Islam in a Nutshell | The Basics of World Religions Series with Dr. Ali Ataie (Part 1)
Channel: Muslim Community Center - MCC East Bay
Date: 2020-07-23

Dr. Ali Ataie explains the basic beliefs of various religious traditions and similarities and differences with the Islamic tradition. In this session, he gives an overview of the Islamic faith. 

- Dr. Ataie's World Religions Series: http://mcceastbay.org/religions
- Dr. Ataie's Qur'anic Sciences Series: http://mcceastbay.org/sciences
- Dr. Ataie's Prophetology Series: http://www.mcceastbay.org/prophethood
- Dr. Ataie video playlist: http://mcceastbay.org/ali-ataie

In this eight-session class, Dr. Ataie explains Islamic, Judaic, Christian, Hindu and Buddhist faith traditions. Watch all series lectures at http://mcceastbay.org/religions

Due to audio issues, we were not able to include the first four minutes of this lecture. In those introductory minutes, Dr. Ataie said:

1. This class is a basic course. Send questions in via email and Dr. Ataie will answer in subsequent classes or send a private response. Please send to events@mcceastbay.org. 

2. He will not go in chronological order. Over eight weeks, he will cover: 

a. Basic beliefs of the Islam (sessions 1 and 2): https://youtu.be/ntCKZiAL2FI & https://youtu.be/G3fcDJYkhB8
b. Basic beliefs of the Judaism (sessions 3 and 4): https://youtu.be/2a-fbkl8dkE & https://youtu.be/tbJ2af9m-uE
c. Basic beliefs of the Christianity (sessions 5 and 6): https://youtu.be/Ci6nnmbM9ao & https://youtu.be/TmOT861VM0A
d. Basic beliefs of the Hinduism (session 7): https://youtu.be/yJ_13_2m75I
e. Basic beliefs of the Buddhism and series conclusion (session 8): https://youtu.be/K2VZhAPdykM

He may provide a vocabulary list as we go along. He acknowledges many different types of people are watching the class – people of other faith, Muslim youth, converts, etc. –  and it may be hard to please everyone and that the majority are Muslim and he prays that God gives him tawfiq (success) that the class is beneficial. 

In this first session, Dr. Ataie comments upon famous Hadith of Gabriel, which is a snapshot of the Islamic tradition as a whole. 

The series is organized by the South Bay Islamic Association - San Jose, CA and the MCC East Bay.

The founder of the discipline of comparative religions was either Abu Rayhan al-Buruni or Abd al-Kareem al-Shahrastani. They explained the basics of the world religions in their respective works then evaluated their truth claims in light of the Truth of Islam. Following this method, this course offers students a simple description of the basic beliefs of various religious traditions as well as similarities and differences with the Islamic tradition.

About Ustadh Dr. Ali Ataie:
Ali Ataie is a perennial student and researcher who has been involved in interfaith activities for over two decades. He holds a Masters in biblical studies with a focus on New Testament and biblical languages. He also holds a PhD in cultural and historical studies in religion from the Graduate Theological Union. His doctoral work focused on Muslim hermeneutics of Biblical texts, especially the Gospel of John. He lives in San Ramon, California with his wife Roya and their three daughters.

This series compares and contrasts Islamic theology with some of the defining elements of the most common theological trends in the Dharmic faiths of Hinduism and Buddhism, as well as the Abrahamic faiths of Judaism and Christianity. Dr. Ataie gives particular attention to systematic presentations of the main themes, concepts, beliefs, and key players of classical Jewish and Christian theologies and how these themes and concepts intersect and diverge from traditional Muslim conceptions of God.

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