The question of the relationship with others and their status is one of the most salient criteria for approaching the vitality and openness of a religious tradition. The Qurʾān and Qurʾānic interpretation (tafsīr) offer historical and theological resources for the history of belief, the apprehension of other religions and the understanding of how Islamic texts speak of others, according to circumstances, literary genres, and the discourse rhetoric. The international conference held at the IDEO from May 19ᵗʰ to 20ᵗʰ, 2023, in partnership with the Orient-Institut of Beirut and the Institute for the Study of Islam and Societies of the Muslim World, brought together some of today’s most brilliant researchers on the Qurʾān. From Canada, the United States, Germany, Lebanon and Egypt, they explored these resources, charting new paths in the light of a rich and varied methodology covering intertextuality, translation studies, genealogies, rhetoric, philology and, of course, history.
Conference
From May 19ᵗʰ to 20ᵗʰ, the IDEO organized a conference in partnership with the Orient-Institut of Beirut and the Institute for the Study of Islam and Societies of the Muslim World (IISMM) entitled “Other religions in the tafsīr”, the proceedings of which will be published in the 2025 MIDEO.
The speakers at this conference were:
- Mrs. Angelika Neuwirth, Islamic studies scholar and professor of Qurʾānic studies at the Freie Universität in Berlin.
- Mrs. Asma Helali, associate professor in Islamic studies at the University of Lille, France.
- Emmanuel Pisani, OP, director of the IDEO and associate professor at the vice-rectorate for research of the Catholic Institute of Paris.
- Mr. Holger Zellentin, professor of Religion and Jewish studies at the University of Tübingen.
- Mrs. Hosn Abboud, lecturer at the American University of Beirut, Lebanon.
- Mrs. Jerusha Rhodes, associate professor of Islam and Interreligious Engagement at the Union Theological Seminary, New York City, USA.
- Mrs. Johanna Pink, professor for Islamic studies and the History of Islam at the University of Fribourg.
- Mr. Mykhaylo Yakubovych, scholar of Islamic studies at the University of Fribourg.
- Mr. Thomas Würtz, director of Orient-Institut of Beirut.
- Mr. Walid Saleh, member of the IDEO and editor of the Routledge Qurʾān Series.
Communications and lectures
On May 19ᵗʰ, Mr. Walid Saleh, as part of the conference organized by the IDEO on the topic of “Other religions in the tafsīr”, gave a talk entitled “A Hegemon Qurʾān: Scriptural Authority in tafsīr”.
On May 20ᵗʰ, Emmanuel Pisani, OP as part of the same conference, gave a talk entitled “The Approach to Christians and Religions in the Laṭāʾif al-išārāt attributed to Abū al-Qāsim ʿAbd al-Karīm al-Qušayrī (d. 465/1072).
On May 24ᵗʰ, Adrien Candiard, OP gave a lecture in Paris on Islamic-Christian relations during the 30ᵗʰ anniversary celebration of the Muslim-Christian Friendship Group (GAIC).
IDEO seminar
On May 17ᵗʰ, Mr. Jon Hoover led a seminar session entitled “Ibn Taymiyya’s Use of the Salaf in Theology” as part of the IDEO’s seminar on the Salaf in the Classical Age.
Study day
On May 30ᵗʰ, Dominique Avon, member of the IDEO and director of the Institute for the Study of Islam and Societies of the Muslim World (IISMM) led a study day on the topic of “Radicalization under the seal of Islam?” Read the program (in French)…
Interreligious dialogue
From May 11ᵗʰ to 14ᵗʰ, Emmanuel Pisani, OP and Claudio Monge, OP participated in a meeting organized by ScholarLeaders in İstanbul with the aim of creating a network of Christian and Muslim theologians from Asia, Africa and the Middle East, committed to theological dialogue.
On May 30ᵗʰ Adrien Candiard, OP and Jean Druel, OP participated in two interreligious round tables organized by the French Institute as part of the cultural program “Peace Streets”. The first round table was devoted to the relationship between culture and religion. Mr. Aziz Hilal moderated the discussion between brother Adrien and Mrs. Anwaar Othman, professor of philosophy and theology at al-Azhar University. The second round table was devoted to the figure of Abraham. Mrs. Anwaar Othman moderated the discussion between brother Jean and Mr. Mohamed Fathi, professor of Law and Sharia at al-Azhar University.
IFI/IDEO/IFAO 2023-2024 scholarship jury
On May 31ˢᵗ, a jury made of Adrien Candiard, OP and Emmanuel Pisani, OP (IDEO), Mr. Abbès Zouache and Mr. Hadrien Collet (IFAO) and Mr. Éric Vallet and Mrs. Charlotte Courreye (French Institute of Islamic studies, IFI), assisted by Mrs. Juliette Dumas, met to review the 9 applications for the 10-month IFI/IDEO/IFAO scholarship.
Election
On May 14ᵗʰ, Emmanuel Pisani, OP has been elected advisor to the steering committee of the Network Center for Christian-Islamic Relations, a network that will be made effective starting 2025.
Call for papers
On September 20ᵗʰ and 21ˢᵗ, 2023, an international conference will be held at the Charles University in Prague on the topic of “Eastern Catholic Theology on the Way of Unification”. Read the call for papers…
From January 19ᵗʰ to 20ᵗʰ, 2024, an international conference will be held in Trier, Germany, on the reception of Nostra Aetate, entitled “60 years after Nostra Aetate. New Perspectives on the Dominican Engagement for a Catholic Dialogue with Jews and Muslims”. Read the call for papers…
From February 15ᵗʰ to 17ᵗʰ, 2024, the IDEO will organize an international conference entitled “The literal meaning, between Christian worlds and Muslim worlds (7ᵗʰ‒15ᵗʰ centuries)”. Read the call for papers…
Visits
On May 28ᵗʰ, we welcomed Mr. Ghaleb Bencheikh, President of the Foundation of Islam in France.
Scholars’ House
During the month of May, we had the pleasure to receive Mr. Jon Hoover, associate professor of Islamic studies, Faculty of Arts, University of Nottingham; Mr. Nils Fischer, director of the Near East Unit of the Catholic Academic Exchange Service (KAAD); and Mrs. Maddalena Di Prima, from the La Pira Library in Palermo (Italy), who completes a training in LRM/RDA cataloguing in Diamond.
Publications
- Guillaume de Vaulx, “Arabic Zoology and the Taskhīr question,” Mélanges de l’Université saint Joseph, vol. 69, pp. 47‒71.
- Aziz Hilal, « [Recension de] Raison et quête de la sagesse. Hommage à Christian Jambet, Ali Amir-Moezzi (dir.), Brepols, 2020 », Bulletin critique des Annales islamologiques, 37 (2023), pp. 50‒59.
- Dennis Halft, “Mullā ʿAlī Nūrī”, in Christian-Muslim Relations. A Bibliographical History, vol. 20 (Iran, Afghanistan and the Caucasus 1800-1914), edited by D. Thomas and J. Chesworth, Leiden, Brill, 2023, pp. 143‒149.
- Dennis Halft, « [Recension de] J. Sperber, Die anthropologischen Aspekte in den christlich-muslimischen Dialogen des Vatikan[s], Göttingen, Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2018, 671 p », in: Orientalistische Literaturzeitung 117,6 (2022), pp. 496‒498.