“Their violence [i.e., enmity] among themselves is severe. You think they are together, but their hearts are diverse. That is because they are a people who do not reason” Surah Al-Hashr 14

“But they (mankind) have broken their affair among them into sects, each group rejoicing in its tenets” Surah mu’minūn 53

The Madhabs (schools of thought) of Western Civilisation course will examine the origins, causes and development of Western political thought from Christian political thought until late Renaissance, to the birth of materialist political philosophies known as the “Enlightenment era”, charting their evolution up to modern-day, covering works from key thinkers from Machiavelli to John Locke, J.S Mill to Karl Marx, Nietzsche to Derrida, and Friedrich Hayek to John Rawls.

The course will look at each of the different schools/sects of Western political thought within Western Civilisation today, featuring an in-depth look at each school or “sect’s creeds, aims, ideological justifications, their origins traced back to the Western enlightenment-era, what makes them different from other schools/sects, and their main points of conflict with rival schools/sects.

The list of schools/sects covered will include Liberals, Conservatives, Socialists (incl. Marxists, Neo-Marxists & Social Democrats), Fascists, Anarchism, Green Environmentalism and many of the New ‘egalitarian’ and post-Marxist movements for ‘social justice’.

The course will include giving attendees an understanding of the Left-Wing/Right-Wing scale (for ‘measuring’ the position of the sect/school within Western political thought), and the impact of existentialism and post-modernism (post-structuralism) on Western political discourses amongst the schools/sects.

The course is ideal for attendees to understand, navigate and engage Western political discourse, internal politics and foreign policies, with clarity. Additionally, the course will provide attendees with a comparison with Islamic political philosophy and Islamic solutions to global problems, that would equip the attendee with a firm grounding and position to critically engage Western political thought.

The course is divided into 12 chapters (each 2-3 hours long) on the following topics:

1. The Ancient foundations of modern Western Political Philosophy and Ethics
2. Christian Political Theology and the materialist response that sparked the “Enlightenment”
3. The family tree of Sects & Schools: Mapping out the root and branches of the Western Enlightenment schools of thought
4. Classical Liberalism: The first “Enlightenment” school of thought
5. Conservatism: The school of ‘political empiricism’ and cautiousness
6. The pre-cursors to Socialism: The ‘Radical Enlightenment’ of the Continental Rationalists
7. The development of the Socialist & Marxist schools of thought (part 1)
8. The development of the Socialist & Marxist schools of thought (part 2)
9. Social liberalism: The failure of Classical liberalism in the 19th century and rise of ‘Liberalism 2.0’ (Part 1)
10. Social liberalism: Civil rights, gender equality and anti-discrimination laws (Part 2)
11. Post-Marxism and rise of movements for ‘Social Justice’: Neo-Marxism, Existentialism, ‘the end of ideology’ and the phenomena of Post-Modernism
12. 20th Century developments in Western Political Philosophy (Fascism & Environmentalism) & A Comparison with Islamic Thought

The trailer and the full course can be accessed here:

All proceeds go towards helping The Quran Institute continue its vital work