Public Lecture Series on ‘Understanding the Fundamental Belief in Imam al-Mahdi’ by Professor Abdulaziz Sachedina

From the 28th to the 30^th of May 2016, Professor Abdulaziz Sachedina spoke about ‘Understanding the Fundamental Belief in Imam al-Mahdi: Spiritual Journey of Moral Responsibility’ as part of a public lecture series at the Al-Mahdi Institute. They were well received with many members of the public, students, staff and online participants attending the respective lectures.

Each night more about the journey from ”history, spirituality and morality” was delved into, and the lectures were said to be ‘extremely insightful and thought provoking’. On the first night Professor Abdulaziz Sachedina focused on the principle of belief. He points out that the ‘Quran clearly suggests that if the people believe in their religion and follow their religion then God will guide them’. The topic of belief that he focused on led back to, and was related to our personal lives and how belief can impact our journey in achieving something we are committed to. He also delved into the return of Imam Mahdi (ajf) and gave insights about certain events which will occur upon his return. Nights two and three were then mainly focused on talking about hadith’s, history, and the words of Imams and scholars. In the final lectures, Professor Sachedina made the switch from historical information surrounding the belief in Imam Mahdi (ajf) to hadith and Quranic evidences. The lectures also touched upon the four areas of human needs, those being Physical needs, Psychological needs, Spiritual needs and theoretical needs.

There was a Q&A session at the end of each lecture; those attending were invited to ask questions, and online participates could tweet or facebook their questions for Professor Abdulaziz Sachedina to answer.

Professor Abdulaziz Sachedina Ph.D., is Professor and IIIT Chair in Islamic Studies at George Mason University in Virginia.  He studied in India, Iraq, Iran, and Canada. He obtained his Ph.D. from the University of Toronto, and has been conducting research and writing in the field of Islamic Law, Ethics, and Theology over the past two decades.  In the last ten years he has focused on social and political ethics, including Interfaith and Intrafaith Relations, Islamic Biomedical Ethics and Islam and Human Rights. Books written by Prof. Sachedina include: Islamic Roots of Democratic Pluralism, Human Rights and the Conflict of Cultures (co-authored), Islamic Messianism: The Idea of the Mahdi in Twelver Shiism in addition to numerous articles in academic journals

To watch the lecture series click here

Please note: We apologise that regrettably due to several technical issues over the weekend there is low sound quality in parts of these recordings, please skip ahead for better sound quality. Many thanks