Upcoming CIK Talk
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Legal Maxims in Islamic Law Concept, History and Application of Axioms of Juristic Accumulation
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CIK Talks is a scholarly forum dedicated to the critical examination of Islam’s intellectual, spiritual, and civilizational heritage in conversation with the challenges of modernity. Through lectures and dialogues with leading academics and practitioners, the series fosters rigorous inquiry into theology, law, philosophy, history, politics, science, and culture, situating Islamic thought within global intellectual currents.
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Advanced Diploma in Islamic Scholarship & LeadershipThe Advanced Diploma in Islamic Scholarship & Leadership (ADIL) is a pioneering program that combines fidelity to the Islamic scholarly tradition with academic rigor and a strong ethos of khidma (service) and leadership. It has been designed to prepare a new generation of Muslim thinkers, scholars, and community leaders who are rooted in tradition, responsive to context, and committed to serving the Umma.
By the end of the program, students will have acquired a robust set of intellectual, spiritual, and practical tools enabling them to contribute to the advancement of the Islamic intellectual enterprise, provide guidance in their communities, and take on roles of leadership at local, national, and global levels. What sets ADIL apart is its ability to:
ADIL graduates will emerge as thoughtful, principled, and capable leaders - able to think globally, serve locally, and faithfully uphold the Islamic tradition in the modern world. |
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Foundations Program in Islamic Studies
The CIK Foundations Program aims to equip students with a grounded understanding of the essential ideas, sources, and values of the Islamic intellectual tradition. While rooted in classical knowledge, the program emphasises practical relevance, nurturing students to become ethically aware, spiritually grounded, and socially responsible members of the Umma. It links learning to action, thereby encouraging service (khidma) and positive contribution to the Muslim community and wider society. |
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CIK Annual Summer Academic Intensive
The Centre for Islamic Knowledge (CIK) is pleased to announce its first annual summer academic intensive, which will be held at the historic Süleymaniye Madrasa in Istanbul, Türkiye, in partnership with İbn Haldun University. The nine-day intensive will introduce students to a wide range of subjects which will be taught by world-class instructors. The intensive will offer exposure to foundational and specialized topics as well as visits to local Turkish academic institutions. |
Arabic Language Studies
A program designed for those who wish to take the path to learn the Arabic Language to engage the original sources of Islamic scholarship. The program curriculum has been planned by LQM to cover the three Madinah Books along with supplementary notes created by the LQM team.
Foundations Program in Islamic Studies
The CIK Foundations Program aims to equip students with a grounded understanding of the essential ideas, sources, and values of the Islamic intellectual tradition. While rooted in classical knowledge, the program emphasises practical relevance, nurturing students to become ethically aware, spiritually grounded, and socially responsible members of the Umma. It links learning to action, thereby encouraging service (khidma) and positive contribution to the Muslim community and wider society.
By the end of the program, students will be able to:
● Understand and explain the core beliefs of Islam with clarity and confidence.
● Engage with the Qur'an and Hadith as living sources of guidance.
● Relate the life of the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) and historical evens of the Muslim world to modern challenges and leadership.
● Recognise the role of spiritual purification in personal and communal reform.
● Respond thoughtfully to faith-related questions and doubts.
● Connect Islamic knowledge to real-world ethical and social issues.
● Develop habits of reflection, sincerity, and service to others.
● Contribute meaningfully to the needs of the Umma through informed action.
By the end of the program, students will be able to:
● Understand and explain the core beliefs of Islam with clarity and confidence.
● Engage with the Qur'an and Hadith as living sources of guidance.
● Relate the life of the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) and historical evens of the Muslim world to modern challenges and leadership.
● Recognise the role of spiritual purification in personal and communal reform.
● Respond thoughtfully to faith-related questions and doubts.
● Connect Islamic knowledge to real-world ethical and social issues.
● Develop habits of reflection, sincerity, and service to others.
● Contribute meaningfully to the needs of the Umma through informed action.
CIK Summer Academic Intensive
The Centre for Islamic Knowledge (CIK) is pleased to announce its first annual summer academic intensive, which will be held at the historic Süleymaniye Madrasa in Istanbul, Türkiye, from July 19th to 27th in partnership with İbn Haldun University. The nine-day intensive will introduce students to a wide range of subjects which will be taught by world-class instructors. The intensive will offer exposure to foundational and specialized topics as well as visits to local Turkish academic institutions.
Advanced Diploma in Islamic Scholarship & Leadership
The Advanced Diploma in Islamic Scholarship & Leadership (ADIL) is a pioneering program that combines fidelity to the Islamic scholarly tradition with academic rigor and a strong ethos of khidma (service) and leadership. It has been designed to prepare a new generation of Muslim thinkers, scholars, and community leaders who are rooted in tradition, responsive to context, and committed to serving the Umma.
By the end of the program, students will have acquired a robust set of intellectual, spiritual, and practical tools enabling them to contribute to the advancement of the Islamic intellectual enterprise, provide guidance in their communities, and take on roles of leadership at local, national, and global levels.
By the end of the program, students will have acquired a robust set of intellectual, spiritual, and practical tools enabling them to contribute to the advancement of the Islamic intellectual enterprise, provide guidance in their communities, and take on roles of leadership at local, national, and global levels.
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CIK TalksCIK Talks is a scholarly forum dedicated to the critical examination of Islam’s intellectual, spiritual, and civilizational heritage in conversation with the challenges of modernity. Through lectures and dialogues with leading academics and practitioners, the series fosters rigorous inquiry into theology, law, philosophy, history, politics, science, and culture, situating Islamic thought within global intellectual currents.
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Ihya’ Journal of Islamic ThoughtIhya’ Journal of Islamic Thought (“Ihya’”) is an international, interdisciplinary, and online open-access journal with the aim of promoting intellectual inquiry into topics of importance to Muslims around the world. Each issue relates to a distinct theme, approached from different disciplines. Ihya’ strives to contribute to the Islamic intellectual enterprise by a) promoting research that advances knowledge of Islamic sciences such as law (fiqh), ḥadīth, exegesis, theology, political and legal history, etc., and b) investigating the contributions and effects of social, political, and intellectual developments in Muslim life and thought. Ihya’ welcomes submissions from researchers across various fields, such as the Traditional Islamic Sciences, Religious Studies, History, Social Sciences, Law, Philosophy, and Education, among others. It also invites opinion pieces from practitioners, policymakers, and the like.
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Featured CIK Talk:
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Featured CIK Talk - The Meaning of Secularism: An Islamic Reading by Dr. Usaama al-AzamiIt is often observed that ours is a secular age in which the state must remain separate from and neutral between the demands and expectations of a variety of religious positions. What, if anything, does Islam have to say about such an arrangement and its self-image of neutrality between all religions? In this CIK Talk, Dr. Usaama al-Azami explores this question through a decolonial lens by reading the latest Western scholarship on religion and secularism through important scholars from the classical Islamic tradition.
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Recent Publications by Scholars Associated with CIK
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Tawātur in Islamic Thought: Transmission, Certitude and OrthodoxyTawātur is the concept that information yields certainty if acquired through a sufficient number of independent channels. Tawātur in Islamic Thought is an attempt to unravel the twisted historical threads of the conception and usage of tawātur across diverse Islamic disciplines, in light of both Western academia and debates within Muslim scholarship.
In the process, numerous salient questions in Islamic thought are tackled, such as epistemic certitude, scholarly consensus (ijmāʿ), and the rationalism–traditionalism relationship. The study culminates in the question of the extent to which tawātur was used by Muslim scholars to define the boundaries of Islam and of orthodoxy. Tawātur in Islamic Thought shows that the majority voices in Muslim scholarship, across sectarian boundaries, reached a steady-state conception of a two-tiered orthodoxy, corresponding to two tiers of tawātur―an outer tier that includes all who affirm a definitive kernel of Islam and an inner tier that is more exclusive. Author: Dr. Suheil Laher |
Integrated Encyclopedia of the Qurʾān (IEQ)
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The Integrated Encyclopedia of the Qurʾān (IEQ) draws on a wide range of classical works, including exegeses, Hadith collections and commentaries, lexicons, biographical dictionaries, universal histories, works of jurisprudence, Prophetic biographies, and treatises on spiritual and moral psychology--some of which have never before been used in any encyclopedic work on the Qur`an. Based on primary sources and held to a high standard of academic rigor, IEQ integrates source material at several levels: its conceptual structure presents an integrated view of the overall message of the Qurʾān; it incorporates and integrates various strands of Islamic scholarly tradition and presents a cohesive, cross-referenced text.
General Editor: Dr. Muzaffar Iqbal |
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Islamic Political Theology - St Andrews Encyclopaedia of TheologyThe central idea within Islamic political theology is that sovereignty, or the authority of final judgment, in nature as well as law, belongs to God. At its heart lies God’s revealed command rather than a logically derived corollary of God’s nature or analogy with God’s governance. The Qur’an does not teach the rule of a class of men authorized by God; it teaches that the Prophet Muḥammad (d. 11 AH/632 CE) was the last of the prophets, after whom God no longer governs through a spokesperson. Hence the question naturally arose: who could possibly succeed the Prophet? For the Sunnī majority, the answer was the Umma, the community of those who believe in the Prophet’s message, who were to be governed and led in their mission by a successor (khalīfa or caliph) chosen from the Prophet’s tribe, the Quraysh. This position lay between two radically opposed alternatives: the Khārijites, who questioned any hierarchy in favour of plain reading of scripture and a violent, exclusionary piety; and the Shīʿa, for whom chosen men in the lineage of the Prophet’s cousin ʿAlī inherited infallible knowledge and the exclusive right to rule as Imām. Throughout history, the tension between Umma-centred and Imām-centred interpretations of Islamic political theology have generated creative reinterpretations. The aftermath of colonialism and the encounter with secularism has been particularly fertile in intellectual experimentation. In our arguably post-secular age, Islamic political theology is witnessing a robust revival in interest and creativity.
Author: Dr. Ovamir Anjum |
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From Gold to Paper: The Applicability of Ribā to Modern Currencies in Shāfiʿī JurisprudenceThis article examines the Shāfiʿī school’s position on ribā in contemporary fiat currencies. It analyzes the definition of ribā, the underlying legal rationale for its prohibition (ʿillah), and engages with historical debates on the valuation of currencies and the applicability of ribā laws to non-gold-and-silver currencies (fulūs). By tracing the evolution of currency within Shāfiʿī jurisprudence from the 9th to the 20th century, the article identifies key trends among Shāfiʿī jurists regarding the legal characterization of bonds and paper money in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The paper argues that the traditional Shāfiʿī exemption of fulūs from ribā laws is not absolute and does not solely depend on the physical attributes of the currency. Historically, Shāfiʿī jurists have emphasized the subjective value of gold and silver, owing to their longstanding roles as primary mediums of exchange. Furthermore, the potential for future currencies to share a similar legal basis for the prohibition of ribā—akin to that of gold and silver—is acknowledged, reflecting the adaptability of Shāfiʿī jurisprudence to evolving economic conditions.
Author: Shaykh Yousef Wahb |
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The Straight Path: How Surah al-Fatiha addresses modern ideologiesWhat is the meaning of Surah al-Fatiha? Muslims recite this opening chapter of the Qur’an at least 17 times daily in their prayers. It’s a prayer for guidance and a source of healing. But are we letting it shape the way we see our world?
The Straight Path offers a bold perspective, showing how Surah al-Fatiha directly challenges the dominant ideologies of our time—ideologies that underpin the confusion, injustice, and even atrocities we see today. Nowhere is this failure more evident than in the genocide in Gaza, a grim example of the ethical collapse of secular modernity. Examine ten major ideologies — atheism, materialism, deism, secularism, polytheism, naturalism, relativism, progressivism, liberalism, and postmodernism — and discover how Surah al-Fatiha dismantles each one, offering clarity where they sow confusion. Through the process of knowledge decolonization, we are invited to free our minds of oppressive systems of thought and return to the ethical worldview of Islam. This book is a direct and urgent call to reawaken humanity to the message of truth and justice emphasized in Islam's teachings. It challenges readers to rethink the values of modernity and explore how Islamic principles offer a way out of the confusion, injustice, and misguidance of our time. Download The Straight Path ebook and discover the Qur’an’s guidance towards a moral and just future for humanity. Author: Dr. Nazir Khan |
Featured CIK Talk:
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Featured CIK Talk - Salafism and Traditionalism: Scholarly Authority in Modern Islam by Dr. Emad HamdehOne of the most contentious topics in modern Islam is whether one should adhere to an Islamic legal school or follow scripture directly. For centuries, Sunni Muslims have practiced Islam through the framework of the four legal schools. The 20th century, however, witnessed the rise of individuals who denounced the legal schools, highlighting cases where they contradict texts from the Qur'ān or Sunna. These differences are exemplified in the heated debates between the Salafi ḥadīth scholar Muḥammad Nāṣir al-Dīn al-Albānī and his Traditionalist critics. In this CIK Talk, drawing on his book Salafism and Traditionalism: Scholarly Authority in Modern Islam, Dr. Hamdeh examines the tensions between Salafis and Traditionalists concerning scholarly authority in Islam. Dr. Hamdeh offers an insider's view of the debates between Salafis and Traditionalists and their differences regarding the correct method of interpreting Islam. He provides a detailed analysis of the rise of Salafism, the impact of the printing press, the role of scholars in textual interpretation, and the divergent approaches to Islamic law.
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