I really appreciated this exchange — especially how it shows that “faith in the humanities” isn’t about turning everything into apologetics, but about recovering what was erased and changing the method of reading and knowing (that tadabbur/amanah framing landed hard for me). The point about how intellectual erasure can quietly produce social fragmentation felt painfully true, and I love how you both refuse the cheap binary where Islam is either “outside” the canon or only allowed in as a footnote. It made me want to slow down and read more carefully, with more honesty about the inherited language we carry. I’ve been writing about something related — presence, meaning, and how love changes the way we read the world — if you’d like to read it here: https://theeternalnowmm.substack.com/p/eternal-love?r=71z4jh
Thank you for the kind feedback. This is indeed an important topic that I wish to hear more Muslims talk about. Islam (and Muslims throughout history) played an indispensable role in shaping what we know today in the humanities, and it's about time we recognize and recover all that has been systematically erased by the opponents of our faith.
And thank you for sharing this piece with us. I hope to check it out soon!
inherited language that we carry is a very important thing to be in touch with and question and critique - often, we are holding onto and regurgitating particular ideas and types of frameworks that we don't even realize are informing our thinking. this is something we have to be highly critical and vigilant about
This is my first time reading your works. And this is the first of your posts I'm reading. It's just so beautiful, like SubhanAllah, the depth of the conversation is enlightening. I'm a humanities student as well, and I can relate to this respected professor. I also had the same questions, such as why there isn't much Islamic literature at my university, which used to be a madrasa... the irony.
Unfortunately, such is the state of the humanities worldwide. It's saddening to think of how differently (and how much better) our education could be if we were to recognize and recover all which Islam contributed across time. This is why holding these discussions is so necessary.
it is a sad reality that many humanistic fields and studies give Islam short shrift, unfortunately. sorry to hear that you had a similar experience as me
I really appreciated this exchange — especially how it shows that “faith in the humanities” isn’t about turning everything into apologetics, but about recovering what was erased and changing the method of reading and knowing (that tadabbur/amanah framing landed hard for me). The point about how intellectual erasure can quietly produce social fragmentation felt painfully true, and I love how you both refuse the cheap binary where Islam is either “outside” the canon or only allowed in as a footnote. It made me want to slow down and read more carefully, with more honesty about the inherited language we carry. I’ve been writing about something related — presence, meaning, and how love changes the way we read the world — if you’d like to read it here: https://theeternalnowmm.substack.com/p/eternal-love?r=71z4jh
Thank you for the kind feedback. This is indeed an important topic that I wish to hear more Muslims talk about. Islam (and Muslims throughout history) played an indispensable role in shaping what we know today in the humanities, and it's about time we recognize and recover all that has been systematically erased by the opponents of our faith.
And thank you for sharing this piece with us. I hope to check it out soon!
inherited language that we carry is a very important thing to be in touch with and question and critique - often, we are holding onto and regurgitating particular ideas and types of frameworks that we don't even realize are informing our thinking. this is something we have to be highly critical and vigilant about
This is my first time reading your works. And this is the first of your posts I'm reading. It's just so beautiful, like SubhanAllah, the depth of the conversation is enlightening. I'm a humanities student as well, and I can relate to this respected professor. I also had the same questions, such as why there isn't much Islamic literature at my university, which used to be a madrasa... the irony.
Unfortunately, such is the state of the humanities worldwide. It's saddening to think of how differently (and how much better) our education could be if we were to recognize and recover all which Islam contributed across time. This is why holding these discussions is so necessary.
Thank you for the kind feedback!
it is a sad reality that many humanistic fields and studies give Islam short shrift, unfortunately. sorry to hear that you had a similar experience as me
As always, beautifully written and deeply considered post.
Thank you!