6th Session of the Indian Literature Lecture Series- “Al-Biruni: the Exemplary Muslim Cosmopolitan“

📅 Date & Time: 11 November 2024, Monday, 13:30 Istanbul Time
📍 Location: Zoom & Hyflex 10 , Second floor, IHU

Join Zoom Meeting: Click here

Meeting ID: 840 9820 6467

Passcode: 048856

We are delighted to invite you to the 6th session of the Indian Literature Lecture Series.

This insightful lecture titled “Al-Biruni: the Exemplary Muslim Cosmopolitan“ delivered by Professor Bruce B Lawrence, Emeritus of Religion at Duke University & Visiting Professor at Department of Civilizations Studies, Ibn Haldun University.

Title:

 “Al-Biruni: the Exemplary Muslim Cosmopolitan”.

Abstract: 

Born in 10th century Central Asia, Biruni was an exemplar of in-between-ness. He was an interstitial Muslim subject. Though his first language was a Central Asian precursor of Uzbek, he also wrote in both Persian and Arabic, and translated from Greek, Sanskrit and Syriac into Arabic. And through his scientific production, Biruni secured for himself a prominent place in the pantheon of those who produced Islamic(ate) civilization as distinctive within the ecumene. It is in his contribution to ‘the discovery of India’ that Biruni becomes an exemplar of Muslim cosmopolitanism. Other Muslims had preceded him to India but Biruni forever changed the way comparative studies, with an empirical slant, are to be pursued in understanding Hindustan.

About the author:

Bruce B Lawrence, Duke University, USA

Bruce Lawrence is Professor Emeritus of Religion at Duke University & Visiting Professor at Department of Civilizations Studies, Ibn Haldun University; Nancy and Jeffrey Marcus Humanities Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Religion. His research domains include the Comparative Study of Religious Movements, Institutional Islam (especially in Asia), Indo-Persian Sufism, the Religious Masks of Violence, Contemporary Islam as Abrahamic Faith and Religious Ideology.