Seminar in Islamology “The renewal of religious thought in Islam in contemporary times: new research perspectives in Islamology”

A new monthly seminar has recently been set up by Makram Abbes (Director du Cefrepa/Koweït) & Mehdi Berriah (Researcher Ifpo/Jérusalem).
This seminar aims to publicize the work of researchers in Islamic studies who, through their themes and approaches, contribute to the renewal of the field of study on Muslim thought from a perspective that is both diachronic (study of the doctrines of the past) and synchronic (theoretical positioning in relation to the writings of contemporary scholars). Organized by two Umifre-s (CEFREPA and IFPO) which cover 12 Arab countries, the seminar also aims to identify the voices of renewal of readings and interpretations, to make them known to the French and Western public, and to engage in a fruitful dialogue on common objects of study.

See the complete program: https://cefrepa.cnrs.fr/2024/01/15/le-renouvellement-de-la-pensee-religieuse-en-islam-a-lepoque-contemporaine-nouvelles-perspectives-de-recherche-en-islamologie/

Particular interest was paid to new theorizations of theological-religious concepts, to the analysis of the construction or deconstruction of the sacred as well as to specific questions which have been the subject of debate for several decades now (relationship between politic/religion, secularism, human rights, war and peace, veil, halal, etc.).

Many specialists working in Western or Arab-Muslim contexts were called upon to intervene on these subjects, as the issues addressed today have a global dimension, due to major mutations and global upheavals of a political, economic or technological nature which have affected Muslim societies and Muslim minorities in the West. These situations have led scholars and intellectuals to question their destiny, and to propose new approaches to the classical Islamic corpus in the light of today’s context, by increasingly integrating new tools from the human and social sciences. Various recent works relating to the founding texts as well as the facts of religion and society have sparked – and still spark – a number of debates, thus contributing to the renewal of contemporary Muslim thought. By making them known through this seminar and the exchanges it will generate, the public is able to glimpse new perspectives of research in the field of Muslim thought, and closely follow the intellectual dynamics at work in the different academic circles of the East and the West.