Newsletter — February 2020

“Women and Religions”. This marks Season III for this certification from the “Anawati Chair”. This year, we changed how we select candidates. Because of artificial intelligence, we no longer know whose writing we are reading, what the students actually think, what their motivations are, if they have any, or if what they write is really just AI-generated text. It is terrible and terrifying. We can feel the rise of homo stultus—the unintelligent human, the one who stops practicing thinking and abandons reason. To resist this trend, we asked the seventy candidates to record a video. This helped us get a better sense of what each person truly “has in their gut” (their real potential). We will use the same approach for the final evaluation of the four seminars. Without reading from a script, students will have to answer questions like: What did you discover during this training? What changed your perspective and your understanding of reality, or of how the place of women in religions has evolved? For now, this should still allow us to evaluate what substantial knowledge the training has given them. In any case, we were able to help the students dive into different religious worlds, opening them up to religious traditions without using a comparative or apologetic approach. This is what we do at IDEO, and through these training programs, we pass on an approach to younger Egyptian generations that opens the door to the fundamentals of dialogue. Anawati Chair: “Women and Religions” Certificate On April 17, Ms. Oumaima Abou Bakr, Professor of Comparative English Literature at the Cairo University and founding member of the Women and Memory Forum, delivered a lecture on “Women’s Rights and Legal Provisions within the Islamic and Qurʾānic Framework”. Watch the video… On May 1, Sister Yara Matta, Director of the Institute of Religious Studies, led a seminar on “Women in Christianity”. Watch the video… On May 8, Mr. Faouzi Bedoui, Professor of Jewish Studies and Comparative Religion at the University of Manouba, gave a lecture entitled “Women in Judaism”. Watch the video… Finally, on May 15, Ms. Raja Ben Slama, Associate Professor at the Faculty of Letters, Arts and Humanities of the University of Manouba, concluded the certificate program with a lecture on “Religious Patriarchy and Women: Psychoanalytic Approaches”. Lectures and presentations On May 2, Emmanuel Pisani, OP delivered a lecture at IDEO entitled “El-fann al-dīnī fī galarriyāt al-fann fī el-Zamalek” [Religious Art in the Art Galleries of Zamalek]. On May 20, Adrien Candiard, OP gave a lecture entitled “War and Peace in Islam” as part of the IDEO Gala. On May 29–30, Adrien Candiard, OP led a session at the Catholic University of West Africa in Thies, Senegal, entitled “Radicalism in Islam: From Its Origins to the Present Day”. NWO-Vidi project doctoral scholarship As part of the NWO-Vidi Project “The Art of Dying in Islamic Traditions (600–1800)”, led by researcher Pieter Coppens, a fully funded four-year PhD scholarship is being offered (4-year funded PhD opportunity). IDEO field research grants IDEO offers field research grants of one to three months for students of Islamic studies at the Master’s or PhD level, as well as postdoctoral researchers, enrolled at a French university or institute. The grant covers: Travel: round-trip ticket and airport transfer (up to €700) Accommodation: a fully equipped room with private bathroom, air conditioning, and breakfast at the IDEO Scholars’ House Academic access: access to the IDEO library, seminars, and conferences To apply, candidates should submit the following documents: A detailed Curriculum Vitae A research project (3–4 pages) for a Master’s thesis, PhD dissertation, or postdoctoral research Applications are accepted on a rolling basis. For further information or to apply, please contact: direction@ideo-cairo.org. Interview Emmanuel Pisani, OP was interviewed by Dr. Ziyad Farrouh of the Observatory for the Fight against Extremism as part of a special dossier on “Awakening Youth Consciousness”: Un Pas En Avant, No. 16, April 2026, pp. 8–15. The Friends of IDEO On Thursday, May 28, the Board of Directors meeting and the General Assembly of the Friends of IDEO were held at the Saint-Jacques Convent in Paris. IDEO Fundraising gala On May 20, we organized a Fundraising Gala that brought together 96 participants, in the presence of His Excellency the French Ambassador, Éric Chevallier. Scholars’ House During the month of May, we had the pleasure of welcoming the following researchers to the Scholars’ House: Ms. Aiswarya Sanath, Assistant Professor in the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences at the Motilal Nehru National Institute of Technology; Mr. Nadir Boudjellal, PhD student in Arabic, Medieval, and Modern Studies at the French Institute of the Near East (Ifpo); Ms. Poorvi Bellur, PhD student at Princeton University, working in global history, anti-colonial solidarities, and imperialism in the 19ᵗʰ and 20tᵗʰ centuries, with a particular focus on the British Empire in South Asia and Egypt. Publication Emmanuel Pisani, “Vers une théologie islamique du dialogue interreligieux ? Une lecture critique d’al-kalām al-ǧadīd de ʿAbd al-Ǧabbār al-Rifāʿī”, Laval Théologique Philosophique 82, no. 1, 2026, p. 49-68.

The visit of ISTR students from Paris provided a valuable opportunity to meet with al-Azhar’s Department of Islamic Studies, headed by Dr. Ali Abdelhakim. It also allowed for a discussion on the Document on Human Fraternity with students from the CEF of al-Azhar, directed by Dr. Mona Sabry. These encounters gave concrete expression to a partnership and made it possible to assess how each side understands dialogue and the kinds of questions they raise. At al-Azhar, for example, a speaker from Paris was asked whether, from his perspective, there exists a Islamic truth and a Christian truth, while another participant asked why European Christian heads of state have declared so many wars if Christianity is a religion of peace. These questions highlight both the urgent necessity and the relevance of such encounters. They reveal more than a simple cultural gap; they raise the question of the possibility of an interreligious dialogue that is neither relativistic nor exclusivist, but genuinely theological. They call for addressing the issue of the unity of truth in the face of the diversity of historical traditions, as well as the possibility of a plurality of religious mediations. From this perspective, dialogue becomes a hermeneutical space in which truth itself is discovered more deeply. The second question introduces an ethical and historical dimension. While it reminds us that religious truth cannot be separated from its historical effects, it also invites, from a theological standpoint, a distinction between the normative content of a faith and the distortions introduced by its adherents. Here again, it is clear that no tradition can claim the truth without acknowledging its own historical ambiguities. Interreligious dialogue often begins where the most challenging questions arise. It is also there that dialogue becomes a theological act in practice: not a compromise, not diplomacy, but a mutual testing of truth claims, oriented toward a broader understanding of the divine mystery. Anawati Chair The “Women and Religions” Certificate was launched with the participation of Ms. Omaima Abou-Bakr, Professor of Comparative English Literature at Cairo University and founding member of the Women and Memory Forum. Her seminar was entitled “Women’s Rights and Legal Provisions within the Islamic and Qurʾānic Framework”. Forty students were selected to take part. Training Sessions From April 20 to 23, Emmanuel Pisani, OP taught a 24-hour course in Toulouse at the Institute of Religious and Pastoral Studies (IERP). The topic was “Jesus in Religious Traditions”. During the month of April , Adrien Candiard, OP taught at two universities in Rome: At the University of Saint Thomas Aquinas (Angelicum), he taught a 24-hour class called “Speaking about God in Islam: An Introduction to Islamic Theology”, designed for students pursuing a canonical licentiate in theology. At the Pontifical Institute for Arabic and Islamic Studies (PISAI), he taught an 18-hour course titled “Lettura di testi di teologia islamica – La questione degli atti umani” [Reading Islamic Theological Texts – The Question of Human Acts], for the Institute’s third-year students. Communication On April 16, Emmanuel Pisani, OP gave an online presentation on “Christians in Egypt”, as part of a study day organized by the French Catholic association Œuvre d’Orient. Radio Broadcast On March 25, Mr. Dominique Avon participated in the France Culture program “War in the Middle East: History as a Guide”, in the episode titled “Hezbollah: History of an Armed Organization”. Listen to the program [in French]… Framework Agreement We are happy to announce that IDEO signed a framework agreement with the Al Mowafaqa Ecumenical Institute of Theology in Rabat on April 15, 2026. Visits On April 1, we welcomed Mr. Raymond Chow, Minister-Counsellor of the Singapore Embassy in Cairo. On April 26, as part of a study trip to Egypt by the Institute of Science and Theology of Religions (ISTR) in Paris, IDEO welcomed its director, Father Xavier Gué, along with thirteen students. Emmanuel Pisani, OP, Jean Druel, OP and Mateus Domingues da Silva, OP gave presentations. On April 28, we welcomed a group of students from the Faculty of Theology and Religious Sciences at Lund University. Scholars’ House During the month of April, we were delighted to welcome to the Scholars’ House: Ms. Rocio Daga, Professor of Religious Studies at Ludwig-Maximilian University of Munich; Mr. Onsi Kamel, PhD student in Philosophy and Religion at Princeton University; Mr. Nils Fischer, Director of the Near East Unit for the Catholic Academic Exchange Service (KAAD). Publications Guillaume de Vaulx, “French Kiss, Arabic Culture. Ahmad b. al-Tayyib al-Sarakhsī on Love in Light of Rasāʾil Iḫwān al-ṣafā”, Fondazione per le Scienze Religiose 3, 2025, p. 37-84. Michel Cuypers, « Un guide avancé pour l’analyse rhétorique du Coran. L’énigmatique sourate 67, al-Mulk, La Royauté », Academia.edu. Emmanuel Pisani, « Chaire en contexte. Fight against Religious Extremism by Promoting Interfaith Dialogue, l’exemple de la Chaire Anawati de l’Idéo (2023-2027) » ET-Studies, 17/1, 2026, p. 155-165.

There are those who do not choose between friendship and knowledge because they have understood—through a profound intuition, perhaps irreducible to any demonstration—that one without the other is but half an existence. Father Georges Anawati was certainly one of these men. The documentary recently produced by IDEO, which we are now making available to you, does not claim to exhaustively cover his journey; rather, it more modestly restores a presence. For Anawati, before being the author of a significant body of work on Avicenna, Arabic philosophy, or Islamic mysticism—and even before being that discreet expert and advisor at the Second Vatican Council—was, in fact, a man of encounters. Through this presence and his wit, he was not a man of committees or mere declarations of intent. He was the very image of dialogue as scholarly friendship. Friendship requires time and a certain acceptance of the risk of being disturbed by the “other”. Knowledge requires rigor, critical distance, and an honesty that makes no concessions to complacency. Anawati did not choose between the two; instead, he thought and lived them together, within that fruitful tension where something new becomes possible for all parties involved. This “something new” is what the documentary attempts to name through the testimonies of those who have read his work and who seek to follow in his footsteps today. Perhaps this is the lesson of Anawati: there is no great text without small gestures, and no theology of dialogue without the daily patience of friendship. The documentary we offer you presents this reality. More than that, it brings it to life. Session on Islamic Studies From March 9 to 13, Emmanuel Pisani, OP and Adrien Candiard, OP led a session on Islamic studies and an introduction to interreligious dialogue at the interdiocesan seminary in N’Djamena, Chad. This formation brought together fourth-year seminarians as well as key figures in interreligious dialogue from all six Chadian dioceses. Talks and lectures On March 6, Emmanuel Pisani, OP gave a lecture at the Resalt al-Salam International Foundation on the topic “al-salām fī al-masīḥiyya” [Peace in Christianity]. On March 17, Emmanuel Pisani, OP gave a talk on Islamic studies during the Catholic Education Study Day for the Diocese of Toulon. The event’s topic was “War and Peace in Religions”. On March 18, Claudio Monge, OP gave a talk entitled “ Contaminazioni devozionali islamo-cristiane: monologhi a due voci” [Reciprocal Influences between Islam and Christianity in Devotion: Monologues for Two Voice]. This took place during the SACROSANCTUM conference: “The Sacred, at the Crossroads of Theology and Culture”, held in Bologna. On March 21, Jean Jacques Pérennès, OP gave a talk in Saint-Avold on the topic “Eastern Christians in a Middle East in Crisis: Situation and Perspectives”. On March 22, Claudio Monge, OP gave a talk on the topic “Osare l’ospitalità” [Daring Hospitality], at the Shoah Memorial in Milan, as part of the SOUL Spirituality Festival 2026. Board members meeting On March 14, Emmanuel Pisani, OP participated in the Board members meeting of the association “The Friends of IDEO”. Visits On March 7, we welcomed Ms. Angelika Schmähling, Project Manager, and Mr. Nadim K. Ammann, Director of the “Universal Church and Dialogue” Department, at the Archdiocese of Cologne. On March 31, we welcomed Ms. Amira Elghawaby, Canada’s former Special Representative for Combating Islamophobia and Human Rights activist. Scholars’ House During the month of March, we had the pleasure of receiving in the Scholars’ House: Ms. Rosalie Mahieu, PhD student in Contemporary History at the School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences (EHESS); Mr. Thomas Kremer, Director of the Research Center for the Christian East (FSCO) at the Catholic University of Eichstätt-Ingolstadt. Publications Dennis Halft, “Zeitenwende auch in Iran? Zwischen Warten, Bangen und Hoffen”, feinschwarz.net. Theologisches Feuilleton. Dennis Halft, “Algerien. Kirche der Märtyrer und der Versöhnung” Information Christlicher Orient 26, n° 112, p. 12-13. Adrien Candiard, “The God of the Philosophers: The Refutation of Thābit b. Qurra’s Talkhīṣ of the Metaphysics in Ibn Taymiyya’s Darʾ taʿāruḍ al-ʿaql wa-l-naql”, dans Mehdi Berriah et Arjan Post (ed.),  Ibn Taymiyya’s Thought: Corpus, Reception, and Legacy, Leuven, Leuven University Press, 2026, p. 99-132. Dominique Avon, « Hommes de religion sunnites et études profanes sur le Coran. Controverses autour de la distinction entre versets mecquois et médinois (années 1910 – années 1970) », dans Constance Arminjon et Rainer Brunner (dir.), Herméneutiques en Islam contemporain. Théologie, exégèse et philosophie, Turnhout, Brepols, 2026, p. 173-199. Claudio Monge, “Riconciliarsi con la violenza del testo biblico” [Se réconcilier avec la violence du texte biblique], dans Marco dal Corso, Religioni e riconciliazione, Roma, Themis, 2026, p. 17-41.