Date: June 16, 2020 to August 24, 2020

The Ali Vural Ak Center for Global Islamic Studies (AVACGIS) at George Mason University is organizing a webinar series that will explore the impact of Covid-19 on various dimensions of Muslim religious life in global perspective. Each webinar will feature a leading scholar whose work is starting to explore the intersection of Islam and the global pandemic with a view to exploring Covid-19’s impact on Muslim thought, theology, law, observance, and religious authority.

Topics the series will explore include:

1. Theological and legal discussions about e.g. communal prayers and modes of worship;

2. Conversations about inequalities and how structural problems affect Muslim community experiences of the pandemic;

3. Explorations of the challenges faced by global religious networks—such as traveling da’wa movements and transnational tariqahs—and their responses to the health crisis;

4. The increased prevalence of online and virtual environments and their implications for religious life and religious observance;

5. Emerging politics and tensions between the state and religious actors in the context of Covid-19 plus the pandemic’s impact on sectarian dynamics

Each 1-hour session will feature a live presentation plus Q&A/discussion on Zoom. Video and audio recordings of each speaker’s remarks will also be made available later for asynchronous access. The events are free and open to the public but RSVP is required.

Source: The Ali Vural Ak Center for Global Islamic Studies