Things in Themselves: Nafs al-Amr & the Metaphysical Foundations of Objective Truth

In a philosophical idiom that attempts to be intelligible to the reader who is not traditionally trained, this study outlines various dimensions of traditional Islamic ‘correspondence’ theories of truth. It particularly argues that purely intelligible, ‘abstract’ concepts, universal natures and general principles objectively apply to the world, against schools of thought that contend that they …

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The Anatomy of Knowledge & the Ontological Necessity of First Principles

This paper in the series explores one of the first principles of metaphysics, the principle of identity in its logical form, namely, the principle of non-contradiction, and the relationship between its metaphysical and logical dimensions. It is invariably the task of revelation to provide definable and recognizable references that can be brought into human understanding. …

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Being ‘Good’: An Ontological View of Ethics

This paper frames ‘ethics’ as a science of the soul. By focusing on the role of an integral metaphysics within the ambit of the classification of sciences, it seeks to both determine the parameters of ethics and also underline the relationship between modes of being and modes of action. PDF: Arabic • English

Beauty and the Sacred Law

It is for the purpose of securing all that is beautiful that God revealed the Sacred law. Any attempt to modify or implement it in a piecemeal fashion only distorts it, leading to ugliness rather than beauty. PDF: Arabic • English

Rights and Duties Pertaining to Kept Animals

A case study in Islamic Law and Ethics by Musa Furber. Animals are at the heart of many of today’s heated ethical and legal debates. This paper presents a survey of Qur’anic verses and prophetic narrations related to kept animals, and a study of one school’s application of this evidence to the topic of kept …

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Metaphysics & Sociology

A lecture addressing the myth of metaphysical neutrality in sociology and some of the rationale behind the dismissal of metaphysical categories in the social sciences. The piece concludes by asserting some normative elements of the Islamic social order and their raison d’être and how they reflect the unity of the Islamic sciences. PDF: Arabic • …

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