Al-Mahdi Institute?s 8th Annual VIRTUAL Contemporary Fiqh? Issues workshop ?The Regulat ion of Purit y (?ah?ra) and Im purit y (Naj?sa) in Islam : Pract ical, Socio-Et hical and Theological Im plicat ions? 2nd - 3rd July 2020 CONTENTS INTRODUCTION The practical importance of regulations pertaining to purity (?ah?ra) and impurity (naj?sa) in Islam are testified to, not only by the typical treatment of purity as the opening chapter within works of juristic rulings, but also by their immense relevance to the daily lives of Muslims. Jurisprudential discussion of 1. INTRODUCTION impurities (naj?sa) - be they regarding essentially impure substances (najis al-?ayn) or the different states of impurity - likewise are far from being merely theoretical. Such rulings inform the nature of Muslim communal life, social interactions with non-Muslims and are relevant to the financial regulation of permissible and impermissible trade and profit. 2. SPEAKERS BIOS & ABSTRACTS Many of these rulings are female-specific or female-centred, yet analysis of the gendered nature of these rulings, and their implications, is seriously underdeveloped. Furthermore, questioning the nature of regulations on im/purity ? such as whether they are purely devotional (mawlaw?) or simply instrumental (irsh?d?) ? leads to further questioning the role of empirical knowledge and reason in understanding, and seeking to live in accordance with, divine intent. The workshop aims to directly engage with questions related to the regulation of im/purity within Islam such as; - Historical studies regarding rulings of im/purity, their textual origins, social contexts and processes of codification into Islamic jurisprudence. - Critical analysis of textual and theological foundations used to derive, or assumed as a result of, rulings about im/purity. - (Re)assessing potential developments in jurisprudential and theological approaches, affecting the treatment of im/purity discourses and their practical ramifications. - Empirical research analysing the practical and social benefits and challenges of conforming with prevalent jurisprudential standpoints on im/purity, including female-specific experiences. The inclusive model of the workshop is pleased to host presenters from diverse traditional seminary and academic backgrounds, alongside relevant practitioners, from a range of disciplines. As has become an effective format in our previous annual workshops, fiqh? debates will be positioned alongside contributions from broader theological, historical and anthropological approaches - thereby enriching a multidisciplinary understanding of contemporary outlooks dealing with the regulation of purity in Islam. ABSTRACT: Apology for an inhum ane division of Prof. Seyed Moham m ad ABSTRACT: Purit y and Im purit y from Myst ical, Moral, Dr Ali Fanaei hum ans! On t he im m oralit y of fiqh? approaches t o t he epist em ic and Legal perspect ives. Ghari S. Fat em i Al-Mahdi Institute and Mofid issue of purit y/ im purit y. Al-Mahdi Institute and Shahid University Beheshti University Concepts such as ?pure? and ?impure? are part of the "Today all good things are made lawful for you. And the food religious discourse in many religious traditions. In Islamic of those given the Scripture is lawful for you, and your food is culture, defining purity and impurity, providing a list of lawful for them. So are chaste believing women, and chaste their extensions and identifying Muslims? duties regarding women from the people who were given the Scripture before what is pure and impure constitute two major chapters of you, provided you give them their dowries, and take them in Islamic jurisprudence (fiqh). Gradually it became part of the religious identity of practicing Muslims that they marriage, not in adultery, nor as mistresses. But whoever observe their duties in this regard. rejects faith, his work will be in vain, and in the Hereafter he will be among the losers".(HQ 5:5) The aim of this article is to argue that the exclusively legal/jurisprudential approach towards purity and The first chapter of fiqh deals with the question of purity & impurity has two unacceptable epistemic and impurity (?ah?ra/naj?sa). Impurity/uncleanness is either hermeneutical consequences. First, it fosters ignorance of physical or spiritual. Some jurists have listed the the symbolic meanings of religious texts in which these non-Muslim (k?fir) as being physically najis, along with a concepts are used; i.e., their indirect references to number of animals and things like dog, pig, blood, stool, mystical, moral and epistemic purity/impurity which are urine etc. Other jurists, however, consider not their body Seyed Fatemi spent thirteen years much more important than their legal meaning. And, Dr Ali Fanaei completed 17 years as unclean but rather their ideology as impure, while the studying to the highest level in second, this approach leads to misinterpretation of the of seminary studies in the Hawza rest of the items in the list are physically unclean. There is the traditional educational legal meaning of these texts. Ilmiyya of Qum which included much room for discussion about every entry of the list; seminaries of Qum. Alongside his To reach the conclusion, we need first to show that both seven years of kh?rij (graduate) when it comes to the details most of them are open to traditional education Seyed purity and impurity have four dimensions: legal, moral, study. During this time, he was dispute and disagreement. Fatemi also holds an LLB and an epistemic and mystical, and that the emphasis should be also awarded an MA in Islamic LLM and a PhD on Comparative Unlike the rest of the items in the list, non-Muslims are put upon the moral, epistemic and mystical dimensions, Theology from the University of Human Rights. ethical agents, and hence treating them as najis is rather than the legal dimension. I will try to justify these Qum taking special interest in categorically wrong. My focus in this essay is, therefore, on claims by appealing to Qur?anic verses and Islamic modern theology and philosophy the non-Muslim, arguing that their inclusion in the list of Ali-redha Khaki traditions. Showing that purity and impurity are not of religion. He then moved to the merely legal concepts will render the relevant sections of UK to conduct research at the unclean/impure items is not only unethical, but it is also at Al-Mahdi Institute odd with the fundamental teachings of Islam. The religious text and the practices surrounding what is pure Department of Philosophy in the potential of the norm for social, political and religious and impure more meaningful. University of Sheffield. This led to violence based on the categorisation of the non-Muslim as the award of an MPhil for research on Moral Scepticism and Moral najis is obvious, yet it is not the subject of this essay.I Realism followed by a PhD for would like to point out that the jurists ought to apologise research regarding the epistemic to the Muslim and non-Muslim, due to the immoral nature justification of moral beliefs. firstly for overstepping the teachings of Islam in regard to categorising an ethical agent as impure, and secondly misinforming their followers on the matter. Ali Redha Khaki is a graduate of Al-Mahdi Institute's Hawza programme and is involved in outreach work and teaching traditional seminary texts on fiqh and u??l al-fiqh whilst pursuing his postgraduate studies at the University of Birmingham. ABSTRACT: Purit y and Piet y: The St ruct ure and Dr. St ephen Burge ABSTRACT: The Aut horit y of t he Wise in Det erm inat ion Dr. Javad Fakhkhar Toosi Message of al-Kulayni?s Kit?b al-?ah?ra. of Im purit y: The Negat ion of Im purit y in t he Case of The Institute of Ismaili Studies, Opposit ion in Al-Naj?sa Al-Man???a Independent Scholar London One of the critical issues about naj?sa is the role of the In his monograph, The Formative Period of Twelver Sh?ri? in this regard. Among the Shiite scholars, there are Shiism, Andrew Newman argued that the form and four prominent views on this issue: 1. Notifier (Shaykh structure of the principal Shi?i collections of hadith can be Ans?ri); 2. Notifier in the tangible affairs and imposer in a way to understand the theological and legal views of the imperceptible things (Muhaqiq Al-?a?r?); 3. Corrector in the compiler of the collections. Building on Newman?s work, cases that are not understandable by people (Muhaqiq this paper will present an analysis of al-Kulayni?s K. AL-N???n?); 4. Imposer in all cases (Muhaqiq AL-Khu??). The al-?ah?ra, the first chapter in his Furu? al-K?fi. The first part shared point between them is following the Sh?ri? when of this paper will look at the way in which al-Kulayni people do not understand impurity (naj?sa). Jurists refer structured and organized the material. It will look at the to naj?sa as a special kind of filth, which also includes way he uses sub-divisions to create a sense of order intangibles. through which a reader can understand the importance of ritual purity in Shi?i, and broader Muslim, thought. The The current study believes that naj?sa means tangible paper will make comparisons with other chapters on ritual filth. So, whenever the wise of the world deny the filth, purity, both Shi?i and Sunni, to shed more light on the there is not naj?sa. It includes even the cases have Dr. Stephen Burge is Senior Dr. Fakhkhar-Toosi was a Lecturer ways in which al-Kulayni has structured the chapter. The explicitly stated in shar??ah (al-naj?sa al-man???a). The Research Associate at The Institute of fiqh and u??l, in the Seminary second part of this paper will look at the underlying juristic method is used in this study.