Where Is The Love?

Talk by Sheikh Jamal ud-Deen Hysaw - Cambridge - 21st October 2009 - 58 mins 56 secs

Cambridge was blessed recently with a visit by Sheikh Jamal ud-Deen Hysaw, who was here in the UK giving a series of talks in aimed at the addressing the issues faced by specifically by young people. Sheikh Jamal ud-Deen hails from Chicago in the USA, and has studied for almost a decade in Damascus and Tarim. In this talk, he addresses the perennial question of relationships and gender, and gives the perspective of traditional knowledge on some modern conundrums.

Watch this talk at likeMEDIA.tv

Islam, Gender, Marriage & Sexuality

Talk by Sheikh Abdal Hakim Murad - Rhodes House, Oxford - 9 February 2009 - 1 hr 00 mins 04 secs

TRANSCRIPTION PENDING

In another talk for OUISOC's Experience Islam Term, Sheikh Abdal Hakim offers some further thoughts on gender in Islam (which dovetail quite nicely with previous talks posted here and here). He begins, with characteristic catholicity, by discussing the career of Valentine de Sainte Point, an early French feminist and Futurist who in later life rejected what she perceived as the dehumanising trajectory of Western culture and converted to Islam, in which she found a more integrated and integrative understanding of human nature.

From that, the sheikh moves on discuss some aspects of the Islamic understanding of gender and sexuality, and how in this respect, as in others, the message of the Qu'ran and the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) acted as a rectification to misinterpretations of previous revelation; in this case, the rejection and excoriation of human sexuality often manifested by Christianity. The Prophet, by contrast, as 'mankind perfected', embraced this aspect of his humanity as he did every other, according to the Divine Guidance. His role as exemplar was thereby extended to women partly through his marriages, which provided multiple models of exemplary female behaviour. The sheikh finishes by discussing this in relation to the Prophet's wives (may God be pleased with them) and Qur'anic examples of ideal women.

Listen to this talk

Download this talk (MP3, 55.0 KB)

Some Excellent Links

Nothing from Cambridge this time, but some really thought-provoking talks recently posted elsewhere that can benefit us all, God willing.

Eyeless in Gaza, a talk given by Habib 'Ali al-Jifri during the recent Radical Middle Way tour.

Removing the Silence on Domestic Violence, a sermon delivered by Sheikh Hamza Yusuf in San Jose on Friday 20 February 2009.

Gender & Gentility

Friday sermon (khutba) by Sheikh Abdal Hakim Murad - Cambridge - May 2008 - 24 mins 54 secs

Continuing the theme of the previous post from another aspect, the sheikh in this sermon encourages us to consider the importance of decorous and respectful relations between the sexes, and to reflect on the characteristic modesty (haya') of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). Influenced by the relentlessly immodest and hyper-sexualised world of mass entertainment and advertising, it can often seem to us today that the limits of the shari'a (Islamic law) on this issue are too rigid and that 'a good intention' will be sufficient to guard us in all situations. However, the sheikh warns us that this issue is far from the marginal, even faintly risible, question we sometimes risk making it. He points to the impact in British society - the home in earlier times of the quintessential gentleman - when respectability was abandoned as a serious concern, and how this relates to declining religious observance. To illustrate this point, he recites some of the poetry of John Betjeman - not something, it must be admitted, you will hear at the mosque every Friday.


Listen to this sermon

Download this sermon (MP3, 22.8 KB)

Some Islamic Perspectives on Gender

Talk by Sheikh Abdal Hakim Murad - Cambridge - date unknown - 45 mins 37 secs

TRANSCRIPTION PENDING

In this talk the sheikh discusses that crucial but perenially prickly issue of gender. He doesn't offer a comprehensive 'Muslim view' or really touch on the topics that are often discussed in this context such as women's rights in divorce and inheritance. Rather he offers a series of reflections on some of the underlying structures that underpin Islamic approaches to gender, offering some comparative remarks also on recent Christian theology. One main element relates to how we gain knowledge of God through His Divine Names, and how these can be seen to offer some insight into the relationship of 'masculine' and 'feminine' principles or virtues. The second element considers the females role models or ideals found in Islam, including: Hajar (Hagar), mother of Ismail (peace be upon him) and spiritual and physical ancestress to the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him); Asiya, wife of Pharoah and adoptive mother of Musa (Moses - peace be upon him); Khadija, first wife and also employer of the Prophet; and Aisha, his later wife and an archetype of Islamic scholarship and teaching (may God be pleased with all of them.)

Questions follow the talk at 38 mins 19 secs.

Listen to this talk

Download this talk (MP3, 41.7 MB)