Newsletter August-September 2025

We are always delighted to announce the release of our Institute’ journal, MIDÉO. This year’s volume is devoted to a topic as fascinating as it is urgent, particularly given its profound relevance to the current Middle Eastern landscape, where war wounds and kills innocent people with horror and savagery. The fruit of the study days held at IDEO in May 2023, this volume brings together contributions from international scholars exploring how the Qurʾān and its commentaries have perceived the “Religious Other”. Jews, Christians, and polytheists—figures who appear at times as partners, witnesses to an earlier revelation, or doctrinal opponents. Through historical, linguistic, literary, and artistic approaches, these studies offer new insights into tafsīr, where faith, scholarship, and political context intersect. As July begins, we wish you all a wonderful summer filled with rest, discovery… and reading! For us in Cairo, summer will be a time of study: in a few days, we will have the joy of welcoming six young Dominican Brothers for a language internship, and we will launch our summer school on the topic “Citizenship and Religious Pluralism” as part of the Anawati Chair. A beautiful intellectual and fraternal adventure awaits us—one that is also, for us, a sign of hope. Lecture On June 9, Jean Jacques Pérennès, OP gave a lecture in Noirmoutier on the topic “Tibhirine: A Monastic Presence in the Land of Islam”. Call for Applications | Chair “Mediterranean, Religions and Societies” The Chair “Mediterranean, Religions and Societies” is launching a call for applications for its first year of activity. This call is open to PhD students whose research focuses on the Chair’s topics (interreligious dialogue, social and religious dynamics in the Mediterranean, etc.). The application deadline is July 25, 2025. Click here for more details in French… Thesis Defense On July 7, Mr. Pierre Courtain defended, at the University of Louvain, the private defense of his doctoral dissertation entitled “The Dominican Quran in Latin Europe in the 13ᵗʰ Century”, under the joint supervision of Mr. John Tolan (Nantes Université) and Mr. Paul Bertrand (UCLouvain, secretary of the jury). The jury was made up of Mr. Mehdi Azaiez (UCLouvain, president of the jury), Ms. Cándida Ferrero Hernández (Autonomous University of Barcelona, external reader), and Emmanuel Pisani, OP (IDEO/ICP). General Assembly of the Association “Friends of IDEO” On June 30ᵗʰ, Emmanuel Pisani, OP took part in the board meeting and the general assembly of the “Friends of IDEO” association, without whose support the Institute’s activities and operating costs could not be covered. Visit On June 12ᵗʰ, we had the pleasure of welcoming Ms. Magdalena Cruz Yábar, Counselor for Cultural and Scientific Affairs at the Embassy of Spain in Egypt. Scholars’ House During the month of June, we had the pleasure of welcoming the following researchers to the Scholars’ House: Anna Giaconia, a PhD student in the Department of History at Ghent University, working on political thought in Late Antiquity. Charlotte Courreye, Associate Professor at the Faculty of Languages, Lyon III University, researching educational cooperation between the Mashreq and the Maghreb during the Arabization period, from the 1960s to the 1990s. Publications Emmanuel Pisani, « Les chrétiens et les religions dans le Laṭāʾif al-išārāt d’Abū al-Qāsim al-Qušayrī (m. 465/1073) », MIDÉO 40, 2025, p. 113-144. Emmanuel Pisani, « Louis Massignon ou le verbe s’est fait chair », in Piotr Sękowski, Chrześcijańska teologia islamu Louisa Massignona (Louis Massignon’s Christian Theology of Islam), Gliwice-Rome, SEKO, 2024, p. 67‑71. Dominique Avon, « Dialogue entre catholiques et musulmans : une mise en perspective historique », En Dialogue, mars-juin 2025. Walid Saleh, “The Quran and the Mountains: A Reading of Q. al-Raʿd 13:31 in the Tafsīr Tradition”, MIDÉO 40, 2025, p. 87-112.

A Shared Understanding of Religions IDEO remains steadfast in its conviction that only a patient, rigorous, and shared understanding of religious knowledge can open paths to collaboration and reconciliation. But words alone are not enough—they must be put into action. The “Islam and Religions” certificate program, held this May as part of the Anawati Chair and directed by Aziz Hilal, is a new example of this commitment. Every Friday, our Institute had the honor of hosting three eminent scholars whose work is recognized as authoritative in this field. First, Tunisian professor Faouzi Bedoui, a master of critical analysis of Islamic sources and a specialist in Jewish studies on the Qur’an during the era of Haskalah (the Enlightenment); next, Lebanese philosopher Nayla Abi Nader, a specialist in Mohamed Arkoun. She sought to demonstrate how Arkounian concepts contribute to a renewed reading of the Qur’an and make it possible to fully recognize the place of other religions within Islamic thought. Finally, we welcomed Egyptian thinker Yassin Abdelgawad, whose stimulating contributions always spark passionate debates among our audience. As a sign of growing interest in these topics, we received nearly eighty applications for only forty available spots. In their motivation letters, several candidates expressed their gratitude to IDEO for being a space of free debate, exchange, and reflection. Participants clearly understood that the speakers were presenting the state of a question and opening up avenues for exploration. For us, the goal is not to turn them into disciples of the speakers’ thought, but to give them the opportunity to broaden their intellectual horizons and to discover authors they may have heard of but never truly read. Witnessing these debates, we are delighted to see a young generation engaged and open to the contributions of social sciences in order to better ground, within Islam, the relationship with religious otherness. Anawati Chair Certificate “Islam and Other Religions” The Anawati Chair is organizing a training course for a Certificate in “Islam and Other Religions”. The training took place over four seminars: On May 9, Mr.  Faouzi Bedoui, Professor of Jewish and Arabic Studies at the University of Tunis, gave a lecture entitled “The Impact of the Jewish Haskalah on the Development of Orientalist Studies on Islam”. On May 16, he discussed the topic “How to Approach the Anglo-Saxon Revisionist School in the Field of Islamic Studies?”. On May 23, Ms. Nayla Abi Nader, Lebanese researcher and professor at the Lebanese University, gave two lectures: “The Foundations of the Critical Method in the Approach to Heritage. The Project of Mohammed Arkoun as a Model” and “The Anthropological Triangle and the Deconstruction of Violence in the Thought of Mohammed Arkoun”; On May 30, Mr. Abdelgawad Yassin, Egyptian jurist, researcher, and thinker, gave a talk entitled “Christianity and Islam: Mutual Stereotypes. An Introduction to the Question of Religious Pluralism Lecturer”. Researcher Mobility As part of the researcher mobility grant, the researcher Mahmoud El-Mezayen participated in the second edition of the international conference “Nadwat al-Andalus,” organized by the Institute of Applied Humanities Studies of Sbeïtla, affiliated with the University of Kairouan (Tunisia), from April 22 to 24, 2025. On this occasion, Mr. El-Mezayen presented a scientific paper entitled “Four Arabic Documents Related to the City of Granada in al-Andalus”. Lectures On May 20, Jean Jacques Pérennès, OP gave a lecture in Trévou-Tréguignec for the France-Palestine Solidarity Association, on the topic: “The Archaeology of Gaza, a Heritage in Peril”. On May 22, Emmanuel Pisani, OP gave an online presentation entitled “Why have we forgotten Toumliline”?, during an evening event organized by the al-Mowafaqa Institute in Rabat, focused on the Toumliline Monastery. On May 24, Jean Jacques Pérennès, OP gave a lecture in Metz on the topic: “Christians in a Middle East in Crisis: Situation and Prospects”. Workshop On May 6, Jean Druel, OP gave a talk on the topic: “Collation Marks in the Milan-Kazan codex of Sībawayh’s Kitāb: The Case of ġayn” as part of the 5ᵗʰ International Workshop on Codicology and Critical Edition organized by the Rawafed Center in Fez. Scientific Council From May 15 to 17, Emmanuel Pisani, OP as deputy coordinator, took part in the scientific council of the Academic Platform PLURIEL held in Cordoba, to prepare the upcoming conference “Ethics and Aesthetics in Islamic Heritage”, scheduled for February 2026. Master in Arabic Studies On May 22, Matthieu Palayret, OP completed his Master in Arabic Studies at the American University in Cairo by defending a thesis entitled “Beyond Logic: Ibn al-Sarrāǧ’s (d. 316/928) al-Uṣūl fī al-naḥw and the Formation of the Islamic Disciplines”. Visits On May 6, we had the pleasure of welcoming the “Religion and Diplomacy” Group, whose visit was organized by the Austrian Embassy in Cairo. The delegation was made up of: Mr. Alexander Rieger (Austria), Coordinator and founder of the Vienna Group for Religion & Diplomacy, Head of the Unit Intercultural and interreligious dialogue, Head of the Task Force Dialogue of Cultures and Religions; Mr. Constantinos Alexandris (European External Action Service), advisor for “Religion and Diplomacy” Group; H.E. Mr. Ivan Picukaric (Croatia), advisor for “Religion and Diplomacy” to the Minister of Foreign and European Affairs; H.E. Ms. Nathalia Feinberg (Denmark), Special Representative for Freedom of Religion or Belief; H.E. Mr. Pekka Kosonen (Finland), Ambassador for Peace Mediation; Ms. Anke Oppermann (Germany), Head of the Unit of the Federal Government Commissioner for Freedom of Religion or Belief; Mr. Theofilos Zafeirakos (Greece), Head of the Directorate for the Council of Europe, Human Rights at the United Nations, Minorities, Migration, and Refugees; Mr. Iarfhlaith Manny (Ireland), Deputy Director in the International Policy and Technology Coordination Unit, in charge of the religion and diplomacy portfolio; H.E. Ms. Ulrika Sundberg (Sweden), Special Envoy to the OIC for Intercultural and Interreligious Dialogue. On May 24, Dr. Sameh A. Khadra, director of the “Taqeen” Foundation, visited us to discuss a possible collaboration. On May 26, we welcomed a delegation from the European Parliament as part of the activities of the Political Section of the European Union Delegation in Cairo. Scholars’ House During the month of May, we

The conference organized by IDEO, The Authority of Silence: Constructing the Figure of the salafs (7ᵗʰ–15ᵗʰ centuries), held in the prestigious Oriental Hall at the American University in Cairo, offered an original and unprecedented perspective on the figure of the salafs through the prism of silence—not as absence, but as a source of authority. Far from being merely God’s friends or simple transmitters, the salafs emerge, in the presentations by Jawad Qureshi, Ahmad Khan, Mohammad Mushtak, Christopher Melchert, Abdullah Ridvan Gökbel, Shahanaz Begum, and Rana Mikati, as figures whose silence is alternately interpreted, mobilized, or strategically reconstructed. The conference highlighted the complexity of an authority based as much on what is said as on what is left unsaid. The silence of the salafs contributes to a hermeneutics that goes beyond simple transmission, reaching toward an implicit normativity that shapes a distinct Sunnism, yet one marked by internal tensions. From Rodrigo Adem’s critique of a “bad Salafism” in Ibn Taymiyya, to Adrien Candiard’s analysis of the salafs as a distinct school in al-Shahrastānī’s doxography, the very conditions of normative production were explored. The authority of the salafs appeared far from univocal, marked by hierarchies, peripheral dynamics, and differentiated uses—whether legal, political, or theological contexts. The conference allowed for a deeper understanding of how authority was constructed within the ambiguity of silence, between idealization, critique, and appropriation. Anawati Chair Seminar at the al-Azhar French Teaching Center (CEF) On April 15, 90 students from the Faculty of Humanities at al-Azhar University attended the seminar “Islam and Human Rights”, led by Professor Chérif Ferjani, Tunisian scholar of Islam and politics, Professor Emeritus at Université Lumière-Lyon II, and member of the steering committee of the higher Institute for the study of religion and secularism in France. This seminar, organized in collaboration with our partner the al-Azhar French Teaching Center, provided an opportunity to deepen understanding of the history and foundations of human rights and their Islamic appropriation. Creation of an Audiobook Library at al-Azhar University In partnership with the al-Azhar French Teaching Center, IDEO acquired and donated 33 audiobooks to the al-Azhar University Library. This audiobook library aims to promote equal opportunity by improving access to educational resources in European languages for visually impaired students. Access to Scientific Works in Arabic As part of its partnership with the Hindawi Foundation, the Anawati Chair is making 19 scientific works available in audio format, representing a total of 807,074 words, currently accessible online on the Hindawi Foundation website. This initiative aims to expand access to scientific literature in Arabic, with the goal of reaching 7,000,000 recorded words, particularly for the benefit of visually impaired or audiences with reading difficulties. Lectures and Conferences On April 6, Jean Jacques Pérennès, O.P. gave a lecture in Valence entitled “Christians in a Middle East in Crisis: Situation and Perspectives”. On April 11, Jean Jacques Pérennès, O.P. gave a lecture in Lyon for the Friends of IDEO association on the theme “A Shared Holy Place: The Islamic-Christian Pilgrimage of the Seven Sleepers of Ephesus in Vieux-Marché”. On April 22, Mr. Guillaume de Vaulx spoke at the seminar “Spiritualities and Nature”, organized by Georgetown University – Doha, with a lecture entitled “Muslim Animals in the Epistles of the Brethren of Purity”. On April 23, Mr. Guillaume de Vaulx participated in the panel “Nature and Religious Values” at the Earthna Summit with a talk entitled “From the Current Ecological Mobilization of Religion to the Classical Religious Mobilization of the Environment”. Teaching From April 22 to 25, Emmanuel Pisani, O.P. taught a 24-hour course entitled “Introduction to the Major Religious Traditions” at the IERP of the Catholic Institute of Toulouse. PhD Defense Committee On April 28, Emmanuel Pisani, O.P. participated in the thesis defense committee of Florence Javel at the Faculty of Theology at the Catholic University of Lyon. The thesis was entitled “Maurice Borrmans and the Crisis of Islamic-Christian Dialogue: Is Islamic Studies at Stake?”, directed by Prof. Michel Younès (UCLy, Lyon). Committee members included Mr. Dominique Avon (EPHE, Paris), Guy Sarkis (Saint-Joseph University, Beirut), and Mr. Rémi Caucanas (Saint-Paul University, Ottawa). Study Day on Ali Abd al-Raziq On April 11, a study day dedicated to Ali Abd al-Raziq was held with the support of the IFI and IISMM. Speakers included: Mohammad Afifi, Head of the History Department at Cairo University’s Faculty of Arts, who presented “History and Legend: Political Islam and the Caliphate”; Abdelilah Belkeziz(Hassan II University, Casablanca) who discussed “The Stakes of an Ijtihad Attempt: Religion and Politics in the Thesis of Ali Abd al-Raziq”; Aziz Hilal, philosophy teacher and member of IDEO, who reflected on “Islam and the Foundations of Power: Between Condemnation and Legitimation”; Issam al-Zuheiri, who addressed the theme of renewing political thought. The day was chaired and moderated by Mr. Abd al-Jawad Yassin. Visits On April 25, we welcomed a group of teachers and students from the Institut Chrétiens d’Orient. Accompanied by its director Antoine Fleyfel, they attended a lecture at IDEO by Mr. Ishak Ibrahim from the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights. Jean Druel, OP accompanied the group to a Sufi prayer session of the Qādiriyya brotherhood. Scholars’ House During the month of April, we were pleased to host at the Scholars’ House: Gheorghe Pașcalău, researcher specialized in the Muslim reception of Greek philosophy, recipient of the IDEO-Ifao-IFI postdoctoral fellowship Edward Shawe-Taylor, PhD student (DPhil) in Islamic art and architecture, specialized in Fatimid-era calligraphy and Islamic medieval art and culture, studying at the University of Oxford’s Khalili Research Center. Review Emmanuel Pisani, « Houari Touati, L’arrivée de l’homme en Islam et sa disparition : d’Athènes à Bagdad, Paris, Vrin, 2024 », Chrétiens de la Méditerranée, published online March 15, 2025. Publication Emmanuel Pisani, “Les mots autour de l’islam en débat”, Un pas en avant 11, February 2025, p. 19-21.