ISIL in Historical Context

Join the discussion on ISIL in Historical Context at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Fairfax, 2709 Hunter Mill Rd. in Oakton, VA on Sunday, April 10 at 12:45pm. The event will be held in the UUCF Sanctuary Building, the large main church building to the right, coming from the parking lot.

Background: The “Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant” (ISIL) originated from a 2013 merger between “Islamic State in Iraq” and “al-Nusra”.  Although these factions had previously been loosely affiliated, their repackaging as a multinational Caliphate dramatically increased their success in attracting volunteers from all over the world.  Few observers in the West realize that this success is a symptom of a popular yearning among Muslims that dates from the abrupt dissolution of the Ottoman Caliphate.  It also reflects broader differences in the perception of history between Western societies vs. developing nations.

Speaker: Karl Fryxell, Ph.D, organized the first UUCF Sunday Forum on Science, Reason, and Religion in the fall of 2007, which has been active ever since. Karl was educated at the University of Texas at Austin and the California Institute of Technology (Pasadena). He is currently a Professor of Systems Biology at George Mason University in Fairfax. Karl’s interest in Islam and religious history began after a series of personal interactions with students and researchers from the Middle East and Asia.

For directions: https://uucf.org/directions/  

This event is free and open to the public. You are welcome here.