Kalam Research and Media (KRM) and the Islamic and Strategic Studies Institute (ISSI) is holding a series of lectures under the topic “Islamic Analytic School of Kalam” to students and faculty at the University of Malaya in Kuala Lumpur.
The ISSI Analytic School of Kalam will aim to deepen knowledge of the Kalam tradition and its method of engagement with contemporary knowledge. It will help students understand the building blocks that make up the discipline of Kalam in the tradition of the Mutakallimun. The thought and tradition of Post-Ghazzalian Kalam (1058 CE-1111 CE), specifically that of Imam Fakhr al-Din al-Razi (1150 CE-1210 CE) and later scholars, reflect a stable and consistent Architectonic Methodology. The architectonic methodology of Al-Razi as evidence in his Muhassal was later followed by not only Al-Baydawi but also Al-Isfahani who followed the latter, and then other scholars of Kalam of the same generation as Al-Isfahani namely Imam ‘Adud al-Din al’Iji (1281 CE-1355 CE) as evidenced in his Mawaqif, as well as Imam Sa ‘d al-Din al-Taftazani (1322M-1390M) in his Maqasid leading up to Imam al-Sayyid al-Sharif al-Jurjani (1339M-1413M) in Sharh Mawaqif. and discourse which was carried over to the 20th Century as shown by Badiuzzaman Said Nursi (1877-1960) in his book, Risalah Al-Nur.
The series will also analyze the architectonic or Fikr and Nazr System of Kalam as formulated by Imam Nasir al-Din Abu al-Khair ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Umar al-Baydawi (1225 AD-1316 AD) based on his book of Kalam, Tawali’ al-Anwar min Matali’ al-Anzar, which was then glossed by Imam Mahmud Ibn Abd al-Rahman al-Isfahani (1276 AD-1348 AD) in Matali’ al-Anzar, Sharh Tawali’ al-Anwar. Imam Al-Baydawi wrote the very famous tafsir work of the Islamic world, Anwar al-Tanzil wa-Asrar al-Ta’wil as well as a book on the principles of jurisprudence, Minhaj al-Wusul ila ‘Ilm al-Usul. All-Baydawi’s book of exegesis (tafsir) became a reference source for tafsir, namely Tarjuman al-Mustafid available in the Malay World due to Sheikh ‘Abd al-Ra’uf al-Singkili.
The first lecture of the series was held on 20 February 2018 at the Faculty of Science at the University of Malaya, and was attended by over 80 participants, which included professionals, academicians and university students.
