Islam, Governance and Jihad: a video lecture
I've just discovered that the 6-part video of my one-hour lecture at Kings College London hosted by the Absoc Muslim student society has been posted on Youtube. All 6-parts are hosted here. And the first 10 minutes or so is embedded below:
The lecture is a comprehensive and detailed dissection of top-down, 'jihadist', interpretations of Islam particularly in relation to issues of governance, Shariah law, khilafah, inter-faith relations, relations with non-Muslims including polytheists and atheists, and ultimately the role of political violence, specifically the legitimacy and conduct of war. If you're expecting a nice quick easy and fun talk on jihad, this is not it. It's pretty academic. But if you want, in one-hour, to understand - with rigorous argument and consistent reference to historical and scriptural sources - Islam's perspective of all these issues, including an extended analysis and refutation of extremist interpretations, then give it a go.