2.3.5 Intellectual Contestations Video

 

View this brief conversation between Madrasa Discourses principal investigator Ebrahim Moosa and lead faculty Mahan Mirza centering on Ghazali and his place within the wider tradition. The video was produced by Notre Dame’s Office of Digital Learning.
 

Guiding Questions:

  1. Why does Dr. Ebrahim Moosa propose Ghazali is such an important figure for the Islamic tradition?
  2. Describe one of Ghazali’s intellectual conflicts, according to the video.
  3. Did Ghazali deal a death blow to reason in Islam, according to Dr. Moosa?
  4. Describe an element of the debate between al Biruni and Ibn Sina. What intellectual traditions are these scholars drawing on to make their arguments?
  5. What is an empirical imperative?
  6. What do these contestations tell you about the history of the Islamic tradition? Was it monolithic?

 

Thumbnail: “Le penseur de la Porte de l’Enfer (musée Rodin).” Photo Credit: Jean-Pierre Dalbéra, 2010. CC BY 2.0.