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Majlis of Pursuit
AR
A brass astrolabe and an open book on a desk at night, lit by light falling through a geometric lattice window

Fig. 01 — The oldest questions

Some questions are older than you think.

Interactive investigations, dilemmas and thought experiments, from philosophy to algebra, that show how Islamic thinkers took on the same questions. Look at the evidence and make up your own mind.

Start exploring How it works

Pick a question

Five ways in. Each question opens an experience; ten are ready on Explore.

  1. A hand hesitating above a wallet lying on a rain-wet street at night
    01Would you do the right thing if nobody would ever know?Ethics · Start the experience
  2. Thirteenth-century painting of scholars gathered in a library, with books stacked in arched shelves
    02How does a text survive 1,400 years?History · Start the experience
  3. A lone figure standing in a vast stone courtyard at dawn, long shadows of arches across the floor
    03Is it wrong to lie to save someone's life?Philosophy · Start the experience
  4. A geometric star constructed in gold lines on navy paper, with a brass compass and ruler
    04How do you find a number you don't know?Science & mathematics · Start the experience
  5. A geometric star constructed in gold lines on navy paper, with a brass compass and ruler
    05Why does the Moon look bigger near the horizon?Science & mathematics · Start the experience

Start with what you find fascinating.

Every subject leads somewhere unexpected. Pick one you already love.

Thirteenth-century painting of scholars gathered in a library, with books stacked in arched shelves
Yahya al-Wasiti, Maqamat al-Hariri, Baghdad, 1237 · BnF · Public domain

01

History

Evidence, manuscripts and the people behind them.

A lone figure standing in a vast stone courtyard at dawn, long shadows of arches across the floor
Illustration

02

Philosophy

Thought experiments about mind, meaning and morality.

A geometric star constructed in gold lines on navy paper, with a brass compass and ruler
Illustration

03

Science & mathematics

Ideas that changed how we measure and calculate the world.

A hand hesitating above a wallet lying on a rain-wet street at night
Illustration

04

Ethics

What we owe each other, and why.

One person standing still in a busy, motion-blurred station concourse, looking up
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05

Psychology

How people decide, and what shapes them.

Featured experience

All experiences
A hand hesitating above a wallet lying on a rain-wet street at night
Illustration
Thought experimentEthics10 min

Would you do the right thing if nobody would ever know?

A thought experiment in five tests. Each one removes a reason to behave well — witnesses, reputation, punishment — until only one question is left: why do you do what you do?

Begin · Would You Do the Right Thing If Nobody Knew?

Format 01

Investigate

Like a documentary you take part in: manuscripts, timelines and evidence you weigh yourself.

Format 02

Decide

Step into a dilemma. Make a choice, live with the consequences, then compare perspectives.

Format 03

Wonder

Thought experiments that test your intuitions about knowledge, goodness and meaning.

Our editorial principles

We show our working. Always.

Read the method

Historical finding

What historical, documentary or scientific evidence shows, whatever one's beliefs.

Religious teaching

What Islamic sources teach, presented as belief and cited, never as proof.

Scholarly interpretation

A scholar's reading of the evidence. We say whose, and where others disagree.

Editorial explanation

Our own framing to help you follow along. Not a claim of evidence.

Star trails circling the celestial pole above a desert horizon
Illustration

The best way in is a question.

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