The

Theology Reading Group

invites you to our next session on

The Andalusi Secular

The secular has been posited as a modern European phenomenon. This widely accepted postulation has led influential Muslim thinkers such as Yusuf Qardawi and Syed Naquib Al-Attas to conclude that the secular is diametrically opposed to Islamic theology.

This research seminar seeks to reconsider the above assumptions about ‘the secular’ by factoring in the Islamic philosophy of Al-Andalus – a thriving Muslim civilisation that spans parts of southern Europe between the eighth and fifteenth centuries.

Based on a 2013 essay published in the London-based Critical Muslim journal, the seminar invites its participants to explore the ways in which the secular, as well as the postsecular, could be seen as an integral aspect of medieval Islamic thought. It will also delve into the transference of the Andalusi secular into Western philosophy.

The discussion will focus on selected tracts of three Andalusian philosophers, Ibn Tufayl, Ibn Rushd and Ibn ‘Arabi.

If you would like to read the article, please email the organisers, Joanna or Máté.

This session will be chaired by Dr Nazry Bahrawi, research associate with the Middle East Institute at the National University of Singapore, and lecturer at the Singapore University of Technology and Design.