Cape Town: This Saturday, insha Allah, marks the start of a new phase in the Maqasid Al-Shariah project that I decided to dedicate the next stage of my life to (if Allah wills). I will occupy the “Al-Shatibi Chair of Maqasid Studies” at the International Peace College South Africa – IPSA, which will be inaugurated on 12/3/2016 in Cape Town insha Allah. In the Inaugural Lecture (some screenshots attached), I will outline plans for launching a new “Graduate School of Maqasid Studies” at IPSA, which is the only fully-accredited South African Islamic Studies College. The School will start – in January 2017 insha Allah – a “Masters in Applied Islamic Thought”, which is a multi-disciplinary/ultra-disciplinary degree between Islamic Studies and one or more of ten other fields (outline in the screenshot on “specializations”). The purpose of the Chair and the new Graduate School is to renew the Islamic thought via Maqasid Al-Shariah as a methodology to tackle this world’s problems, social, material and spiritual, in a bottom-up approach. Will announce eventually more details on programs and scholarships for those who’d like to come and study here in Cape Town, insha Allah! Why South Africa? Because of a very significant recent history of emancipation, amazing cultural, racial and social diversity, especially in Cape Town, a very advanced constitution and bill of rights, a special openness to new ideas in Islamic scholarship especially at IPSA, and a very rich testbed for applied studies that serve Muslims, the wider society and the rest of the world. This is to me the next step in the Islamic project of Maqasid Al-Shariah, for this Ummah and for humanity.
