Author: Hassan Hassan

rss-iconSubscribe to feed
The inner courtyard of Al-Azhar University (photo: picture alliance/Bibliographisches Institut/Prof. Dr. H. Wilhelmy)

Al-Azhar and Pan-Islamic Rationalism

The Demise of Islamic Centres of Moderation

The spread of extremism in Muslim societies in the past century can be attributed to a largely overlooked trend: the demise of religious institutions that once had global reach. Focusing on Egypt's Al-Azhar university, Hassan Hassan takes a look into the matterMore

Niqab Debate in Egypt: Divided ScholarsSocietal Change in Egypt: A Riveting Wave of Political and Religious Soul SearchingNew Grand Sheikh at Al-Azhar University: Fighting Extremism in A Suit and Tie
Front cover of Al-Ghazali's 'Tiber al-masbuk' manuscript at the American University of Beirut (image: www.alghazali.org)

The decline of Islamic scientific thought

11

Don't blame it on al-Ghazali

Academics are correct in pinpointing the exact period in which Muslims began turning away from scientific innovation – the 11th century – but in Abu Hamid Al Ghazali they have identified the wrong person. By Hassan HassanMore

''The House of Wisdom'' and the Golden Age of Learning in the Arab-speaking WorldIslam and Enlightenment: A Space for Doubts and QuestionsComparative Theology: Muslims and Christians Discussing Nietzsche

In brief

More

Facebook

Most Recent Photo Essay

Umar is an indigenous former Protestant pastor who converted to Islam in the late 1990s and now acts as a mediator between local Christians and Muslims in San Christobal de las Casas, Chiapas. "Our religion is monotheistic," he said. "But we are not practicing a holy cult here"

The indigenous Muslims of Chiapas, Mexico

A trip to the indigenous Mayan heartland of Mexico shows how vital the Muslim community is in this predominantly Roman Catholic country. The southern state of Chiapas is home to hundreds of predominantly indigenous Tzotzil men and women, many of whom have converted to Islam from Catholic or other Christian denominations. By Edgard Garrido