Join us for an evening discussion with Muzzammil Al-Nadwi, to delve into the book Views on Womanhood: A Translation and Reading of Mustafa Sabri Efendi’s (d. 1373/1954) Qawli fi ‘l-Mar’a. Views on Womanhood is co-translated by Muzzammil Al-Nadwi and Junayd Greer. It will be available to purchase from the IHRC Bookshop soon.
WHEN: Thursday, 16 May, 6.30pm BST
WHERE: IHRC Bookshop (202 Preston Road, Wembley, HA9 8PA) or watch live on YouTube, Facebook, and IHRC.TV
About the book:
How did the final generation of Ottoman Muslim scholarship see the revolution in public morals taking place in their society? In this book, as deeply resonant with Muslims of today as it was for those of his own time, the Ottoman Şeyhülislam Muṣṭafā Ṣabrī Efendī offers a cutting and farsighted critique of the spread of Western gender norms in Muslim societies. From the pinnacle of Islamic scholarship, this first complete English translation from Shaykh Ṣabrī’s corpus deconstructs the errors of modernist opposition to the hallmarks of traditional Muslim society, such as polygamy, gender segregation, and modest dress.
About the author:
Mustafa Sabri Efendi was a prominent Islamic scholar and spiritual leader who lived in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Renowned for his deep knowledge of Islamic jurisprudence and theology, Mustafa Sabri Efendi served as the Grand Mufti of the Ottoman Empire during a significant period of transition, from 1913 to 1919. He was widely respected for his scholarly contributions and his efforts to uphold the principles of justice and compassion within Islamic jurisprudence. His teachings continue to inspire and influence generations of Muslims around the world.
About the translators:
Muzzammil Ahmad Al-Nadwi currently serves as an Imam at the East London Mosque in London, UK, and as an Advisor with the Islamic Council at MRDF. A native of Bihar, India, he grew up in the United States where he started his Arabic and Islamic studies. He then graduated from Nadwatul Ulama, Lucknow in 2017 and Al-Azhar University, Cairo in 2021. He completed his MA in Islamic Law at SOAS, University of London in 2022, writing his dissertation on Islamic criminal jurisprudence. He is pursuing a PhD in Hanbalī studies at KU Leuven, Belgium, and completing his MA dissertation in legal theory (usul al-fiqh) at Al-Azhar. He has memorized the Qur’an and is traditionally licensed in the major works of various Islamic sciences. He also teaches at several institutions locally and online, while engaging in other research and translation projects.
Junayd (Ian) Greer is of Canadian background. He grew up in Toronto, where he accepted Islam at a young age, before pursuing Islamic studies full-time. He studied Arabic and Islamic studies at McGill University, and recently graduated from the American University in Cairo. He was awarded a grant by Hamad Bin Khalifa University, Qatar, for his winning entry in their yearly essay contest, “Zindīq Heresy and the Transmission of Hellenism in Barmakid Baghdad” and he is also a published author with his most recent work “Shāh Walī Allāh in Defence of Ibn Taymiyyah” being co-authored for the journal Islamic Studies. He has studied Islamic sciences with scholars of Nigeria and attends the lessons of various Azharī scholars in Cairo. While his primary area of study is Mālikī fiqh, he also takes a keen interest in the study of Islamic history, with a focus on Islam in West Africa as well as the Persianate world. He is fluent in English, French and Arabic, and intermediate in Hausa and Persian.
