Lectures by Hamid Algar
Hamid Algar, born in England in 1940, received his formal training in Islamic studies
at Cambridge University, from which he received his Ph.D. in 1965. Since 1965, he has been
teaching at the University of California, Berkeley, a wide range of courses including
tafsir, Sufism, Shi'ism, the history of Islam in Iran, Arabic, Persian and Turkish
literature.
- Madhahib
- The Main Schools of Islamic Law, their Principles and History.
- The topic of Islamic law is a source of confusion to many, people despite its great
importance and the concern increasingly shown for it. It is frequently imagined that it
constitutes a more or less fixed and finite body of ordinances, akin to man made systems
of law. This lecture seeks to delineate the distinctive features of Islamic law, above all
its interplay between fixed principles and varying applications, and examines the
historical evolution of the law with respect to the four schools of Sunni jurisprudence
and the Ja'fari legal school of Shi'i Islam.
- Running Time: I Hour 10 Minutes.
- VIIB 098 Video $ 12.00
- AUIP 024 Cassette $ 5.00
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- Imam Abu Hamid Ghazali
- An Exponent of Islam in Its Totality
- If a list of the half dozen most important figures in the historical elaboration of
Islam were to be drawn up, there can be no doubt that Abu Hamid Ghazali would figure on
that list. As a versatile and gifted scholar and, more importantly, a believer of great
spiritual insight., he confronted all the intellectual and spiritual currents of his day
and elaborated what might be called a defining synthesis of Sunni Islam. He achieved this
result through both lengthy personal experience and erudition., and this lecture deals,
therefore, both with his life and his works, as well as attempting to assess his impact on
the religious history of Islam.
- Running Time: 1 Hour 10 Minutes
- VIIB 097 Video $ 12.00
- AUIP 023 Cassette $ 5.00
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- The Qur'an
- The Revelation & Recording of The Text
- A full understanding of what is meant by revelation is ultimately inaccessible to all
but the prophetic recipients of God's word. Nonetheless, the Qur'an contains numerous
references to the sending down of the divine speech and its infusion into the mind and the
heart of the Prophet (pbh). Authentic hadith also describe some of the external and
observable phenomena that accompanied the revelation of the Qur'an. This lecture seeks to
analyze and explain the relevant verses and traditions, and describe, too, the dual
process - oral
- and written - whereby the text of the Qur'an was codified and transmitted.
- Running Time: 1 Hour 10 Minutes
- VIIB 101 Video $ 12.00
- AUIP 025 Cassette 5.00
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- Sufism I
- Principles and Practice
- There can be few topics in the religious and intellectual history of Islam that have
aroused as much controversy and misunderstanding as Sufism. This is due partly to the
multiform and elusive nature of Sufism itself and partly to the profusion of false
claimants to Sufism, particularly in recent times. The first in this two part series of
lectures attempts to clarify the principal conceptual bases of Sufism and the way in which
it may legitimately claim to be derived from both the Qur'an and the Sunnah; the varying
levels of religious understanding and practice and of moral progress that can be deduced
from those two sources of Islam; and the key practice of dhikr . The second traces the
main lines in the historical development of Sufism, with attention both to individuals and
organizational forms.
- Running Time: 1 Hr 10 Min.
- VIIB 105 Video $ 12.00
- AUIP 027 Cassette $ 5.00
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- Sufism II
- Historical Development
- There can be few topics in the religious and intellectual history of Islam that have
aroused as much controversy and misunderstanding as Sufism. This is due partly to the
multiform and elusive nature of Sufism itself and partly to the profusion of false
claimants to Sufism, particularly in recent times. The first in this two part series of
lectures attempts to clarify the principal conceptual bases of Sufism and the way in which
it may legitimately claim to be derived from both the Qur'an and the Sunnah; the varying
levels of religious understanding and practice and of moral progress that can be deduced
from those two sources of Islam; and the key practice of dhikr. The second traces the main
lines in the historical development of Sufism, with attention both to individuals and
organizational forms.
- Running Time 1Hr 10 Min
- VIIB 106 Video $ 12.00
- AUIP 028 Cassette $ 5.00
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- Surah Al-Fatihah
- Foundation of the Qur'an
- Although no distinction may be made among the parts of the Qur'an in terms of relative
excellence, it is obvious that the opening surah has a special significance that goes
beyond its placing at the beginning of the Book. This is indicated among other things by
the numerous designations given to it, some by the Prophet (pbh) himself; by the fact the
uniquely it was revealed twice; and by the fact that its recitation constitutes the core
of the prayer. Many commentators have seen in it, in fact, a concise summary of the whole
Qur'an, the implications of which they have sought to draw out in many volumes. In this
lecture the more modest attempt is made to analyze some of its principal themes and the
miraculous conciseness with which they are expounded.
- Running Time 1 Hour 10 Minutes
- VIIB109 Video $ 12.00
- AUIP 030 Cassette $ 5.00
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- Hasan Al-Banna
- Founder of the First Modern Islamic Movement
- At a time when Islamic movements are unprecedentedly numerous and active, the
Organization of Muslim Brothers continues to demand our attention as the first of those
movements and the seedbed from which several other organizations have arisen. One of the
defining characteristics of the organization is the way in which it has passed through
several distinct stages of development, each clearly dominated by a leading personality.
In this lecture the attempt is made to assess the career and contribution of Hasan
al-Banna, the founder of the organization.
- Running Time 1 Hour 10 Minutes
- VIIB 107 Video $ 12.00
- AUIP 029 Cassette $ 5.00
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- Shi'ism I:
- General Characteristics & Qur'anic Proofs
- The Islamic Revolution of Iran brought Shi'ism to the forefront of world attention. This
did not mean, however, that even non-Shi'i Muslims, let alone non-Muslims, were or became
correctly informed about what Shi'is actually believe. In this first two presentations,
some general problems in the understanding of Shi'ism are addressed, Then the concept of
the Imamate is outlines, with emphasis on the fact that not merely the identity of the
successor to the leadership function of the Prophet (pbh) is crucial for the Shi'is, but
still more the nature and extent of the direction he is provide, Qur'anic verses in which
Shi'i scholars have seen evidence for their distinctive doctrines are examined, together
with a number of hadith that are adduced for the same purpose.
- Running Time: I Hour 10 Minutes.
- VIIB 111 Video $ 12.00
- AUIP 032 Cassette $ 5.00
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- Shi'ism II:
- Life & The Legacy of Twelve Imams
- In this second lecture on Shi'i Islam, first the lives of the Twelve Imams are reviewed,
with particular attention to the imprint left by the most important among them both on the
historical development of Shi'ism and on the memory and consciousness of the Shi'i
community. Next the occultation of the Twelfth Imam is examined as constituting in one
sense the completion of Twelver Shi'ism, which was henceforth a community believing in an
occulted Imam and awaiting his return. The role of the religious scholars as agents of the
Imam during his occultation is also discussed, both in its theoretical dimensions and its
historical expression.
- Running Time: I Hour 10 Minutes.
- VIIB 112 Video $ 12.00
- AUIP 033 Cassette 5.00
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- Fundamentalism and Terrorism:
- The Terminological War Against Islam
- The West has always seen in the use of demeaning and distorting designations a weapon of
choice in its perennial struggle against Islam. The phenomenon can be traced to the
Christian encounter in Syria with nascent Islam, because more virulent in the Middle Ages,
and reaches its apogee during the classical age of European imperialism. Some of the old
terms are still in use, notably "fanaticism" as a special, even unique feature
of Muslims who have the temerity to refuse submission to Western hegemony. The terms now
on the cutting edge of Western vilification are, however, "fundamentalism" and
"terrorism," terms which for varying reasons are of no analytical validity
whatsoever. In this lecture an attempt is made to analyze the distorting implications of
these and related terms, and to warn Muslim against adopting them into their own
vocabulary of self-knowledge and self-analysis.
- Running Time: I Hour 10 Minutes.
- VIIB 117 Video $ 12.00
- AUIP 038 Cassette $ 5.00
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- The Sunnah:
- Its Obligatory and Non-Obligatory Aspects
- The authority and excellence of the Sunnah, the normative mode of conduct of the Prophet
(pbh), is mandated in the Qur'an itself, even though the term itself does not occur there
with the same meaning. Certain aspects of the Sunnah are obligatory for the Muslim to
follow; these include those several instances where the Sunnah clarifies the mode of
implementation of a Qur'anic injunction, as is the case with prayer. A number of jurists
hold, in fact, the Sunnah is a source of legal authority independent of the Qur'an. Other
dimensions of the Sunnah are non-obligatory; to observe them is meritorious, but to omit
them is not sinful. These include certain acts of devotion in which the Prophet (pbh)
would engage. Finally, there are those matters in which the Prophet (pbh) was exercising
his personal taste or judgment in matters not intrinsic to his prophetic mission; these
must be regarded as incidental to the Sunnah.
- Running Time: I Hour 10 Minutes.
- VIIB 102 Video $ 12.00
- AUIP 026 Cassette $ 5.00
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- Wahhabism:
- Origins & Doctrines.
- VIIB 115 Video $ 12.00
- AUIP 036 Cassette 5.00
- Qur'an And Ahl Al-Kitab:
- VIIB 117 Video $ 12.00
- AUIP 038 Cassette $ 5.00
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- Jesus In The Qur'an:
- VIIB 110 Video 12.00
- AUIP 031 Cassette $ 5.00
