General Introduction

The primary objective of these question-oriented monographs (QOM) is to distill and explore the fundamental principles and concepts that form the basis of Islamic Sunni theology, while engaging in necessary dialogue with Islamic ethics, spirituality, and philosophy. They serve as inquisitive surveys on what underpins the normative framework of Islamic thought. These
monographs aim to provide a comprehensive treatment of the main topics in the Sunni Kalam tradition in a manner that is characterised by contemporary relevance, historical awareness, theological grounding, philosophical complexities, and spiritual inspiration. We assume no prior knowledge of rational sciences on the part of the reader and intend for these monographs to be suitable for undergraduate, graduate, and seminar students who do not possess formalfamiliarity with the intricacies of Islamic rational sciences and the kalam tradition.

These monographs will serve as the foundational material for the graphic novel series titled “Daring to Believe’, and will also be accompanied by a guiding workbook intended for use by educational staff in seminaries, madrasas, or homeschooling. The strategy behind the graphic novels is to ignite the reader’s interest in learning more about the discussions surrounding the rational examination of Islam, which have greatly influenced the intellectual history of Islam.

Through the graphic novels their interest is piqued, while the monographs themselves have a specific purpose: to aid in understanding the structure of the issues, their logical foundations, the stakes involved, and the main solutions proposed by Sunni scholars to make sense of these matters. Moreover, they invite readers to continue contemplating these issues in meaningful and constructive ways. To construct the QOM, we followed a classical kalam approach, by dividing the core ideas and topics into the ilāhiyat (the study of God), nubuwāt (the study of prophethood), and sam’iyat, which were then integrated into broader categories, namely God, World, and Soul, to facilitate a dialogue with other relevant fields such as ethics, jurisprudence, spirituality, and philosophy of science. There will be seven monographs for each category. When finalized, each monograph will include a set of suggested readings on the topic, as well as a set of study questions, which would ideally be provided by the author. Below, we offer an outline for each of the questions proposed for the project. After assigning a monograph to an author, a meeting will be held to discuss a more detailed outline proposed by the author; authors are expected to modify or expand on the descriptions below.