Refuting Misconceptions of Tasawwuf
Location
Hosted by
Mizan Avenue
About
Mizan Avenue is honoured to be visited by renowned Islamic scholar, Sh Gibril Fouad Haddad and Dr Sirajuddin Cook for one night only on refuting misconceptions of tasawuf.
About Dr Gibril Fouad Haddad
Dr Gibril Haddad will address common misconceptions surrounding Tasawwuf (Islamic spirituality). Drawing upon the Qur’an, Sunnah, and the rich tradition of orthodox Islamic scholarship, he will clarify the true meaning and role of Tasawwuf in Islam, distinguish authentic spiritual teachings from misunderstandings, and explore its connection to purifying the heart and attaining closeness to Allah.
This is an opportunity for us all to sit with a senior scholar, deepen our understanding, dispel misconceptions, and appreciate the place of spiritual refinement within the Islamic tradition.
Shaykh Gibril Fouad Haddad was hailed in the inaugural edition of The 500 Most Influential Muslims in the World as “one of the clearest voices of traditional Islam in the West.” Born in Beirut, Lebanon, he studied there, in the UK (he is an OKS), the US (where he took shahada in December 1991), France and Syria. He holds a doctorate in Hadith from Kolej Universiti Insaniah, Kedah Darul Aman, Malaysia, and a Ph.D. in French literature from Columbia University in New York.
He holds scholarly licenses (ijāzas) from over 200 Shaykhs including Dr. Nur al-Din ʿItr, Dr. Muhammad ʿAlawi al-Maliki, Shaykh Saʿid al-Kaḥil, Shaykh Sulayman Ghawji al-Albani, Shaykh Muhammad Taysir al-Makhzumi, Qadi Muhammad Murshid Abidin, Shaykh Husayn ʿUsayran, Shaykh Salim Hammami and many others. He won the State of Qatar’s Shaykh Hamad Award for Translation and International Understanding in 2017 for Ḥizb One of the Commentary on the Qur’an by al-Bayḍāwī, completed on a three-year appointment as a Senior Assistant Professor at Universiti Brunei Darussalam. He left academia the following year in order to complete what became Baydawi’s Complete Commentary of the Quran, the first-ever integral translation – in any language – of the most-studied tafsīr in Islamic civilization.
He has authored 50 books and hundreds of articles on Islamic hermeneutics, doctrine, Hadith, sufism, scholarly biography, and heresiology, including The Four Imams and Their Schools (German and Malay translations), The Muhammadan Light (Bengali and Indonesian translations) and most recently:
The Meanings of the Inimitable Quran, the first integral English translation of the Qurʾān to document the ten canonical, mass-transmitted readings (qirā’āt or lections) according to the highest scholarly standards.
Baydawi’s Complete Commentary of the Quran, currently being indexed, to be published in 2027 in sha Allah, in eight volumes totalling 3,600 pages, with over 14,000 footnotes.
The Sufi Answers to the ‘Salafi’ Calumnies on Tawassul (using intermediacy and intercession to God), tabarruk (getting blessings from holy people and relics), ziyāra (visitation of graves of the pious), kashf (spiritual unveiling) and more.
The Lights of Guidance, a two-volume, 1,000-page translation of over 200 suhbas delivered in Arabic by Shaykh Nazim al-Haqqani in Lebanon in the late 1970s and early 1980s.
Musnad of Ahl al-Bayt, an original Arabic-English compilation of 40 full-chained Hadiths of the Prophetصلى الله عليه وسلم narrated from 40 of his contemporary descendants out of 40 Hadith books.
An annotated English translation of al-Nabhani’s The Prophet’s Knowledge of the Unseen comprising over 700 fully-documented hadiths.
A bio-bibliographical overview of Sunni doctrinal history entitled The Maturidi School from Abu Hanifa to al-Kawthari that was translated to Bosnian.
A study on Hadith, Sīra and ḥudūd (statutory penalties) entitled The Incineration of Persons in Jihad, Criminal Penalties and Reprisals: A Critique of ISIS’s Argument in Light of the Sources, whose launch was featured on Malaysia national TV.
A disciple of Shaykh Muhammad Nazim al-Haqqani (1922-2014) and Shaykh Muhammad Hisham Kabbani (1945-2024) in the Naqshbandi Tariqa since 1991, Shaykh Gibril was graced in 2010 with their handwritten signed ijāzas (authorizations) in Arabic, English and Bahasa Indonesia for irshād (giving guidance); conveyance of mawʿiẓa (admonishment); ṣuḥba (association); and dhikr (remembrance).
About Dr Abu Bakr Sirajuddin Cook
Abu Bakr Sirajuddin Cook is a Research Fellow at Almiraj Sufi and Islamic Study Centre, Australia. He received a doctorate from the University of Tasmania in 2014 and has furthered his Islamic Studies with Charles Sturt University. Abu Bakr has published on Ibn Sab’in in the Journal of Islamic Philosophy and on various aspects of Sufism in The Treasure: Australia’s Sufi Magazine. He has presented at conferences across the globe, including the International Sufi Conference, in Chittagong, Bangladesh, and the East West Philosophers’ Conference, in Hawaii. His first book, Ibn ‘Ata’ Allah, Muslim Sufi Saint and Gift of Heaven, is available through Cambridge Scholars Publishing.
While continuing the publishing in a range of international journals, Abu Bakr’s current research interest delves into the history of Sufism in Australia.