Yasir Qadhi – Knowing God: Reason, Revelation, and Intuition

About this lecture

In this intellectually rich lecture, Shaykh Yasir Qadhi traces the historical development of kalam (Islamic dialectic theology) from its earliest figures — Ja'd ibn Dirham and Jahm ibn Safwan — through the rise of the Mu'tazila, Ash'arism, and Maturidism, examining how the Kalam Cosmological Argument shaped each school's understanding of God's existence and attributes. He then presents Ibn Taymiyyah's landmark challenge to these traditions, centered on the Quranic concept of fitrah (innate human nature) as the true foundation for knowing God — resolving what Qadhi calls the "Ghazalian paradox" without requiring a Muslim to step outside their faith. The lecture also offers a compelling historical account of how Ash'arism rose from a fringe movement to the dominant school of Islamic theology through the institutional machinery of the Seljuq-era Nizamiyya colleges.