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Mohammad Hassan Khalil, also known as Mohammad Khalil, was raised in East Lansing, Michigan, and is currently professor of religious studies, adjunct professor of law, and director of the Muslim Studies Program at Michigan State University.
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Mohammad Hassan Khalil, also known as Mohammad Khalil, was raised in East Lansing, Michigan, and is currently professor of religious studies, adjunct professor of law, and director of the Muslim Studies Program at Michigan State University.
Khalil received his B.A. (with High Distinction), M.A., and Ph.D. from the University of Michigan (Ann Arbor), and was previously an assistant professor of religion and visiting professor of law at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. [1]
Khalil is the author of Islam and the Fate of Others: The Salvation Question (New York: Oxford University Press, 2012), which shows how four of Islam's most prominent scholars—al-Ghazali (d. 1111), Ibn al-'Arabi (d. 1240), Ibn Taymiyyah (d. 1328), and Muhammad Rashid Rida (d. 1935)--imagined (each in his own way) a paradise replete with various categories of non-Muslims. [2] [3] [4] In addition, Khalil argues that neither exclusivism—the belief that only Muslims could ever be saved—nor pluralism—the belief that multiple religions are equally salvific—was as popular in Islamic theology as numerous scholars of religion have assumed. [5] This is a point that Khalil highlights in his article "Salvation and the 'Other' in Islamic thought: The Contemporary Pluralism Debate (in English) (Religion Compass 2011). [6]
In April 2010, Khalil organized the first known international symposium on salvation in Islamic thought called "Islam, Salvation, and the Fate of Others." The symposium featured a diversity of eminent scholars of Islam and was held at the University of Illinois (Urbana-Champaign). [7] Most of the papers presented at the symposium appear in a volume edited by Khalil called Between Heaven and Hell: Islam, Salvation and the Fate of Others (New York: Oxford University Press, 2013)--the first ever multi-authored volume on salvation in Islam in English. [8]
In his 2018 book Jihad, Radicalism, and the New Atheism, Khalil scrutinizes the popular New Atheist claim that Islam is fundamentally violent; he does this "by comparing the conflicting interpretations of jihad offered by mainstream Muslim scholars, Muslim radicals, and New Atheists." [9]
From 2012 to 2018, Khalil served on the board of directors of the Society for the Study of Muslim Ethics. [10] In 2024, he was elected president (after having served as vice president) of the North American Association of Islamic and Muslim Studies. [11]
Islam and the Fate of Others: The Salvation Question (New York: Oxford University Press, 2012)
Between Heaven and Hell: Islam, Salvation, and the Fate of Others (New York: Oxford University Press, 2013)
Jihad, Radicalism, and the New Atheism (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2018)
Muslims and US Politics Today: A Defining Moment (Harvard University Press and ILEX, 2019)
American Jedi: The Salman Hamdani Story (Alexander Street Films, 2023)
Fundamentalism is a tendency among certain groups and individuals that are characterized by the application of a strict literal interpretation to scriptures, dogmas, or ideologies, along with a strong belief in the importance of distinguishing one's ingroup and outgroup, which leads to an emphasis on some conception of "purity", and a desire to return to a previous ideal from which advocates believe members have strayed. The term is usually used in the context of religion to indicate an unwavering attachment to a set of irreducible beliefs.
Islamism refers to religious and political ideological movements that believe that Islam should influence political systems. Its proponents believe Islam is innately political, and that Islam as a political system is superior to communism, liberal democracy, capitalism, and other alternatives in achieving a just, successful society.
Islamic eschatology is a field of study in Islam concerning future events that would happen in the end times. It is primarily based on sources from the Quran and Sunnah. Aspects from this field of study include the signs of the final age, the destruction of the universe and Judgement Day.
Jihad is an Arabic word that means "exerting", "striving", or "struggling", particularly with a praiseworthy aim. In an Islamic context, it encompasses almost any effort to make personal and social life conform with God's guidance, such as an internal struggle against evil in oneself, efforts to build a good Muslim community (ummah), and struggle to defend Islam. In non-Muslim societies, the term is most often associated with warfare.
Religious pluralism is an attitude or policy regarding the diversity of religious belief systems co-existing in society. It can indicate one or more of the following:
In classical Islamic law, there are three major divisions of the world which are dar al-Islam, denoting regions where Islamic law prevails, dar al-sulh denoting non-Islamic lands which are at peace or have an armistice with a Muslim government, and dar al-harb, denoting lands that share a border with dar al-Islam and have not concluded an armistice. Muslims regard Islam as a universal religion and believe it to be the rightful law for all humankind. Despite this, other religious groups are permitted to have their own courts of law under Islamic rule. Muslims are imposed to spread Sharia law and sovereignty through lesser jihad against dar al-harb. According to Islam, this should first be attempted peacefully through Dawah. In the case of war, Muslims are imposed to subject, or eliminate fighters until they surrender or seek peace.
Political aspects of Islam are derived from the Quran, ḥadīth literature, and sunnah, the history of Islam, and elements of political movements outside Islam.
Amina Wadud is an American Muslim theologian. Wadud serves as visiting professor at 4 Consortium for Religious Studies and was also a visiting scholar at Starr King School for the Ministry. Wadud has written extensively on the role of women in Islam.
Islamic military jurisprudence refers to what has been accepted in Sharia and Fiqh by Ulama as the correct Islamic manner, expected to be obeyed by Muslims, in times of war. Some scholars and Muslim religious figures describe armed struggle based on Islamic principles as the Lesser jihad.
Abu al-Hasan Ahmad ibn Yahya ibn Ishaq al-Rawandi, commonly known as Ibn al-Rawandi, was a scholar and theologian. In his early days, he was a Mu'tazilite scholar, but then rejected the Mu'tazilite doctrine. Afterwards, he became a Shia scholar; there is some debate about whether he stayed a Shia until his death or became a skeptic, though most sources confirm his eventual rejection of all religion and becoming an atheist. Although none of his works have survived, his opinions had been preserved through his critics and the surviving books that answered him. His book with the most preserved fragments is the Kitab al-Zumurrud.
Criticism of Islam is questioning or challenging the beliefs, practices, and doctrines of Islam. Criticism of Islam can take many forms, including academic critiques, political criticism, and personal opinions.
Religion in Egypt controls many aspects of social life and is endorsed by law. The state religion of Egypt is Islam, although estimates vary greatly in the absence of official statistics. Since the 2006 census, religion has been excluded, and thus available statistics are estimates made by religious and non-governmental agencies. The country is majority Sunni Muslim, with the next largest religious group being Coptic Orthodox Christians. The exact numbers are subject to controversy, with Christians alleging that they have been systemically under-counted in existing censuses.
Jihadism is a neologism for militant Islamic movements that seek to base the state on Islamic principles. In a narrower sense, it refers to the belief held by some Muslims that armed confrontation with political rivals is an efficient and theologically legitimate method of socio-political change. It is a form of religious violence and has been applied to various insurgent Islamic extremist, militant Islamist, and terrorist individuals and organizations whose ideologies are based on the Islamic notion of lesser jihad from the classical interpretation of Islam. It has also been applied to various Islamic empires in history, such as the Rashidun and Umayyad caliphates of the early Muslim conquests, and the Ottoman Empire. There were also the Fula jihads in West Africa in the 18th and 19th centuries.
Asma Afsaruddin is an American scholar of Islamic studies and Professor in the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures at Indiana University in Bloomington.
For approximately a millennium, the Abrahamic religions have been predominant throughout all of the Middle East. The Abrahamic tradition itself and the three best-known Abrahamic religions originate from the Middle East: Judaism and Christianity emerged in the Levant in the 6th century BCE and the 1st century CE, respectively, while Islam emerged in Arabia in the 7th century CE.
The term New Atheism describes the positions of some atheist academics, writers, scientists, and philosophers of the 20th and 21st centuries. New Atheism advocates the view that superstition, religion, and irrationalism should not be tolerated. Instead, they advocate the antitheist view that the various forms of theism should be criticised, countered, examined, and challenged by rational argument, especially when they exert strong influence on the broader society, such as in government, education, and politics. Critics have characterised New Atheism as "secular fundamentalism" or "fundamentalist atheism". Major figures of New Atheism include Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris, Christopher Hitchens, and Daniel Dennett, collectively referred to as the "Four Horsemen" of the movement.
The use of politically and religiously-motivated violence in Islam dates back to its early history. Islam has its origins in the behavior, sayings, and rulings of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, his companions, and the first caliphs in the 7th, 8th, and 9th centuries CE. Mainstream Islamic law stipulates detailed regulations for the use of violence, including corporal and capital punishment, as well as regulations on how, when, and whom to wage war against.
Irreligion in the Middle East is the lack of religion in the Middle East. Though atheists in the Middle East are rarely public about their lack of belief, as they are persecuted in many countries where they are classified as terrorists, there are some atheist organizations in the Middle East. Islam dominates public and private life in most Middle Eastern countries. Nonetheless, there reside small numbers of irreligious individuals within those countries who often face serious formal and, in some cases, informal legal and social consequences.
Abu Ishaq al-Isfara'ini was a renowned Sunni scholar, jurisconsult, legal theoretician, hadith expert, Qur'anic exegete, theologian and a specialist in the Arabic language. Al-Isfara'ini's scholarship was focused on the sciences of Aqidah, Hadith and Fiqh. He was the foremost leading authority in the Shafi'i school of his time. He was along with Ibn Furak the chief propagator of Sunni Ash'ari theology in Nishapur at the turn of the 5th Islamic century.
In the context of Muslim society in Indonesia, Modernism or modernist Islam refers to a religious movement which puts emphasis on teachings purely derived from the Islamic religious scriptures, the Qur'an and Hadith. Modernism is often contrasted with traditionalism, which upholds ulama-based and syncretic vernacular traditions. Modernism is inspired by reformism during the late-19th to early 20th century based in the Middle East, such as the Islamic modernist, Salafiyya and Wahhabi movements. Throughout the history of contemporary Muslim Indonesia, these movements have inspired various religious organizations; from the mass organization Muhammadiyah (1912), political party Masyumi Party (1943), to missionary organization Indonesian Islamic Dawah Council (1967).