We told them, ‘This is your place, it’s not ours,’” he said. “We lead the thing, but it’s your place. I think they feel more at home when you let one of them lead the prayer.”

To help prepare the students to give their talks, Saeed sits with them and listens to their reading, recitation and pronunciation of Arabic letters.

Aslam Sayeeduddin, who graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison last year, gave talks at the student mosque in Madison starting in spring of 2023. He said the experience gave him an opportunity to share with the Muslim student community the traditional version of Islam he follows. Sayeeduddin emphasizes that he is not a learned person or an imam, but has spent a lot of time picking up on what scholars have taught him.

“Obviously, you’ve got 18- or 19-year-old students doing this, some of them for the first time. They’re going to make mistakes,” Imam said. “We at Nueces kind of embrace it.

We expect them to make mistakes. Otherwise, how can we correct them?”

Students at Nueces who want to give talks go through training workshops, then practice in front of Imam to get feedback. Imam gives his students autonomy to lead projects they are passionate about, as long as they run it by him first. “My role is I sort of reality-test, validate and temper some of their ideas,” he said. “And put them through the ethos of Islamic values.”

And at the Islamic Center of East Lansing in Michigan, Aamir Baig, a senior at Michigan State University and a member of the school’s Muslim Student Association, has been leading night prayers at the Islamic center for more than four years, and through a program at the mosque has memorized the Quran.

Baig said life at the mosque, which is on the Michigan State campus but not officially affiliated with the university, is driven by the youth, including a strong representation from the area’s high schools.

“Until last year, it was just me leading the sermons, but now we’re getting more participation from the other college students who want to lead and who want to be involved in public speaking and things like that,” Baig said. “Our mosque is really good at incorporating the youth from a younger age too if they want to be engaged in the community here.”

Nueces also offers a seminary program that helps Sheikh and other students learn about the foundations of Islam through a biweekly class. But she said it’s about more than just learning about their religion. “It’s just a great way for students to not just practice their religion or their religious duties, but also basic things like public speaking and research and making sure they’re able to communicate specific things with a large audience,” Sheikh said.

Sheikh said she has been able to develop her leadership skills and grow professionally. “I think in the same way as in the political realm, we’re seeing a lot of older people taking the lead, which there’s nothing wrong with,” Sheikh said. “But I think we also need to pave a way for the younger generation to participate and gain experience.

She added: “I also do think that there is so much value in having elders in your community. One thing Islam preaches is seeking advice and consult from your elders. In order for us to ensure that we are doing the best we can to serve our community, we want to make sure that we’re seeking that advice and checking in with our elders.”

Imam, who hopes Nueces will serve as a model for all campuses, said the mosque offers the broader Muslim community the virtues of both youth and age. “The Muslim community, especially with these campus mosques, has struck a really beautiful balance,” he said.

Source: Religion News

Muḥammad and His Followers in Context: The Religious Map of Late Antique Arabia

By Ilkka Lindstedt

Series: Islamic History and Civilization, Vol. 209

Publisher: Brill

Publication Date: November 2, 2023

Hardcover: 372 pages

ISBN: 9789004687127

This title is published in Open Access with the support of the University of Helsinki Library.

Download PDF HERE.

The book surveys and analyzes changes in religious groups and identities in late antique Arabia, ca. 300-700 CE. It engages with contemporary and material evidence: for example, inscriptions, archaeological remains, Arabic poetry, the Qurʾān, and the so-called Constitution of Medina. Also, it suggests ways to deal with the later Arabic historiographical and other literary texts. The issue of social identities and their processes are central to the study. For instance, how did Arabian ethnic and religious identities intersect on the eve of Islam? The book suggests that the changes in social groups were more piecemeal than previously thought.

Table of Contents

• 1. Introduction
  – Prolegomena and Methodological Considerations
  – Ethnic, Linguistic, and Tribal Situation in Arabia before Islam
• 2. Judaism
  – Judaism in Late Antiquity
  – The Arabian Context
  – Conclusions
• 3. Christianity
  – Christianity in Late Antiquity
  – The Arabian Context
  – Conclusions
• 4. Gentiles
  – Introduction
  – Idolatry and Polytheism in Arabia
  – Gentile Monotheism in Arabia
  – The Idea of Abrahamic Descent in Arabia before Islam
  – An Excursus to Later Arabic Historiography: ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib’s Dream
  – Conclusions
• 5. The Rise of the Gentile Prophet in Mecca
  – Introduction and Methodological Considerations
  – Mecca
  – Excursus: Arabic Historiography on the Meccan Period
  – Conclusions on the Meccan Period
• 6. The Founding and Consolidating of the Community in Medina
  – The “Constitution” of Medina
  – The Believers in the Medinan Qurʾān
  – The People of the Book in the Medinan Period
  – The Jews in the Qurʾān
  – The Christians in the Qurʾān
  – Inna al-dīn ʿinda Allāh al-islām
  – Gentile Purity and Dietary Regulations
  – The Eschaton Postponed?
  – Excursus: Arabic Historiography and the Medinan Era
  – Conclusions on the Medinan Era
• 7. Near-Contemporary Non-Arabic Views on the Prophet and His Community
  – Near-Contemporary Non-Arabic Views on the Prophet’s Community
• 8. Concluding toward Early Islamic Times
  – “No Two Religions”
  – Conclusions

About the Author

Ilkka Lindstedt, Ph.D. (2014), is Lecturer in Islamic theology at the University of Helsinki. He deals with pre-Islamic Arabia, early Islam, Arabic historiography, and Arabic epigraphy. Recent publications include: Ilkka Lindstedt, Nina Nikki, and Riikka Tuori (eds.), Religious Identities in Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages: Walking Together & Parting Ways, Brill 2022.

Source: Brill

Modern Debates on Prophecy and Prophethood in Islam: Muhammad Iqbal and Said Nursi

By Mahsheed Ansari

Publisher: Routledge

Publication Date: November 28, 2024

Hardcover: 288 pages

ISBN: 9781032231242

While prophethood is the backbone of the Islamic tradition and an uncompromised tenet of faith, the impact of modernity with its ambivalent status afforded to the prophet and institution of prophethood shook many Muslim scholars. Through analysis of these modern debates on prophethood in Islam, this book situates Muhammad Iqbal’s (1877–1938) and Said Nursi’s (1877–1960) discourses within it and assesses their implications on the modern period. This book introduces the “what, who and how” of the prophets in the Islamic tradition. It unveils the rich Islamic literature of both the classical and modern periods and analyses the construction of their philosophies and theologies. Concise in both historical and textual analyses, this book makes an important contribution to our understanding of contemporary debates on prophecy and prophethood in Islam and will be of great interest to postgraduate students and researchers of Islam, religious studies, medieval studies and contemporary studies of Islam and religion.

Table of Contents

• Introduction
• 1. Demystifying the Prophetic Vocation in Islam
• 2. Theologising Resurgence of Prophetology in the Modern Muslim World
• 3. Iqbal’s and Nursi’s Methodology in Context of Their Global and Local Histories.
• 4. Rational Challenges and New Understandings of Prophethood
• 5. Traditional and Metaphysical Tensions of Prophethood
• 6. Conclusion: Towards a New Philosophy of Prophethood in Islam

About the Author

Mahsheed Ansari is a Senior Lecturer at the Centre for Islamic Studies and Civilization and a Senior Research Fellow at the Centre for Religion and Ethics and Society (CRES), Charles Sturt University. She is a community activist working in the areas of interfaith dialogue, education, social harmony and leadership-mentoring programes with Muslim youth and women. Her research interests include the history of Islamic thought, spirituality and culture. She has been working on the Australian Muslim Heritage Project, that captures the contributions of Muslim Pioneers Post World War II, and she is currently writing a book on the Institutional integration of the Muslim community in Australia and Dr. Ashfaq Ahmad’s contributions to it.

Reviews

• “Mahsheed Ansari offers a rigorous study of prophethood in Islam, focusing on the twentieth century responses of two major thinkers, Said Nursi and Muhammad Iqbal. The potential for the continued development of constructive contemporary Islamic approaches to this topic is enriched through Ansari’s detailed exposition of classical doctrines on prophecy as well as the South Asian and Turkish contexts during this period of challenges from modernity. Through its presentation of the creative responses of Nursi and Iqbal, who employed both critical intellectual analysis and mystical sensitivities in understanding both the historical human and the cosmic significance of the Prophet for their age, this work provides an important contribution in the field of Islamic religious thought and a resource for interfaith dialogue and understanding.” – Marcia Hermansen, Loyola University Chicago

Source: Routledge

Author: Robert Don Deal

University: Columbia International University

Date of Award: October 1, 2023

Abstract:

The Islamic Law of the Dhimma is conventionally viewed among Muslims as the proper legal framework for the presence of non-Muslims within an Islamic Society. It provides the legal rights and restrictions on the “People of the Book,” primarily Jews and Christians living under Islamic rule. Under this view, the law can be traced to the lifetime of the Prophet of Islam, Muhammad. This view, though typical, does not accord with the currently available historical evidence.

The study of the history of Islamic Law is limited in the Western tradition of learning. Among the scholars studying the discipline, Ignaz Goldziher (1850-1921), Joseph Schact (1902- 1969), Wael Hallaq (b. 1955), Ahmad El-Shamsy (b. 1974), and John Esposito (b. 1940), are among the few to attempt a historical account. None of these scholars wrote on the specifics of the creation of the Law of the Dhimma.

Source: ProQuest

And as of this month, the popular r/Islam subedit also offers a designated space for young Muslims to explore their own mental health with guidance from a licensed clinical psychologist.

The two monthly discussion threads are the result of a new partnership with the nonprofit Khalil Center, a faith-based psychological and spiritual wellness organization. The posts take the form of Reddit’s popular Q&A-style AMA, or “Ask Me Anything,” interactive interviews.

“One of the issues with youth is that they’re very tentative to seek help,” said Fahad Khan, deputy director at the Khalil Center and clinical director at the organization’s Chicago headquarters, who responds to the questions users pose in the threads.

Conceived by Khalil Center intern Hamzzat Soyege, a recent graduate of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, the project is part of the center’s ongoing effort to develop ways to reach Muslim youth in the spaces where they already gather. The r/Islam subreddit has close to 84,000 members and sees dozens of posts and hundreds of comments on those posts every day.

The Khalil Center focuses on providing psychology services “rooted in Islamic principles.” Khan, a fellow of the International Association of Islamic Psychology and an editor for the Journal of Muslim Mental Health, has also memorized the entirety of the Quran and has been a student of Islamic studies under various scholars.

Source: Religion News Service (RNS)

Jibreel Institute offers the following structured courses at different levels for men and women.

 Arabic Language Studies

• Arabic Language
• Qur’anic Arabic
• Classical Arabic Grammar,
• Syntax and Morphology
• Spoken Arabic

Qur’an Studies

• Tajweed (Science recitation of the Qur’an)
• Tafseer (Commentary of the Qur’an)
• Hifdh (Memorisation of Qur’anic selections)

Islamic Sciences – Shari’a

• ‘Aqida (Islamic beliefs and doctrines)
• Fiqh (Islamic Law)
• Usul al-Fiqh (Principles of Islamic Law)
• Hadith Studies (Prophetic Traditions)
• Islamic History
• Seera (Life of Prophet Muhammad)
• Tazkiya (Islamic spirituality)

Introduction to Usul al-Fiqh: This 8-week introductory course sheds light on the major sources and principles of Islamic Jurisprudence, and distinguishing it from ordinary Fiqh. Students be taught to familiarize themselves with the vast literature on the subject, with particular emphasis on methodological differences. Practical experience and exercises will be given to weigh and evaluate different legal opinions, such as why and how scholars differ.  The course will give more importance to the practical understanding and application of Usul al Fiqh in daily life.

Classes & Teachers

The courses are organized on a semester basis (usually 3 months per semester).

Classes are run separately for men and women, and take place at the London Muslim Centre. For greater accessibility the courses are available during the day, evenings and weekends. Intensive courses and seminars are offered at weekends and holiday periods.

The courses are taught by qualified scholars and teachers, who share a passion for the study and teaching of Arabic and Islamic Sciences.

Contacts

• Address: 46 Whitechapel Road, London E1 1JX, UK
• Phone: +44 20 7650 3039
• Email: info@jibreelinstitute.com
• Website: http://www.jibreelinstitute.com