PHRAGMENT: PHilosophical Reflections on A Grounded Muslim presENT

Episode 18: Jinn and the Shayateen part 5 (Who are the Qareen?)

This is the conclusion of the five part series on Jinn and the Shayateen. We discuss our close yet hidden companions known as the 'Qareen' in the Islamic narrative.

This series is based on my chapter in Philosophical Approaches to Demonology, edited by McCraw and Arp (Routledge, 2017).

Episode 17: Jinn and the Shayateen part 4 (Jinn and Human Relations)

This is the fourth part of the five part series on Jinn and the Shayateen. We discuss the relationship between jinn and humans in the Islamic narrative.

This series is based on my chapter in Philosophical Approaches to Demonology, edited by McCraw and Arp (Routledge, 2017).

Episode 16: Jinn and the Shayateen part 3 (The Whisper)

This is the third part of the five part series on Jinn and the Shayateen. We discuss the meaning of the satanic 'whisper' in the Islamic narrative.

This series is based on my chapter in Philosophical Approaches to Demonology, edited by McCraw and Arp (Routledge, 2017).

Episode 15: Jinn and the Shayateen part 2 (Creation of Adam and Origin of Satan)

This is the second part of a five part series on the Jinn and Shayateen. In this episode we discuss the creation of Adam, the origin of Shaytan (Satan), and the nature of the satanic in Islamic narrative.

This series is based on my chapter in Philosophical Approaches to Demonology, edited by McCraw and Arp (Routledge, 2017).

Episode 14:Jinn and the Shayateen part 1 (Introduction)

This is part 1 of a five part series on the Jinn and the Shayateen.  We discuss the nature of the Jinn, the difference between Jinn and Shayateen, and their moral status and role in relation to human beings the Islamic narrative.  

This series is based on my chapter in Philosophical Approaches to Demonology, edited by McCraw and Arp (Routledge, 2017).

Episode 13: Ibn Rushd and Ghazali on Divine Power and Knowledge

This the second part of our exploration of Ibn Rushd's accusation that Ghazali and the Ash'aris use unsound analogies between the temporal and eternal in their understand of God's attributes. Here, we focus on Ghazali's contention that God's knowledge is distinct from His power because it conforms to, and is not the cause of its object as Ibn Rushd holds. 

Episode 12: Ibn Rushd and Ghazali on Divine Life and Will

This is the first to two episodes exploring Ibn Rushd's accusation against Ghazali and the Ash'ari school of conceiving of God as an 'eternal man' by way of unsound analogies between the temporal and eternal. Here, we focus on at issue in relation to the divine attributes of life and will. 

Episode 11: Ghazali’s Incoherence of the Philosophers, Discussion 17 (part 4)

This is the conclusion of our our part series on the seventeenth discussion of Ghazali's Incoherence.  I will sum up my understanding of his position, and how it meets legitimate ontological and epistemological concerns of the falasifa while avoiding the problematic theological implications of their position. We will discuss some other concerns of Ghazali's that are evident in the text, reflect on their current iterations in our modern context, and bring out some additional questions raised by his argument and which call for further reflection.   

Episode 10: Ghazali’s Incoherence of the Philosophers, Discussion 17 (part 3)

This is the third of our four part series on the seventeenth discussion of Ghazal's Incoherence, and where I dive right into making the case that his "two approaches" to what we can call the "problem of miracles" are not (or need not be) mutually exclusive theories of natural order or natural causality and divine action.  To that end, I propose a concept of the 'essential nature' of a thing which, I suggest, Ghazali had (or should have had) in mind in the course of the argument, and which would satisfy Ibn Rushd's legitimate ontological concerns. 

Episode 9: Ghazali’s Incoherence of the Philosophers, Discussion 17 (part 2)

This is the second episode of our four-part series on the 17th discussion of the Incoherence of the Philosophers. Here we dive further into the debate between Ghazali, the 'falasifa,' and Ibn Rushd over miracles and natural causality. This takes us through a number of interesting issues, including the possibility and nature of divine will, the problem of induction and the possibility of knowledge of future contingencies, and the very nature of knowledge itself. Finally we examine Ghazali's explanation of how miracles, and the pervasiveness of God's power, is compatible with natural order.