Al-Sullam al-Munawraq fī ʿIlm al-Manṭiq

Introduction to Islamic Logic

A line-by-line reading of the classical entry point into Aristotelian logic for the Islamic sciences.

Al-Sullam al-Munawraq fī ʿIlm al-Manṭiq (“The Ornamented Ladder in the Science of Logic”) is a 144-line poem on logic written by the Algerian scholar Imam ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Akhḍarī (d. ca. 1545). A poetic rendering of al-Abharī’s classic primer al-Īsāghūjī, the Sullam has been memorized and studied across the Muslim world for centuries as the standard entry point into Aristotelian logic — a discipline that has long served as a key tool for Islamic theology and jurisprudence.

In this course, students will read the Sullam line by line and learn the core building blocks of classical logic: how definitions work, how arguments are structured, and how to tell a sound proof from a faulty one. Along the way, students will gain the tools to engage more rigorously with works of Islamic creed, law, and theology — texts that often assume their reader has been trained in exactly this kind of reasoning.

The class is open to all and requires no prior background.

Schedule: Sundays at 2:00 PM EST
Begins: May 17, 2025
Duration: 4–6 months
Format: Weekly sessions on Zoom
Prerequisites: None

Hamzah Raza is an Iftāʾ student at Dār al-Iftāʾ al-Miṣriyya and a student at al-Azhar, where he previously served as a senior researcher at Dār al-Iftāʾ. He holds a BA from Vanderbilt University and an MA in Islamic Studies from Harvard University.

I have taken other islamic classes with other organizations and teachers but have absolutely loved doing Hanafi fiqh with Shaykh Hamzah in the past year. He takes his time with explaining concepts, is an extremely good teacher and engages with questions outside of class over Whatsapp. I can't recommend his classes enough.
— Fardeem, New York

When learning anything, having a teacher who loves what he's teaching makes a world of difference. For the islamic sciences, Shaykh Hamzah is that guy. I took a class with him on Imam Nawawi's Forty Hadith and learned so much from the commentary and context he brought forth in our discussions. I'm excited to study fiqh for the first time in that same setting Shaykh Hamzah creates, and would recommend anyone considering it to join along as well.
— Salik, New York

Sheikh Hamza is a great teacher and mentor, and his classes and style of teaching express the prophetic path of learning. His classes are of the few that focus on learning together rather than completing a coursework. May Allah bless him and his students.
— Anas, Vancouver

Alhamdulillah Shaykh Hamzah is an incredibly approachable shaykh who understands the problems that we face in the real world. In our course on Nur al Idaah Shaykh Hamzah helped us understand both the theoretical rulings that we should do our best to abide by, but also how to handle differences of opinion among our communities, something that is of vital importance for us living in such a mixed madhhab environment in the West. Whether Shaykh Hamzah is answering a random question or explaining the evidence of a Hanafi position, he leaves his students with an ability to understand our tradition and apply these ahkam in our world.
— Ethan, Michigan