Is There an Islamic Secular?

A Special Evening with Professor Sherman Jackson Engaging the Islamic Secular: A Conversation Across Tradition and Futures

The Institute of Knowledge is honored to host Professor Sherman Jackson for an open Q&A on his Oxford University Press publication, The Islamic Secular. This event will place Dr. Jackson’s work in conversation with Dr. Omar Qureshi’s recent dissertation, exploring the intersections, tensions, and harmonies between Islamic tradition and the modern world.

Together, we will examine critical questions:

• What makes something “Islamic”?
• Where are the limits of Sharia in the public domain?
• How do we move beyond the binaries of secular vs. religious and modernity vs. tradition?

This gathering seeks to chart a new intellectual path—one grounded in the Islamic tradition yet attuned to the challenges and possibilities of our shared global futures.

We’ll also be announcing the launch of a new one-year Certificate in Advanced Islamic Studies, taught by Dr. Qureshi—bringing together 15 years of study from al-Azhar (Cairo) to USC, designed to make Islamic knowledge accessible to the broader public.

The event will also mark the culminating session of Dr. Qureshi’s advanced seminar at IOK, Tradition and Transformation, which centers the legacy of the great Hanafi jurist, Ibn Abidin, as a model for adaptive continuity in Islamic thought.

Join us for a night of meaningful dialogue and visionary insight.