This event is free and open to the public. It will take place in Nau Hall Room 342.
This lecture will introduce the life and thought of the famous Sufi figure ‘Ayn al-Qudat Hamadani (d. 1131). A student of Ahmad Ghazali, ‘Ayn al-Qudat was a controversial religious judge, philosopher, and spiritual teacher who was put to death by the Seljuq government at the age of thirty-five, ostensibly on charges of “heresy.” After coming to terms with ‘Ayn al-Qudat’s life, martyrdom, and self-perception as a teacher and scholar extraordinaire, we will turn our attention to a careful presentation of his Sufi philosophy, which in many innovative ways shaped the later trajectory of Islamic intellectual history.
Mohammed Rustom is Professor of Islamic Thought at Carleton University. His forthcoming books include The Essence of Reality: A Defense of Philosophical Sufism (NYU Press), Inrushes of the Heart: The Sufi Philosophy of ‘Ayn al-Qudat (SUNY Press), and Global Philosophy: A Sourcebook (Equinox).
For more information: https://wordpress.its.virginia.edu/Islamic_Studies_Colloquium_ISC/2021/08/17/fall-2021-2/