Dr Badreldeen Ismail
Dr Badreldeen Ismail al-Husayni’s vision for The Classical Institute is rooted in a profound respect for a classical educational ethos combined with innovative research-led learning delivery.
He aims to cultivate an environment where students are encouraged to think critically, reflect deeply, and develop a lifelong love for knowledge. Under his guidance, The Classical Institute embraces a holistic approach to education, valuing both intellectual rigour and personal growth.
Biography
I am the Founding Dean and a Lecturer at The Classical Institute since 2018, delivering courses in various fields of Islamic studies including Arabic language and literature, kalam theology, sufi traditions, Shafi’i jurisprudence & legal theory, Quran & Hadith studies as well as Islamic and western philosophy. I have been awarded, and will pursue during 2024/25, a Research Fellowship at the Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies in Systematic and Mystical Theologies. I am also a fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA).
After undertaking a BA (Hons) in Arabic Language, Literature and Islamic Studies from the University of Cairo, I received an MA with distinction in Qur’anic Studies and Medieval Arabic Theology at SOAS. Thereafter, I completed my PhD at the Department of Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies, University of Edinburgh, with a thesis titled “Abu al-Qasim al-Qushayri’s variegated theology: teleological considerations and interdisciplinary discourses”. This built upon my study of a comprehensive curriculum of Islamic sciences over a period of 15 years, with prominent scholars from Egypt, Syria, Hadramaut and Ahsa, within a traditional framework.
My primary research interests relate to the Islamic rational sciences of philosophical theology (ilm al-kalam) and Islamic philosophy (falsafa), as well as Sufism (tasawwuf). Of specific interest are related interdisciplinary areas, such as the intersection between kalam theology and Sufism, and philosophical Sufism. I focus in particular on the key epistemological, dialectical and metaphysical debates in the Islamic intellectual tradition, as well as the underlying teleological considerations. Also of interest is the interface between classical Islamic kalam and medieval Christian philosophical theology, particularly in the Augustinian and Aquinian traditions. In my areas of research interest, I am regularly invited to peer review articles and books pre-publication, in particular for the Journal of Islamic Studies published by the Oxford University Press.
My current projects explore (a) the presence of a transcendental Sufi theology in the works of the mutaqaddimun amongst the Asharites; (b) the intersection of Akbarian and Asharite traditions in the 11/17 and 12/18 centuries; and (c) a comparative study of divine predestination and human free will in classical Islamic kalam and the Augustinian tradition.