Events: Maqasid Methodology: Challenges of Application

Join us in this thought-provoking talk on the challenges of re-envisioning Islamic scholarship through the application of the maqasid methodology. Dr. Basma Abdelgafar, VP Maqasid Institute and Professor of Public Policy, will take us through a journey of discovery from method to ideas to expression. She will draw on her expertise in scientific and technological innovation to reveal the beauty and complexity of applied Quranic studies and the mind-brain/mind-heart connection. The seminar will also examine steps that can be taken to improve a scholar’s ability to abstract knowledge from the Revelation with the aim of making an original and invaluable contribution to his or her area of research or action.

Lecturer: Prof. Basma Abdelgafar is a Professor of Public Policy. She consults and provides training internationally on policy, governance and Muslim affairs. She has worked in the Canadian federal government, academia and the third sector with contributions to the development of graduate studies in public policy at the American University in Cairo, Qatar Foundation and the International Peace College of South Africa. She was founding head of the Public Policy in Islam Masters Program at the Qatar Faculty of Islamic Studies, Hamad Bin Khalifa University. She has a keen interest in research and teaching in public policy and governance in Islam as well as in Muslim history, thought, institutions and communities. She obtained her Ph.D. in Public Policy from Carleton University, Ottawa, in 2003. Her book publications include: Public Policy Beyond Traditional Jurisprudence (London: IIIT), Thriving in a Plural World (Singapore: MUIS), M.A. Draz’s Morality in the Quran and the Greater Good of Humanity (Wales: Claritas), and The Illusive Tradeoff (Toronto: University of Toronto Press). Prof. Basma is currently authoring a book on the Quranic Theory of Invention and Innovation.