Imam Zaid Shakir

Responding to the Fort Hood Tragedy

Imam Zaid Shakir is among the most respected and influential Muslim scholars in the West. Born in Berkeley, California, the second of seven children, he embraced Islam in 1977 while serving in the United States Air Force. Teaching regularly as the Imam of Masjid al-Islam, writing numerous articles for various magazines, journals, and newspapers, and lecturing frequently at many of America’s largest Muslim conferences and conventions, he soon emerged as one of the most popular and sought-after American Muslim leaders. In 2003, he moved to Hayward, California with his family to serve as a scholar-in-residence and lecturer at Zaytuna Institute, where he now teaches regular courses on Arabic, Islamic law, history, and Islamic spirituality. He has since lectured at many of the Bay Area’s top institutions, including Stanford University and UC Berkeley. He is widely regarded as an articulate voice on Islamic and African-American issues and as a visionary leader in the emergence of an Islamic community and tradition that is indigenous to America.

Imam Zaid Shakir will be presenting a talk to the Claremont College community to address the Fort Hood tragedy: the events asssociated with it as well as those ensuing from it. He will also explain how and why the crime perpetrated by Major Nidal Malik Hasan can not and should not be attributed to Islam.

Wednesday December 9th
Pickford Auditorium, Claremont McKenna College
900 E 9th Street, Claremont, CA 91711
7PM - 8PM

Brought to you by the Claremont Colleges MSA in association with the Arabic Studies Department CMC and International Place.

Dr. Jonathan Brown Lecture

How We Know Early Hadith
Critics Did “Matn” Criticism and
Why It’s So Hard to Find

Dr. Jonathan A.C. Brown has published numerous books and articles about Islamic law and Hadith. He has studied and conducted research in many countries including Iran, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and Morocco. Among his research interests are conflicts between Sunni and Salafi Islamic thought and historical criticism of Hadith.

In Islam, the doings and sayings of the Prophet Muhammad are preserved through an oral tradition known as the Hadith. These narrations must pass stringent tests of accuracy before being taken as credible. The Isnad describes the chain of narration, while the Matn is the actual content of the Hadith. Scholars have generally held that early critics only evaluated the authenticity of Hadith based on the Isnad. However, Dr. Brown’s research suggests that the Matn was also considered.

Saturday October 17th
Galileo McAlister, Harvey Mudd College
4PM - 7PM

Brought to you by the Claremont Colleges MSA in collaboration with the HIKMA foundation of Southern Claifornia.