Don’t know your left-wing from your right-wing (or a chicken-wing!)? Don’t know what ideology Conservatism is or how it differs from Liberalism? Don’t know where they both originate from or the arguments that are used to justify each position?

Don’t know where Nationalism comes from, how it became popular or how it was justified? Don’t know the difference between a Fascist or Nationalist, or how secular liberal democracies can become fascist? Wondering why Conservatives attack Liberals but criticise non-Westerners for illiberal beliefs and practices?

Not sure what “woke” really even means, or the ideas behind the “Social Justice” movement? What even is the justification for ANY of the liberal values and beliefs touted by their advocates? And what are the historical circumstances and thinkers that gave rise to them?

Whether trying to navigate as a minority within the West, or within the politics of a non-Western country built on Western ideas after colonialism, this course will be for you.

I’m happy to announce I will be teaching a new course at The Quran Institute, titled: The Madhabs (schools of thought) of Western Civilisation – A study of Modern Western Political Thought, Movements & Parties (an exposition of J. S. McClelland’s book, A History of Western Political Thought) & comparison with Islamic Political Philosophy – will Insha’Allah begin on 18th October 2019.

Coming off the back of the popular course earlier this year, “The Usuliyyoun of Western Civilisation – A Sharh of Bertrand Russell’s book, A History of Western Civilisation” (see here to get online access), comes a new course by the Occidentology department of TQI.

The Qur’an reveals many ayat discussing the different beliefs and positions of the mushrikeen (polytheists) of seventh-century Arabia. Some pagans believed in one God who had lesser “helper” gods, others believed in the Arabian gods as simply being a part of nature (like stars or animals) but with no overall creator behind the universe, and others worshipped only their tribal god (amongst other gods) as their tribe’s personal patron. The revealer of the Qur’an knew that the pagan Arabian peninsula consisted of not only multiple tribes and clans, but also multiple groups and factions of belief, and explained the different positions in order to refute them and inform Muslims how to engage them.

Further, the Quran also informed Muslims of the beliefs of the Romans, as well as the Jewish tribes of Arabia. In this day and age, when the beliefs of paganism, Christianity and Judaism no longer hold the same influence of political power structures as they once did, and with the rise of new ideologies and worldviews (adyaan) that hold greater and more deep-rooted sway over the minds of millions, the basic beliefs and concepts that are refuted and engaged within the Quran have taken on new and unfamiliar forms.

The Quran says “Indeed, Allah will not change the condition of a people until they change what is in themselves” [13:11].

In order to understand, navigate and interact with the West, it is important to know what beliefs, justifications, arguments and worldviews not only led the West to this point in its history but the path it will go in the future. Important to understanding this is knowing the factions, schools of thought, and movements within the West that jostle and jockey with each other for influence, power, and shaping peoples actions – ultimately affecting the condition and state of domestic culture and politics in the West, and politics and culture globally.

The course will be available to attendees in taught onsite classes and internationally available live online access, with the ability to interact with the instructor during the class.

Course description:

The Madhabs (schools of thought) of Western Civilisation, will be an intermediate level course taught at The Quran Institute. The course is ideal for attendees to understand, navigate and work engaging the western politics and foreign policies with clarity – which is often lacking even amongst western political commentators. Additionally, the course will provide attendees with an understanding of Islamic political imperatives, and a comparison with Islamic political philosophy and Islamic solutions to global problems, that would equip the attendee with a firm grounding to engage Western political thought.

The course features:

1. A history of modern Western political philosophy. The course will examine the origins, causes, development and effects of Western political thought from late Renaissance, The Enlightenment, up to modern-day, covering works from key thinkers including Machiavelli to John Locke, J.S Mill to Karl Marx, Nietzche to Derrida, and Friedrich Hayek to John Rawls.

2. Understanding the schools of thought within Modern Western Civilisation. An in-depth look at all the schools of thought in Western thought, their creeds and ideological justifications, what makes them different from each other and how they arose from Western enlightenment philosophy. This includes understanding the Left-Wing/Right-Wing scale, Liberals, Conservatives, Socialists, Fascists, Postmodernism, Neo-Conservatism, Anarchism, Green Environmentalism and many of the New Egalitarian movements.

3. Introduction and comparison with Islamic Political Philosophy. A guide on how to approach these ideologies from an Islamic perspective, navigate Western political discourse and party politics, and a comparative look at Islamic political philosophy, upon which to form a basis for Muslim advocacy and an alternative solution to the often ineffective political and social solutions currently touted in western discourse.

Course length:

The course will consist of 10 sessions of the approximately two-hour length of the taught content in additional to extensive time for questions and answers engagement with onsite and online class attendees.

THE QURAN INSTITUTE COURSE EARLY-BIRD DISCOUNT:

Sign up with early bird tickets now: https://bit.ly/30gcOGr | Onsite / Online | 10 Weeks

I’m extremely excited to announce the follow up to our previous course “The Usuliyyun of Western Civilisation” called “The Madhabs of Western Civilisation”.

Categories: ANNOUNCEMENTS, WESTERN POLITICAL THOUGHT