Perhaps the most important service academic writing can serve is to make us challenge our concept... more Perhaps the most important service academic writing can serve is to make us challenge our conceptions and assumptions. And then, if possible, to help us construct other conceptions that may serve us better. The collected work The Islamic World and the West does both of these services admirably.
TAFHIM: IKIM Journal of Islam and the Contemporary World, Jun 29, 2020
There is a conception of the Earth, the cosmos, and reality lost sometime in the 17th century (re... more There is a conception of the Earth, the cosmos, and reality lost sometime in the 17th century (replaced by quantity, rationality, and attacks against the spiritual, the feminine, and the mythical). The present article seeks to view and consider the details of the old conception and their intriguing connections to bits and pieces of new sciences, new physics, and mathematics that deal with a world which does not look like the modern one (and which actually looks quite old). For full article please visit http://tafhim.ikim.gov.my/index.php/tafhim/article/view/115
We continue from this feature in the previous issue of ICR, which posited three relationships, hu... more We continue from this feature in the previous issue of ICR, which posited three relationships, human beings to human beings, human beings to the rest of the creation, and finally to the Creator. The first relationship is one of contract, the second of taskhir (to be defined below), and the third of covenant. For the second relationship, the description is no longer ‘contract’ but taskhir. The term ‘subjugation’ in English is more accurately the antonym of taskhir. This shows us how far we have strayed. We think we own a house, but the house owns us. We forget that the word ‘mortgage’ means ‘gripped until death’. The American author and leading transcendentalist of his time, Henry David Thoreau (d. 1862), saw a contrast between those who had been subjugated to their possessions and those who were unencumbered.
This book is a carefully researched work that may serve as an important resource for the study of... more This book is a carefully researched work that may serve as an important resource for the study of Ottoman and other Muslim connections and networks to the Malay Archipelago. The spread of Islam in the region through trade is well documented here. The authors of the seven articles contained in this volume have used original sources - many of them very little known or used in contemporary scholarship. The authors are strongly supported by their sources to contribute to a re-writing of the history of this region.
Science and Technology (ST) understood as mechanical Newtonian physics and industry has indeed by... more Science and Technology (ST) understood as mechanical Newtonian physics and industry has indeed bypassed Muslim societies – and that’s a good thing. Because with the new ST Muslims can become full participants rather than passive recipients. From the 1960s and 1970s, a few Muslim thinkers sounded the alarm about ST (e.g., Seyyed Hossein Nasr, Ismail Faruqi, and Syed Muhammad Naquib al-Attas). They were aware that Muslim societies were trying to catch up and join a system of knowledge and technological tools that were both ontologically opposed to Islam and harmful to Muslim cultures. At the same time, thinkers in the West were horrified at the implications of ST for the natural world and for human freedom (e.g., Theodore Roszak, Jerry Mander, Lewis Mumford, Jacques Ellul). Today, from intellectual discourse to popular culture and movies, the idea that the old science and technology has gone wrong is easy to find and accept.
After surveying visions of the future, this article engages some of the most interesting conceptu... more After surveying visions of the future, this article engages some of the most interesting conceptualisations coming from the ‘new sciences’ and resonating with the perspective of civilisational renewal. The focus is on the environment, as the most accessible point of departure for visions of the future, and ‘transition’, as the best description of where we are. From here, the language of Islamic civilisational renewal is brought out to both deepen and sharpen the contemporary discourse.
Ibn Al Arabi, the mystic scholar of the thirteenth century, highlights the ambiguities of languag... more Ibn Al Arabi, the mystic scholar of the thirteenth century, highlights the ambiguities of language and the polysemantic, multifaceted text of the Quran. With Al Arabi's help Winkel expounds how narrowly religion is interpreted by most scholars. Al Arabi disturbs the comfort of man-made religion by his reflections on language, and Winkel's book takes up the same challenge. This book is intended for scholars interested in ancient Islamic law and language.
It is with great excitement that we welcome the initiative and book publication of Common Ground ... more It is with great excitement that we welcome the initiative and book publication of Common Ground between Islam and Buddhism. In 2007, spurred by Pope Benedict XVI’s controversial ‘Regensburg lecture’, major figures in Islam and Christianity created A Common Word between Us and You, an initiative which was instrumental in reducing tensions and the sense of clash between the two religions. Now, Fons Vitae has just published the book Common Ground between Islam and Buddhism, which is a platform for much-needed, sustained conversations between Muslims and Buddhists. The body of the book is written by Reza Shah Kazemi. There is also a fascinating essay by Hamza Yusuf. The introductions are provided by the Dalai Lama, Prince Ghazi bin Muhammad, and Mohammad Hashim Kamali. The latter two were vital participants in the earlier Common Word initiative.
We continue from this feature in the previous issue of ICR, which posited three relationships, hu... more We continue from this feature in the previous issue of ICR, which posited three relationships, human beings to human beings, human beings to the rest of the creation, and finally to the Creator. The first relationship is one of contract, the second of taskhir (to be defined below), and the third of covenant. For the second relationship, the description is no longer ‘contract’ but taskhir. The term ‘subjugation’ in English is more accurately the antonym of taskhir. This shows us how far we have strayed. We think we own a house, but the house owns us. We forget that the word ‘mortgage’ means ‘gripped until death’. The American author and leading transcendentalist of his time, Henry David Thoreau (d. 1862), saw a contrast between those who had been subjugated to their possessions and those who were unencumbered.
La obra al-Futūḥāt al-makkīya (“Las iluminaciones de La Meca”), las revelaciones que Ibn al-ʿArab... more La obra al-Futūḥāt al-makkīya (“Las iluminaciones de La Meca”), las revelaciones que Ibn al-ʿArabī recibe y desarrolla en La Meca, es una de las mayores obras de la civilización occidental. Compuesta por unas diez mil páginas, su tamaño ha supuesto por sí solo un obstáculo para el público. La primera edición crítica completa se publicó en 2010 y una segunda edición de El Cairo en 20131. Las traducciones únicamente han abarcado alrededor del uno o dos por ciento del total de la obra. Como traductor, he estado trabajando desde 2002 en la primera traducción completa de al-Futūḥāt al-makkīya, cuya edición ya ha comenzado.Aun siendo considerado uno de los textos más oscuros y densos sobre el islam y el mundo espiritual, al-Futūḥāt al-makkīya se escribió para ser comprendido, e Ibn al-ʿArabī alienta constantemente al público a aprender y comprenderlo, y lo que es aún más importante, a comprobar por uno mismo (el término que utiliza es taḥqīq, de la raíz de ḥaqq, la verdad). No se trata, e...
At the core of the question of maqasid is the conception of the engagement of the community with ... more At the core of the question of maqasid is the conception of the engagement of the community with the revelation. From this core, one can gain perspective on the usul al-fiqh and maqasid approaches. The former does not provide priorities and does not address directly the pressing concerns that are overwhelming contemporary societies – it focuses on ‘form’ at the expense of ‘substance’. For the latter, the issue of methodology is important – how are the goals of the law ascertained? Finally, the author looks at key contributions of the maqasid approach, which opens the door to applications into areas typically beyond the scope of the usul al-fiqh, such as civilisational renewal.
Writing from wide experience working with organisations as a management consultant, Margaret Whea... more Writing from wide experience working with organisations as a management consultant, Margaret Wheatley has seen the necessity for integrating the new science with organisational management. The new science of quantum physics, fractals, and chaos theory creates a new nonlinear world view. The old, linear view is suited only for the factory model, where outputs increase in a linear fashion according to the inputs. But the real world is nonlinear: think about learning. We study and study and suddenly, we understand. Wheatley describes the conventional command-and-control management style, where we think the company is a black box with inputs on the left and outputs on the right. She talks about laboriously crafted organisational charts, when the real communication of the company takes place around the water cooler. She shows us how organisations flounder and stagnate when they are seen as machines in a Newtonian world, the old mechanistic view.
While exploring convergences between Islam and contemporary science, I came across a recent book ... more While exploring convergences between Islam and contemporary science, I came across a recent book by the Dalai Lama1 which describes his interactions with Buddhism and science. In fact, the Dalai Lama is ideally suited to be a bridge between spirituality and science. His stature means that he does not merely read Thomas Merton, Carl Friedrich von Weizsacker, Karl Popper, and David Bohm – he meets them. His seven decades means that he spans the most significant changes that technology and science have made on human society.
Perhaps the most important service academic writing can serve is to make us challenge our concept... more Perhaps the most important service academic writing can serve is to make us challenge our conceptions and assumptions. And then, if possible, to help us construct other conceptions that may serve us better. The collected work The Islamic World and the West does both of these services admirably.
TAFHIM: IKIM Journal of Islam and the Contemporary World, Jun 29, 2020
There is a conception of the Earth, the cosmos, and reality lost sometime in the 17th century (re... more There is a conception of the Earth, the cosmos, and reality lost sometime in the 17th century (replaced by quantity, rationality, and attacks against the spiritual, the feminine, and the mythical). The present article seeks to view and consider the details of the old conception and their intriguing connections to bits and pieces of new sciences, new physics, and mathematics that deal with a world which does not look like the modern one (and which actually looks quite old). For full article please visit http://tafhim.ikim.gov.my/index.php/tafhim/article/view/115
We continue from this feature in the previous issue of ICR, which posited three relationships, hu... more We continue from this feature in the previous issue of ICR, which posited three relationships, human beings to human beings, human beings to the rest of the creation, and finally to the Creator. The first relationship is one of contract, the second of taskhir (to be defined below), and the third of covenant. For the second relationship, the description is no longer ‘contract’ but taskhir. The term ‘subjugation’ in English is more accurately the antonym of taskhir. This shows us how far we have strayed. We think we own a house, but the house owns us. We forget that the word ‘mortgage’ means ‘gripped until death’. The American author and leading transcendentalist of his time, Henry David Thoreau (d. 1862), saw a contrast between those who had been subjugated to their possessions and those who were unencumbered.
This book is a carefully researched work that may serve as an important resource for the study of... more This book is a carefully researched work that may serve as an important resource for the study of Ottoman and other Muslim connections and networks to the Malay Archipelago. The spread of Islam in the region through trade is well documented here. The authors of the seven articles contained in this volume have used original sources - many of them very little known or used in contemporary scholarship. The authors are strongly supported by their sources to contribute to a re-writing of the history of this region.
Science and Technology (ST) understood as mechanical Newtonian physics and industry has indeed by... more Science and Technology (ST) understood as mechanical Newtonian physics and industry has indeed bypassed Muslim societies – and that’s a good thing. Because with the new ST Muslims can become full participants rather than passive recipients. From the 1960s and 1970s, a few Muslim thinkers sounded the alarm about ST (e.g., Seyyed Hossein Nasr, Ismail Faruqi, and Syed Muhammad Naquib al-Attas). They were aware that Muslim societies were trying to catch up and join a system of knowledge and technological tools that were both ontologically opposed to Islam and harmful to Muslim cultures. At the same time, thinkers in the West were horrified at the implications of ST for the natural world and for human freedom (e.g., Theodore Roszak, Jerry Mander, Lewis Mumford, Jacques Ellul). Today, from intellectual discourse to popular culture and movies, the idea that the old science and technology has gone wrong is easy to find and accept.
After surveying visions of the future, this article engages some of the most interesting conceptu... more After surveying visions of the future, this article engages some of the most interesting conceptualisations coming from the ‘new sciences’ and resonating with the perspective of civilisational renewal. The focus is on the environment, as the most accessible point of departure for visions of the future, and ‘transition’, as the best description of where we are. From here, the language of Islamic civilisational renewal is brought out to both deepen and sharpen the contemporary discourse.
Ibn Al Arabi, the mystic scholar of the thirteenth century, highlights the ambiguities of languag... more Ibn Al Arabi, the mystic scholar of the thirteenth century, highlights the ambiguities of language and the polysemantic, multifaceted text of the Quran. With Al Arabi's help Winkel expounds how narrowly religion is interpreted by most scholars. Al Arabi disturbs the comfort of man-made religion by his reflections on language, and Winkel's book takes up the same challenge. This book is intended for scholars interested in ancient Islamic law and language.
It is with great excitement that we welcome the initiative and book publication of Common Ground ... more It is with great excitement that we welcome the initiative and book publication of Common Ground between Islam and Buddhism. In 2007, spurred by Pope Benedict XVI’s controversial ‘Regensburg lecture’, major figures in Islam and Christianity created A Common Word between Us and You, an initiative which was instrumental in reducing tensions and the sense of clash between the two religions. Now, Fons Vitae has just published the book Common Ground between Islam and Buddhism, which is a platform for much-needed, sustained conversations between Muslims and Buddhists. The body of the book is written by Reza Shah Kazemi. There is also a fascinating essay by Hamza Yusuf. The introductions are provided by the Dalai Lama, Prince Ghazi bin Muhammad, and Mohammad Hashim Kamali. The latter two were vital participants in the earlier Common Word initiative.
We continue from this feature in the previous issue of ICR, which posited three relationships, hu... more We continue from this feature in the previous issue of ICR, which posited three relationships, human beings to human beings, human beings to the rest of the creation, and finally to the Creator. The first relationship is one of contract, the second of taskhir (to be defined below), and the third of covenant. For the second relationship, the description is no longer ‘contract’ but taskhir. The term ‘subjugation’ in English is more accurately the antonym of taskhir. This shows us how far we have strayed. We think we own a house, but the house owns us. We forget that the word ‘mortgage’ means ‘gripped until death’. The American author and leading transcendentalist of his time, Henry David Thoreau (d. 1862), saw a contrast between those who had been subjugated to their possessions and those who were unencumbered.
La obra al-Futūḥāt al-makkīya (“Las iluminaciones de La Meca”), las revelaciones que Ibn al-ʿArab... more La obra al-Futūḥāt al-makkīya (“Las iluminaciones de La Meca”), las revelaciones que Ibn al-ʿArabī recibe y desarrolla en La Meca, es una de las mayores obras de la civilización occidental. Compuesta por unas diez mil páginas, su tamaño ha supuesto por sí solo un obstáculo para el público. La primera edición crítica completa se publicó en 2010 y una segunda edición de El Cairo en 20131. Las traducciones únicamente han abarcado alrededor del uno o dos por ciento del total de la obra. Como traductor, he estado trabajando desde 2002 en la primera traducción completa de al-Futūḥāt al-makkīya, cuya edición ya ha comenzado.Aun siendo considerado uno de los textos más oscuros y densos sobre el islam y el mundo espiritual, al-Futūḥāt al-makkīya se escribió para ser comprendido, e Ibn al-ʿArabī alienta constantemente al público a aprender y comprenderlo, y lo que es aún más importante, a comprobar por uno mismo (el término que utiliza es taḥqīq, de la raíz de ḥaqq, la verdad). No se trata, e...
At the core of the question of maqasid is the conception of the engagement of the community with ... more At the core of the question of maqasid is the conception of the engagement of the community with the revelation. From this core, one can gain perspective on the usul al-fiqh and maqasid approaches. The former does not provide priorities and does not address directly the pressing concerns that are overwhelming contemporary societies – it focuses on ‘form’ at the expense of ‘substance’. For the latter, the issue of methodology is important – how are the goals of the law ascertained? Finally, the author looks at key contributions of the maqasid approach, which opens the door to applications into areas typically beyond the scope of the usul al-fiqh, such as civilisational renewal.
Writing from wide experience working with organisations as a management consultant, Margaret Whea... more Writing from wide experience working with organisations as a management consultant, Margaret Wheatley has seen the necessity for integrating the new science with organisational management. The new science of quantum physics, fractals, and chaos theory creates a new nonlinear world view. The old, linear view is suited only for the factory model, where outputs increase in a linear fashion according to the inputs. But the real world is nonlinear: think about learning. We study and study and suddenly, we understand. Wheatley describes the conventional command-and-control management style, where we think the company is a black box with inputs on the left and outputs on the right. She talks about laboriously crafted organisational charts, when the real communication of the company takes place around the water cooler. She shows us how organisations flounder and stagnate when they are seen as machines in a Newtonian world, the old mechanistic view.
While exploring convergences between Islam and contemporary science, I came across a recent book ... more While exploring convergences between Islam and contemporary science, I came across a recent book by the Dalai Lama1 which describes his interactions with Buddhism and science. In fact, the Dalai Lama is ideally suited to be a bridge between spirituality and science. His stature means that he does not merely read Thomas Merton, Carl Friedrich von Weizsacker, Karl Popper, and David Bohm – he meets them. His seven decades means that he spans the most significant changes that technology and science have made on human society.
video recording: https://vimeo.com/604363973, 2021
The Hidden Treasure: Ibn Arabi Seminars
This monthly seminar series introduces the medieval sag... more The Hidden Treasure: Ibn Arabi Seminars
This monthly seminar series introduces the medieval sage Ibn Arabi (d.1240), and his relevance to the contemporary world. The seminar series is organised by the Ibn Arabi Initiative (IAI) at Monash University, and it meets online on the first Saturday of every month. The seminar is composed of a 40-minute presentation by the speaker followed by 20 minutes of question and answer with the audience. Only the talk delivered by the presenter is recorded, to be publicized in the IAI webpage, and the question & answer session is not recorded or made available.
Dr Eric Winkel (Ibn Arabi Society, USA) “I am a Buried Treasure, Concealed (in you):” Ibn Arabi’s Role in the (our) Discovery of the Treasure Chest (in our chests) 4 September 2021, Saturday, 10-11am (AEST-Melbourne time)
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This monthly seminar series introduces the medieval sage Ibn Arabi (d.1240), and his relevance to the contemporary world. The seminar series is organised by the Ibn Arabi Initiative (IAI) at Monash University, and it meets online on the first Saturday of every month. The seminar is composed of a 40-minute presentation by the speaker followed by 20 minutes of question and answer with the audience. Only the talk delivered by the presenter is recorded, to be publicized in the IAI webpage, and the question & answer session is not recorded or made available.
Dr Eric Winkel (Ibn Arabi Society, USA)
“I am a Buried Treasure, Concealed (in you):” Ibn Arabi’s Role in the (our) Discovery of the Treasure Chest (in our chests)
4 September 2021, Saturday, 10-11am (AEST-Melbourne time)
The seminars are open-to-public and free, while registration is required via the following link: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/166369837663
You will receive the link to the Zoom meeting upon registration.
Organiser: https://www.monash.edu/arts/Ibn-Arabi-Interreligious-Research-Initiative