The Luminous Virtues of the Living Sages of Islam

“The Luminous Virtues of the Living Sages of Islam” is a multi-faceted, multi-media project aiming to address the loss of the spiritual dimension of Islam, which has been a major contributing factor to the rise of both extremism and atheism in the Muslim world. The embodiment of spirituality and beautiful character is the enlightened sage who in traditional societies was the role model, or exemplar, for ordinary Muslims in every community. The aim of the project is to re-introduce these saintly men and women to Muslim and interested non-Muslim audiences through a series of beautifully designed Exemplars in our Time photographic essays on the lives of recent sages from the Islamic tradition who imparted and embodied the perfection of virtue, wisdom, knowledge and illumination. The authors of each of the essays are all distinguished scholars, writers and researchers and recognized experts on this subject. Most have had direct contact with the exemplars they will write about. Nine concise, pictorial biographies will be published on the lives of some of the greatest living Muslim sages of the 20th and 21st centuries. A short-subject video will be produced to introduce the publication series and serve as a prototype for future short subject videos on individual exemplars. A dedicated website will become a repository for content on the spiritual exemplars of Islam, which will include commentary, podcasts, lectures and teaching materials. Social media sites will be set up to promote the awareness of exemplars in our time. An educational outreach program will encourage Muslim educators to use the biographies as a way of introducing the subject of spirituality into their curricula. The project aims to change the contemporary narrative to revive confidence in Islam as a way of compassion, tolerance and wisdom and a restoration of hope to encourage a generation of young people aspiring to noble character through the true practice of Islam.