May 6, 2026
Al Amin Ethics Institute, under the leadership and direction of our founder, Shaykh Mohammed Amin Kholwadia was grateful to hold the Beyond Resilience academic conference in Dallas, Texas. The conference's theme focused on how we can heal medicine, moving beyond resilience, via Islamic ethics and civilizational values, to find true healing through Allah's shifāʾ.
The conference began with Dr Yasir Akhtar's recitation of Sūrah al-Fātiḥa, a reminder that all openings are from Allah, as he introduced the aims of Al Amin Ethics conference to the Dallas community. Dr. Akbar Ali spoke on how Shaykh Mohammed Amin Kholwadia, along with a group of multidisciplinary physicians, work collaboratively to offer a bioethics consult service. The physicians serving on the committee have all completed coursework in Islamic Ethics through the Al Amin Ethics curriculum, designed and taught by Shaykh Amin.
The bioethics consult service operates as a free community service, and has provided guidance to Muslim patients and clinicians all over the world, grappling with very complex disease states and clinical contexts. This is an example of putting theory into practice, which is central to the Al Amin Ethics Institute approach, of bringing Islamic ethics to the bedside, and into the mainstream.
The next session was an academic debate between Dr Asim Babar and Dr Umar Shakur on the use of gene editing in cardiovascular medicine. Dr Babar introduced a central concept to the classification of knowledge (ʿilm) developed by Shaykh Amin, which divides ʿilm into beneficial knowledge (العلم النافع / al-ʿilm al-nāfiʿ) and more beneficial knowledge (العلم الأنفع / al-ʿilm al-anfaʿ). He went on to argue that Islamic civilization values of altruism, seeking comprehensive cures, and preserving/restoring the fiṭra or natural human form, are all reasons why somatic gene editing should be pursued.
On the contrary, Dr Shakur argued that the technology had many scientific limitations that could lead to off-target/unintended biological harms, and that the biological concerns were sufficient to warrant concern. He went on to argue, using Shaykh Amin's exegesis (tafsīr) of Qur'an 4:119, that gene editing was a gateway to spiritual harm (i.e. sin) via the changing of the creation of Allah (specifically that creation of Allah which has a soul or rūḥ) something Shaytan noted that he would command those who take him as a patron to do (Qur'an 4:119).
This was followed by another debate from Dr Omar Hussein and Dr Ahsan Arozullah. Dr Hussein argued that AI was a tool that could be used to relieve physician burnout and moral injury by reducing administrative burdens, potentially catching errors (especially in imaging technology), and freeing the clinician to be more present and human in the delivery of care. It is a tool, and as such, must be used (and designed) with justice ('adl) and to serve public good and interest (maṣlaḥa).
Dr Arozullah, on the other hand, argued that AI is fraught with mistakes (hallucinations), can make terrible decisions (e.g. suggesting suicide to those struggling with mental health), replicates our worst biases (e.g. insurance companies use to deny claims), and leads to "de-skilling" of physicians. It also does not provide the spiritual or moral benefits at the heart of the Muslim physician's care, which is mediated by physical presence and attracting Allah's shifāʾ through acting in accordance with Islamic ethics.
We then enjoyed a lecture from Dr Aasim Padela, from the Initiative on Islam and Medicine, who spoke eloquently on the need for a response to medicine's reductionism. Dr Padela outlined how reductionist thinking leads not only to the commoditization of the healthcare enterprise, but also to the way we think about, and define, disease and even wellness. Dr Padela challenged the audience to reconnect with Islamic ethics through praxis and articulated a vision through which we could move from "doctoring" bodies, to healing humans.
Dr Kanwal Ahmed then presented, for the first time, a novel paradigm for mental health, "Nafsology" which was developed by Shaykh Mohammed Amin Kholwadia. It is based on the concept that the person is made of up a Nafs (containing the 'aql/intellect, qalb/metaphysical heart, and rūḥ/soul) and Jism (corporeal body).
Nafsology, then, is the science of ordering the human self (nafs) by removing what disrupts its alignment (takhliya), cultivating what restores it (taḥliya), such that the individual attains shifāʾ, which is the complete removal of disease and imbalance. What is unique about this approach is that the physician is trained to address the jism (corporeal body) and determine how much of the mental health issues are being driven, for instance, by substance dependence, hormonal imbalances, or other biological issues. Then, the scholar (typically a Sufi Shaykh), can address the imbalances in the nafs.
As exciting as the introduction of nafsology was for the audience, the real moment of the conference came at the end, with the keynote address from Shaykh Mohammed Amin Kholwadia. In his presentation, Shaykh Amin passionately argued for the Muslim community to reconnect to Sunni orthodoxy through ʿilm. Shaykh Amin noted that many of the Muslim community's struggles derived from not understanding its context, life in dār al-kufr, and a false sense of security obtained through some degree of material success and relative personal freedoms.
However, he reminded us to consider an analogous time, when Muslims faced tremendous persecution in British India, and had to come to terms with a lack of political wilayah (authority). The ulema of British India, after the failed Mutiny of 1857, realized that the survival of the subcontinental Ummah was in protecting more beneficial knowledge (العلم الأنفع / al-ʿilm al-anfaʿ) and led to the establishment of Darul Uloom Deoband. This did not mean that they became passive politically, indeed both Shaykh Al Hind Maḥmūd Ḥasan (رحمه الله) and Shaykh Ḥusayn Aḥmad Madanī (رحمه الله) went to jail in Malta for their political activities.
But rather, it was their commitment to preserving and protecting orthodox Sunni Islam that Islam continues to thrive in the subcontinent and, coincidentally, that India achieved political independence. Learning Islam is not a passive or defeatist act, it is one of the most important and positive things a Muslim can do. It is a recognition that no matter the state of the world, Allah is there, He is present. When we show this level of tawakul, then there is no doubt that Allah's Help and Assistance will come.
Shaykh Amin then proceeded to highlight the enormous difference between beneficial and more beneficial knowledge and pierced a gigantic sword into all of our egos. Unfortunately, we can't argue against what he said as it is the naked truth! He asked if we can visualise a physician walking around the streets of Jannah with a stethoscope around his neck in a white coat; or a lawyer defending a case in the "courtrooms" of Jannah; or an AI or a gene expert experimenting in one luxurious "lab" in Jannah, etc.? The answer of course is a big fat NO! The obvious — typical Shaykh Amin type of — conclusion then, is that ALL beneficial knowledge loses its benefit at death. So people who excel in beneficial knowledge cannot be claiming utility in their knowledge outside of life on this planet. The only good news is that if they have the correct niyah in serving human beings here with their knowledge they will receive reward and ajr in Jannah! The shaykh made iṣlāḥ of all members of Al Amin Ethics!
In giving this talk, Shaykh Amin not only outlined a path for resilience of the medical profession, but indeed for the Muslim Ummah in the United States and abroad. We have become very skilled in al-ʿilm al-nāfiʿ, but we have neglected al-ʿilm al-anfaʿ, and in so doing, we have deprived ourselves of Allah's shifāʾ, which is the means by which not only our individual maladies but our collective maladies are cured. May Allah give us tawfīq to follow Shaykh Amin's advice and may we see the fruits of it in this life and the next.