The Golden Age of Islam and the Secrets of the Ilm-ethos
Key information
- Date
- Time
-
2:00 pm
- Venue
- Online via Zoom
- Event type
- Lecture
About this event
SOAS World Philosophies Lecture 23
The rise of Islam was spectacular. Within a decade of the Prophet’s passing Islam, emerging from the deserts of Arabia, had shattered the two oldest and greatest empires of the region – the Persian and the Roman. Within a century Islam had spread from Andalusia in Spain to the Sind in India. And the next thousand years saw the Golden Age of Islam.
Libraries, colleges, centres of learning produced philosophers, mathematicians, physicians and poets. Women were in the forefront—one of the oldest universities of the world at Fez was started by a woman and the teacher of Ibn Arabi one of the greatest Sufi figures of Islam was also a woman. Yet today the Muslim world is struggling with poor figures for education, health, and political stability. Women students are either kidnapped wholesale as in Nigeria or banned from obtaining education altogether as in Afghanistan. Blaming colonization is just one explanation. Islam’s decline has been as spectacular as was its rise.
My theory of the ilm- ethos will attempt to explain both the rise and decline of Islam. The aim of Muslims is to lead a contented life for themselves, the family, and the community. The challenge of sustaining the original traditions of the forefathers and passing them on to other generations will not only involve diligence on the part of Islam but the entire world as Islam today consists of about a quarter of the world’s population and has some sixty nations
About the speaker
Ambassador Akbar Ahmed is Distinguished Professor and the Ibn Khaldun Chair of Islamic Studies at American University and a Wilson Center Global Fellow in Washington, D.C. He was Pakistan High Commissioner to the UK and Ireland. Ahmed’s career has included distinguished posts in both academia and public service.
He won the Star of Pakistan award, the inaugural Gandhi Peace Award and with Professor Judea Pearl the inaugural Purpose Prize. He is a Trustee of the World Faiths Development Dialogue and member of the Board of Advisors of the Khalili Foundation. Some of his many works include Discovering Islam (1988), Islam Today: A Short Introduction to the Muslim World (1999), Journey into Europe: Islam, Immigration and Identity (2018), and The Flying Man (2024).
Contact
Link to event
- This event is online via Zoom