Islamic Studies in Dialogue: The Al-Azhar Tradition and Critical Islamic Studies
As part of the Anawati Chair “Fight against Religious Extremism by Promoting Interfaith Dialogue”, the Dominican Institute for Oriental Studies in Cairo, in partnership with the IFI, is organising a summer school in July 2026 on the theme of “Islamic Studies in Dialogue: The Al-Azhar Tradition and Critical Islamic Studies”.
Dates: 13 to 26 July 2026 (classes begin on 14 July)
Application deadline: 1 April 2026
Venue: Cairo, Egypt — Dominican Institute for Oriental Studies (Idéo)
Objectives of the Summer School
The 2026 Summer School in Cairo offers training in the study of the founding texts of the Islamic tradition on the Qurʾan, the Sunna, kalām, uṣūl al-fiqh, falsafa and taṣawwuf, combining both traditional teaching as it is delivered today at al-Azhar in Arabic, and teaching that brings the critical requirements of academic Islamic studies to bear on those same disciplines.
It is aimed at French-speaking doctoral students in Islamic studies who wish to broaden their fundamental knowledge of Islam beyond their own field of expertise, by approaching texts through the varied approaches arising from the different disciplines of the Islamic sciences. It enables students to share the current state of their research, with the support of Idéo researchers and of external scholars of Islam.
By integrating disciplinary teaching, the reading of texts, methodological reflection and the sharing of their research, the Summer School aims to:
Methodology and pedagogical organisation
The teaching combines four complementary dimensions:
1. Lectures (in Arabic)
Presentation of the theoretical and historical foundations of several disciplines, delivered both by teachers from al-Azhar and by French-speaking scholars of Islam. This approach allows participants to discover the way in which these sciences are still taught in Egypt today, in the living continuity of the Islamic tradition, while taking the measure of the epistemological differentiation of the modern approach.
2. Guided readings (in Arabic)
The School offers in-depth readings of texts representative of each discipline, accompanied by the teacher who gave the lecture. Particular attention is paid to the history of concepts: their genealogy, the evolution of their meaning from one author to another, and sometimes within the work of a single author. These readings in Arabic thus aim to consolidate conceptual command while supporting the study of major works.
3. Research workshops (in French)
The Summer School sets aside a space for exchange over three half-days, in which the doctoral students present the state of progress of their work, their hypotheses, their corpus and their methodologies to all the participants. These workshops, led by scholars of Islam, encourage research approaches to be brought into dialogue and methodological and epistemological issues to be clarified. Egyptian students from the certificate in “the methodology of Islamic studies” are invited to take part and to put their questions to the doctoral students.
4. A day devoted to codicology with an external speaker
Led by an external speaker specialising in Arabic manuscripts, this day introduces participants to the methods of description, dating and material analysis of manuscripts, as well as to current new tools (software, artificial intelligence). This day constitutes a cross-cutting highlight, linking the disciplines studied to the concrete reality of their manuscript sources.
5. Cultural visits
The Summer School is an opportunity to discover Islamic Cairo, its mosques, its madrasa-s and its history. Egyptian students from the certificate in methodology will also be invited on these visits, in order to create ever more interaction between the students.
Organisation
The teaching is spread over 12 days, at a rate of 5 to 5½ hours per day.
During the Summer School, three half-days are devoted to cultural activities and visits: the Museum of Islamic Art, the Museum of Egyptian Civilisation and the Institute of Arabic Manuscripts.
Application procedure
Candidates must send a single PDF file, containing, in this order:
Applications must be sent before midnight on 1 April 2026 to the following address:
Summerschool.Cairo2026@ideo-cairo.org
Students in the second year of a master’s degree who are considering enrolling in a doctoral programme in September 2026 may also apply.
Replies will be communicated in mid-April 2026.
Conditions de participation
Pour candidater, il faut :
- Être francophone (une connaissance en français niveau B1 souhaitable) ;
- Être inscrit en doctorat en islamologie ou dans une discipline affiliée ;
- Justifier d’un niveau d’arabe équivalent au niveau B1.
Conditions de participation
In order to apply, candidates must:
Accommodation
Students are accommodated on the island of Zamalek, in a comfortable three-star hotel two minutes from the metro, in single rooms.
Number of participants
In order to guarantee the pedagogical quality, the number of successful candidates is limited to 12.
Flat-rate contribution of students to the costs
The Summer School covers the hours of courses and workshops, air travel from the country of origin to Cairo, local transport in Cairo, accommodation, lunches on class days, the closing evening with a cruise on the Nile, local transport by minibus, and the cultural visits. Successful candidates will be asked for a flat-rate, non-refundable contribution of 380 euros in order to confirm their registration.
For any further information, please write to Brother Emmanuel Pisani (direction@ideo-cairo.org).