Dune, Islam & Religion

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is often seen as a modern invention—but its core ideas were explored over 1,100 years ago by the 9th-century scholar Abu Zayd al-Balkhi.In this video, we explore al-Balkhi’s groundbreaking writings on mental health, anxiety, depression, emotiona ...  Show more

Nicholas of Cusa was a 15th-century philosopher, theologian, and mathematician whose ideas anticipated modern science and philosophy. In this video, we explore his life, key works, and radical concept of “learned ignorance,” as well as his views on infinity, knowledge and religio ...  Show more

Dr. Maria De Cillis is a Research Associate and the Managing Editor of the Shi'i Heritage Series at the Institute of Ismaili Studies, London. She received an MA degree in Islamic Studies at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London in 2004. She conti ...  Show more

Carl Ernst’s and Mbaye Lo’s new book I Cannot Write My Life: Islam, Arabic, and Slavery in Omar Ibn Said's America (UNC Press, 2023) is a fascinating and rivetting book that offers the most authoritative account to date of the life and Arabic writings of Omar Ibn Said, a scholar ...  Show more

Atif Khalil is on the faculty of Religious Studies at the University of Lethbridge. Khalil's primary area of research lies in Sufism, with secondary interests in Islamic philosophy and theology, comparative mysticism, interfaith relations, Jewish-Muslim relations, medieval philos ...  Show more

Todd Lawson is Associate Professor of Islamic Thought at the University of Toronto. He teaches courses on the Qur'an, Sufism, Shi'i Islam and related topics. His most recent book is Gnostic Apocalypse and Islam. He is now writing a book on the Qur'an as sacred epic.