Ummatics

A research institute that aims to empower Muslims toward the realization of a unified Islamic civilization for the benefit of the Umma and humanity at large.

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Ummatics Annual Conference 2026
The Strategic Umma: Managing Difference, Thinking Beyond Secularism, and Building Future Impact

The Ummatics Institute is pleased to announce its 2026 conference, taking place on July 25–26, in Sarajevo, Bosnia & Herzegovina, in collaboration with the International University of Sarajevo. This year’s theme, The Strategic Umma: Managing Difference, Thinking Beyond Secularism, and Building Future Impact, addresses major questions that sit at the heart of our civilizational moment.

This conference brings together scholars, thinkers, and practitioners to engage with some pressing questions facing the Muslim world today. Participants will explore how the Umma can cultivate genuine unity while honoring deep internal differences — navigating sectarian tensions without falling into the traps of either forced uniformity or fragmentation in an increasingly multipolar world. The conference will also cast its gaze toward the future, examining how civilizational revival can be informed by the tools and methodologies of Future Studies to develop a coherent long-term ummatic vision. A dedicated session will sharpen and advance the Muslim intellectual critique of secularism, interrogating its assumptions and legacies with fresh rigor. We will also  explore how collaborative GEM ecosystems can move Muslim communities beyond individual achievement toward genuine communal empowerment and meaningful integration at a global scale.

We invite you to join us in Sarajevo, a city that embodies centuries of Islamic heritage and Muslim resilience in the heart of Europe, for two days of vital conversation.

Attendees this year may choose to have their accommodations arranged by Halal Travel Guide, which has organized a four-day post-conference heritage tour for participants and their families who wish to experience more of Bosnia and its rich Islamic legacy. Please contact HTG for more information via link in replies.

Date: July 25–26, 2026
Location: The Red Amphitheater, International University of Sarajevo, Hrasnička cesta 15, Ilidža 71210, Bosnia & Herzegovina

[Ummatics @ummatics]

Ashraf Motiwala, “Ummatic Soft Power as a Catalyst for Change,” Ummatics, May 21, 2025, https://t.co/UfAMzRInjE

[Ummatics @ummatics]

"…civilizations rise not through reactionary resistance but through the ability to define their own narratives on their own terms. By investing in cohesive, strategic soft power initiatives, the Umma can move to reclaim its leadership with the help of Allah—not by following global trends, but by setting them."

[Ummatics @ummatics]

Ummatics Annual Conference 2026
The Strategic Umma: Managing Difference, Thinking Beyond Secularism, and Building Future Impact

The Ummatics Institute is pleased to announce its 2026 conference, taking place on July 25–26, in Sarajevo, Bosnia & Herzegovina, in collaboration with the International University of Sarajevo. This year’s theme, The Strategic Umma: Managing Difference, Thinking Beyond Secularism, and Building Future Impact, addresses major questions that sit at the heart of our civilizational moment.

This conference brings together scholars, thinkers, and practitioners to engage with some pressing questions facing the Muslim world today. Participants will explore how the Umma can cultivate genuine unity while honoring deep internal differences — navigating sectarian tensions without falling into the traps of either forced uniformity or fragmentation in an increasingly multipolar world. The conference will also cast its gaze toward the future, examining how civilizational revival can be informed by the tools and methodologies of Future Studies to develop a coherent long-term ummatic vision. A dedicated session will sharpen and advance the Muslim intellectual critique of secularism, interrogating its assumptions and legacies with fresh rigor. We will also  explore how collaborative GEM ecosystems can move Muslim communities beyond individual achievement toward genuine communal empowerment and meaningful integration at a global scale.

We invite you to join us in Sarajevo, a city that embodies centuries of Islamic heritage and Muslim resilience in the heart of Europe, for two days of vital conversation.

Attendees this year may choose to have their accommodations arranged by Halal Travel Guide, which has organized a four-day post-conference heritage tour for participants and their families who wish to experience more of Bosnia and its rich Islamic legacy. Please contact HTG for more information via link in replies.

Date: July 25–26, 2026
Location: The Red Amphitheater, International University of Sarajevo, Hrasnička cesta 15, Ilidža 71210, Bosnia & Herzegovina

[Ummatics @ummatics]

On behalf of the Ummatics Institute, Eid Mubarak.
We ask Allah ﷻ to alleviate the suffering of the Umma, and to shower on us His blessings.

[Ummatics @ummatics]

Register here: https://t.co/uZQa7Icrfc

[Ummatics @ummatics]

The Empire Within: Muslim Subjectivity and the Umma
▶️ Colloquium with Dr. William Barylo

Saturday, May 30 at 12 PM (noon) Eastern Time
Register via link in comments.

Muslim life in the West has often been examined through the visible structures that shape belonging: state policy, surveillance, institutional regulation, and public debates over integration. Yet some of the most powerful forms of domination today may no longer operate primarily from above, but from within: through culture, aspiration, consumption, and the internalization of dominant norms. If colonial power once governed through direct rule, what happens when it begins to shape how Muslims understand themselves, relate to one another, and imagine their place in the world?

This session explores that question by examining how contemporary forms of power shape Muslim subjectivity and collective life in Euro-American contexts. Moving beyond classical accounts of colonial domination, the discussion introduces the concept of “metacolonialism” to describe a more diffuse system of control that operates through neoliberal values, social conformity, and the pressures of legitimacy. At the same time, it asks whether localized forms of resistance—community organizing, alternative spaces, and practices of healing and renewal—can move beyond survival toward a broader horizon of collective agency. In this context, the deeper question emerges: can the Umma still be imagined not only as a shared identity, but as a meaningful form of social and political organization?

Dr. William Barylo is a scholar of Muslim communities, decolonial thought, and political sociology, with research focused on the intersections of coloniality, neoliberalism, race, and Muslim collective life in contemporary Europe. His recent book, British Muslims in the Neoliberal Empire: Resisting, Healing, and Flourishing in the Metacolonial Era (Oxford University Press, 2025), examines how Muslim communities navigate structures of domination while creating alternative spaces of belonging, resistance, and renewal. His work brings together critical theory and grounded ethnographic engagement to rethink the possibilities of Muslim agency in the present.

The discussion is moderated by Dr. Hamdija Begovic.

Saturday, May 30 at 12 PM (noon) Eastern Time
Register via link in comments.

[OnePath Network @OnePathNetwork]

Mosque Attack in San Diego Leaves Three Dead as Children Flee for Safety

Three Muslim men were killed after two gunmen opened fire outside the Islamic Centre of San Diego on Monday morning, in what police are investigating as a possible anti-Muslim hate crime. The attackers, aged 17 and 19, were later found dead several blocks away from apparent self-inflicted gunshot wounds. Inside the mosque complex was a school filled with children, who were evacuated safely as chaos unfolded. Among those killed was Amin Abdullah, a security guard described by community members as a hero after reportedly stopping the attackers from entering further into the mosque, potentially saving dozens of lives.

The attack has reignited debate over Islamophobia and the language used by authorities and political leaders following violence targeting Muslims. US President Donald Trump called the incident “terrible” but did not publicly refer to Muslims, Islamophobia, or terrorism. Police described the shooting as an “active shooter incident” and referred to the victims as “deceased,” drawing criticism online from those who argued the language downplayed the severity of the attack. Far-right troll Laura Loomer also faced backlash after posting inflammatory remarks about Muslims following the shooting. Muslim advocates say the tragedy reflects a wider climate of anti-Muslim hostility that has become increasingly normalised across Western societies.

[Ummatics @ummatics]

Read the full paper, 'Of Ethical Modernities: A Decolonial Dialogue between Taha Abderrahmane and Enrique Dussel', here: https://t.co/0WD5fqou3b

[Ummatics @ummatics]

“From this philosophical foundation, Taha mounts a critique of Western modernity’s dominant manifestations. He highlights its materialism, dehumanizing instrumental reason (ʿaql mujarrad/ʿaql ādātī), and ethical deficiencies as distortions of modernity’s true spirit.”

From our paper,’Of Ethical Modernities’
by Achraf Idrissi

[Ummatics @ummatics]

In 1948, over the span of six months, nearly 800,000 Palestinians - more than half of the native population - were forced out of their homes by Zionist militias in an act now recognised as ethnic cleansing - a crime under international law. This marks the Nakba, Arabic for catastrophe.

Today, the Nakba goes on as Israeli occupation, settler expansion, and mass displacement continue in Gaza and the West Bank amidst a genocide playing out in full view of the world.

For the Umma, this is not a distant tragedy. The sacred land of Al Quds has deep historical and spiritual significance for Muslims, and the Palestinians are its custodians - a duty they uphold despite being subjected to relentless bombing, massacres, forced starvation, and blockades.

The faith, steadfastness, and resilience the Palestinians have shown in the face of such horror should remind us of the true power of the Umma - a power that comes not from arms or armies, but from Allah.

[Ummatics @ummatics]

Read the full paper, 'Of Ethical Modernities: A Decolonial Dialogue between Taha Abderrahmane and Enrique Dussel', here:
https://t.co/pi998uOeAt

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[Ummatics @ummatics]

Excerpts from Achraf Idrissi's paper:
“Of Ethical Modernities: A Decolonial Dialogue between Taha Abderrahmane and Enrique Dussel” 🧵

This paper explores the encounter between two major decolonial thinkers: the Argentine-Mexican philosopher Enrique Dussel and the Moroccan philosopher Taha Abderrahmane.

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[Ummatics @ummatics]

“By locating the spirit of modernity in enduring principles such as rushd, naqd, and shumūl, he opens up the possibility of multiple, co-existing modernities and alternative historical trajectories, liberating non-Western societies from the teleology of Western historicism.”

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[Ummatics @ummatics]

https://t.co/RX4n9TMK01

[Ummatics @ummatics]

"Some of the strongest advocates for Palestine originate from socialist or left-wing politics, who frame the cause as a fight against settler colonialism that withholds rights and resources from the indigenous people of the land.

Russia and China also espouse pro-Palestinian rhetoric on the basis that Israel is an imperialist outpost of the United States.

Yet, it is due to this anti-imperialist solidarity that many of these same advocates for a free Palestine will turn a blind eye to the abuses committed by parties that are non-Western, such as the crimes of the Assad regime against the Syrian people, and those of China against the Uyghur Muslims."

From our paper: “Towards Ummatic Frames for Political Analysis”, by Aisha Hasan

[Ummatics @ummatics]

Read the full paper here: https://t.co/pi998uOeAt

[Ummatics @ummatics]

📃 New Guest Article by Achraf Idrissi
'Of Ethical Modernities: A Decolonial Dialogue between Taha Abderrahmane and Enrique Dussel'

This paper explores the encounter between two major decolonial thinkers: the Argentine-Mexican philosopher Enrique Dussel and the Moroccan philosopher Taha Abderrahmane. While both challenge Eurocentric accounts of modernity, Idrissi argues that Dussel misreads Taha’s project as an abstract universalism that risks reproducing the developmental logic of Western modernity. Against this interpretation, the paper presents Taha’s work as an ethically grounded and spiritually informed reimagining of modernity, rooted in the Islamic tradition and animated by concepts such as fiṭra, amāna, ijtihād, creativity, and moral responsibility. The paper positions Taha as a significant contributor to decolonial thought, offering an Islamic framework for challenging Eurocentric hegemony while also rethinking universalism beyond domination.

Read the full paper via link in replies.