Course Title: Islam After Empire: Modernity, Reform, and the Question of Authority

Course Overview:  GITS 505 – Islam in the Modern Age: Scholarly Responses to Crisis and Change

This graduate seminar examines how Islamic intellectual traditions confronted the social, political, and epistemic transformations commonly called “modernity.” Moving chronologically from eighteenth-century reform movements to twentieth-century debates about the nation-state, the course pairs foundational primary texts by figures such as Shah Waliullah, Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhāb, al-Shawkānī, Ibn ʿĀbidīn, Muḥammad ʿAbduh, Rashīd Riḍā, Muḥammad Iqbāl, ʿAlī ʿAbd al-Rāziq, and Ibn ʿĀshūr with modern academic analyses by scholars including Gustavo Benavides, Ahmad Dallal, David Commins, Uriel Heyd, Butrus Abu-Manneh, Samira Haj, Talal Asad, Wael Hallaq, Sherman Jackson, and others.

Rather than treating modernity as a simple break from tradition, the seminar explores Islamic reform as an internally coherent moral-intellectual process that negotiated change through legal reasoning, theological reflection, and social critique. Topics include tajdīd and ijtihād, Ottoman legal reform and the Majalla, Islamic modernism, debates over the caliphate and the secular state, and contemporary critiques of the modern nation-state. Through close reading of primary sources alongside historical scholarship, students will analyze how Muslim thinkers reinterpreted revelation, law, and authority in response to colonialism, industrialization, and global political transformation. The course equips students to understand Islam not as static inheritance but as a living intellectual tradition engaging modernity on its own terms.

Who Should Enroll: Ideal for working professionals and lifelong seekers.

Date: March 24, 2026 - May 21, 2026

Day: Every  Tuesday

Time: 5:00-7:00 PM

Location: IOK Diamond Bar (1009 Vía Sorella, Diamond Bar, CA 91789) in Room 104 Left Side-Musalla and ONLINE Via Zoom

Course Duration: 9 Sessions

Format: Weekly in-person or online lectures, interactive discussions with readings, and assignments.

Instructor: Shaykh Omar Qureshi, PhD in Religion, University of Southern California

Dr. Omar Qureshi was born and raised in Southern California and comes from a distinguished family of Subcontinent ulama from the city of Tonk, such as Haydar Hasan Khan, Mahmoud Hasan Khan, and Wali Hasan Khan. After earning his undergraduate degree in Economics from the University of California, Irvine, Dr. Qureshi traveled to Damascus, Syria where he spent three years (2008-2011) building a foundation in Arabic and Islamic sciences at Abu Noor University. He then enrolled at Cairo’s al-Azhar University (2011-2016), graduating from the Shari'ah College and receiving licenses (ijazat) to teach various Islamic sciences from numerous scholars. He then pursued his doctorate at the University of Southern California’s School of Religion (2016-2025). Specializing in Islamic intellectual history, Western philosophy, politics, and social theory, his research focused on the evolution of the Hanafi legal tradition, highlighting its dynamism and methods of continuity. After completing the PhD, Shaykh Omar began working on a monograph centered on the works of the Hanafi mufti Muhammad Amin Ibn 'Abidin and the societal role of fatwas. He is a full-time seminary instructor Institute of Knowledge Seminary. In addition to his legal scholarship, Professor Qureshi is also engaged in Quranic studies, writing an exegesis of selected verses from the Meccan and Medinan periods of revelation.

Enroll now! Join us on this transformative journey into the heart of the Islamic intellectual tradition and its relevance for today.

Cost: $300

If you are auditing, the class will be $200. Please email rsohail@instituteofknowledge.com to pay for the course. Please note that you may attend lectures and participate in discussions. You will not receive any assignments, grading, or credential for this course. It is ideal for personal enrichment and flexible learning.

Please note that this course is NON-REFUNDABLE and will close 2 weeks after the course ends.