This seminar will begin at 2pm in the Centre's Jerusalem Room. Prior booking is not required. All welcome. For those of you unable to join in person please register to join online.

Dr Sohail Hanif, CEO of the National Zakat Foundation, will give the next seminar in the Human Dignity in the Islamic Tradition series which is jointly organised with Blackfriars Hall. Dr Hanif will be speaking on the theme: Human Dignity and the Socio-Economic Order.

Dr Sohail Hanif became National Zakat Foundation’s Chief Executive in November 2021. Prior to this, he held the position of BA Manager and Lecturer at Cambridge Muslim College. From 2015-17, he was NZF’s Head of Research and Development and has also held the position of Head of Sciences at Qasid Arabic Institute in Amman.

Dr Hanif has expertise in Islamic law, having studied extensively with traditional scholars, and holds a doctorate from the University of Oxford. His doctoral thesis, which explores Islamic legal epistemology, won the 2019 prize of the British Association for Islamic Studies. He has lectured widely on Islamic law and Qur’anic studies in academic, public and traditional settings.

Summary: 

A vision of human dignity is embedded within the socio-economic teachings of Islamic jurisprudence: community, faith, and justice are anchored within key Islamic legal rules pertaining to trade and charity. Islamic jurisprudence and moral theology presents materials for a discourse promoting human dignity by constraining government, promoting fair economics, balancing the right to private ownership and industry with public access to essential resources, and grounding society on a principle of charity and faith, with a fascinating view of a pluralistic faith society. The talk will argue that, in the Islamic tradition, human trade is understood as a reflection of a cosmic order, where man’s relationship with God is framed as trade, elevating thereby the status of man’s pious efforts on earth.