Javed Ghamidi: Islam and Counterterrorism

On Friday, November 10 from 10:00 to 11:00 am at the START office, Islamic scholar Jāvēd Ghāmidī will give a lecture titled "Islam and Counterterrorism", to be followed by lunch and informal discussion. The event is free and open to the public, but attendance will be capped at 60 people. Please click here to RSVP.

 

During the last few decades, humanity have suffered by an ideology that has now become synonymous with terrorism. This ideology is being used by militant organizations and is claimed to be part of Islam, a faith shared by more than 1.5 billion people on this earth. In the name of ‘Jihad’, this ideology has killed countless muslims and non-muslims. Muslim scholar Javed Ahmad Ghamidi has spent a large part of his life on a counter narrative to this ideology. He will discuss this important topic with local scholars as part of an effort to understand the underlying causes of this ideology and find ways to counter and conquer this great threat to humanity. 

 

Jāvēd Aḥmad Ghāmidī (1951- ) is a well-known Islamic scholar, exegete and educationist from Pakistan. He is the founder of al-Mawrid, Institute of Islamic Sciences in Lahore, Pakistan (1983- 87; 1991- ) and a member of its Executive Committee. He works at the institute as a Fellow along with his associates and assistants, and is the founder and patron/chief editor of the institute’s journals, Renaissance (1991- ) in English and Ishrāq (1985- ) in Urdu. Ghāmidī has also been a noteworthy member of Council of Islamic Ideology (CII) in Pakistan. In the last four decades, this independent scholar has made many new and unique contributions to the study of the Qur’ān and the ḥadīth, Islamic law and jurisprudence, and philosophy. A representative portion of his research work has been published by al-Mawrid. Of high legal, social and political import amongst his publications are Mīzān (Scale), a collection of his essays on Islamic law and jurisprudence, and Burhān (Conclusive Argument), an anthology of his critiques on contemporary religious viewpoints. His recently published annotated translation of the Qur’ān al-Bayān (The Exposition) is indispensable to the understanding of his approach in exegesis.