ALIM Winter Program - Overview

The American Learning Institute for Muslims Winter Program is a 4-day intensive study of one of many traditional Islamic sciences in the context of the modern American paradigm.

The Winter Program was designed to meet the apparent need for a shorter intensive program focused on specialized themes. This program targets those who cannot make the Summer Program because of time commitment and those alumni who want more exposure to the ALIM learning philosophy throughout the year. This program rotates across the United States. For 2008, the program will be held at MCA Islamic Center, Santa Clara, CA and the theme will be "Is Islamic Thought Dying?".

This years Winter Program will critique the future of Islamic learning and educational institutions. The conference will discuss, among other things, William Chittick's recent book entitled, "Science of the Cosmos, Science of the Soul: The Pertinence of Islamic Cosmology in the Modern World." The book will serve as a springboard for discussion on the broader issues and intersections of Islamic and Western approaches to learning and knowledge.

Chittick and others have argued that Islamic thought is dying, failling prey to the more short term oriented perspectives of Western educational systems. The ALIM scholars will provide meaningful critique on understanding classical Islamic texts within modern educational systems.

Topics like impediments to Islamic learning, the role of 'progress' and 'ideology' in Western and Islamic thought, the centrality of tawhid to knowledge, and changes in the Muslim view of knowledge through history, among others, will be addressed through a critical lens.