Professor Yusuf Ibish organised a symposium to celebrate the Centenary of the influential bi-monthly periodical Al-Manar, founded in 1898 by Muhammad Rashid Rida. Five leading scholars of modern Islamic history presented their research papers in this symposium.
The first panel, which was chaired by H.E. Sheikh Ahmad Zaki Yamani, consisted of papers by Professor Ibish on "The Life and Times of Rashid Rida" and Professor Yahya Michot (Oxford University) on "The Influence of Ibn Taymiyyah on Al-Manar".
In the second panel, chaired by Professor Ibish, Professor Yasushi Kosugi (Kyoto University) spoke about "The Study of the Islamic World in Japan and the Importance of Al-Manar". He was followed by Dr Nadia Abu- Zahra (Oxford University) who gave a paper on "The Fatawa of Al-Manar".
The paper in the last panel, chaired by Dr Kamal Arafat Nabhan, was delivered by Professor Basim Musallam (Cambridge and the American University of Beirut) entitled "Aspects of Modernity in Al-Manar".