We knew them as master’s and doctoral students. They had the look of young researchers who discover, in reading an archive, a manuscript page or in a chance encounter, the joy of unexpected discoveries in research. They frequented our library, shared our table and the conversations that linger at lunchtime under the ficus trees in the garden. We invited them to our seminars, welcomed them at our conferences, and involved them in the writing of MIDEO. They brought their questions, their knowledge, their enthusiasm. They gave of their time and of themselves. And over the years, our relationship grew into friendship. It is this friendship, born of research and nourished by intellectual work, that we recognize today by welcoming them as members of our Institute.
Welcome to Simon Conrad, who comes to us from Princeton and whose work sheds light in particular on the new School of Alexandria. Welcome to Antoinette Ferrand, a historian of contemporary Egypt, who studied at the Sorbonne under Catherine Mayeur-Jaouen. Welcome to Riccardo Paredi, who has devoted himself to the study of Sufism and was a disciple of Father Giuseppe Scattolin.
IDEO is enriched today by these new faces. They bear witness to a living institute, where books and research give rise to friendships and where generations meet. We are delighted by what they already bring to the Institute and by all that we will share together.
Anawati Chair: Researcher Mobility Support
Mr. Ahmed Nabil Maghraby received a grant that enabled him to speak at the international conference “De la poésie préislamique, 1926–2026 : bilan et perspectives sur un siècle de débat [Pre-Islamic Poetry, 1926–2026: Assessment and Perspectives on a Century of Debate]”, held in Paris on 21–22 October 2026. He presented the paper “A third/ninth-century excerpt from Imruʾ al-Qays’s muʿallaqa on papyrus”.
Talks and lectures
From 19 to 21 October, Emmanuel Pisani, OP, Jean Druel, OP, and Adrien de Fouchier, OP, took part in the accademic conference “Interreligious Dialogue “Assisted by” and “in Dialogue with” AI: Concepts, Approaches and Challenges”, organized at the University of Montreal in partnership with TRENDS Group, the Pluriel network and the Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM):
- Jean Druel, OP, presented a paper titled “Rethinking Bibliographic Research in (Inter)religious Studies through a Conversational Agent”.
- Adrien de Fouchier, OP, spoke on “Feeding AI with Texts and Metadata”.
- Emmanuel Pisani, OP, gave a presentation entitled “AI and Muslim Scholars: Reactions and Initial Assessments in Islamic Ethics”.
On 14 October, Mr. Dominique Avon delivered the inaugural lecture of the Chair of Mediterranean, Religions and Societies at the Pontifical Institute for Arabic and Islamic Studies (PISAI) in Rome, entitled “Religious Dimensions of Conflicts in the Mediterranean”.
On 20 October, Mr. Guillaume de Vaulx gave a lecture at Georgetown University in Qatar (Doha), titled “Praise without Limits. Creation and its Philosophical Lessons”.
Certificate in Methodology of Islamic Studies (IDEO–IFI)
On 16 October, Adrien Candiard, OP, launched the Certificate in Methodology of Islamic Studies, organized by IDEO and IFI, welcoming eleven new students from several universities:
- Abdel Gelil Ahmed Sayed
- Abou Bakr Metwally Mansour
- Ahmed Dabien
- Arsène Adoumbey, OP
- Fatma El-Chahawy
- Hassan Badawy
- Mohamed Mahmoud el-Kalfat
- Sarah Mourad
- Somaya Ahmed
- Steve Sinelide, OP
- Wessam Osama
Appointment
At its autumn 2026 plenary assembly, the German Bishops’ Conference renewed the mandate of Dennis Halft, OP, as consultor to the Sub-Commission for Interreligious Dialogue (Commission VII), for the period 2026–2031.
Fieldwork scholarships on a rolling basis (1 to 3 months)
IDEO offers fieldwork grants of one to three months for master’s and doctoral students in Islamic Studies, as well as postdoctoral researchers affiliated with a French university or research institute. For more information, please read the call for applications (in French)…
Visits
On 17 September, we welcomed Rev. Dr. Wageeh Mikhail, Director General of the Network of Centers for Christian-Muslim Relations (NCCMR).
On 29 September, we welcomed Mrs. Mona Sabry, Director of the French Language Teaching Center of al-Azhar.
On 5 October, we were delighted to welcome Mr. Muhammad al-Sayyed, Head of the Central Administration of the al-Azhar Library, Mr. Ahmed Kamel, Director of Public Relations and Communication of the al-Azhar Library, and Ms. Tayseer el-Musallami, Assistant Director of Public Relations at the al-Azhar Library.
On 14 October, we welcomed Dr. el-Nabawi Salama, professor at al-Azhar University, public relations adviser and rapporteur of the Council of Scientific Committees of the World Association of University Professors.
On 27 October, IDEO welcomed Mr. Ibrahim Salamah, Dean of the Faculty of Law, Ms. Iman Ragab and Mr. Mostafa Abdelaziz, of the British University in Egypt (BUE), Ms. Reham Salamah, Director of the al-Azhar Observatory, and Ms. Mariam Abdulgawad, researcher at the Observatory, as well as Mr. Michael Wiener, of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).
Scholars’ House
During October, we were pleased to welcome the following researchers to the Scholars` House:
- Ms. Elsa Brière, doctoral researcher in the ReligiS program in History, Societies and Civilizations, at CERMOM;
- M. Umar Ryad, professor of Arabic and Islamic Studies at the University of Leuven;
- M. Jakob Skovgaard, associate professor in the Department of Political Science at Lund University, Sweden;
- M. Nicolas Michel, professor of contemporary history at Aix-Marseille University, Head of the Department of History;
- M. Matthias Egger, Coptologist and doctoral researcher at the French National Institute of Art History.
Publications
Emmanuel Pisani, « Le dialogue interreligieux, impératif depuis Nostra aetate », Vie chrétienne, septembre-octobre 2026, p. 16-17.
Catherine Mayeur-Jaouen, Gens de Zeitoun. Chronique d’une famille égyptienne 1980-2020, Paris, Éditions du Cerf, octobre 2026, 544 pages.
Antoinette Ferrand, L’Égypte de Nasser. Classes moyennes et idéal socialiste, Paris, Presses universitaires de France, septembre 2026, 440 pages.
Upcoming activities
On 10 November 2026, Emmanuel Pisani, OP, will take part in the seminar led by Dominique Avon “Discours sunnites et sciences profanes (XIXᵉ-XXIᵉ siècles) [Sunni Discourses and Non-Religious Disciplines (19ᵗʰ–21ˢᵗ Centuries)]” at the École pratique des hautes études (EPHE) in Paris.
The same day, from 7 to 9 p.m., he will speak during the first evening of the interreligious conference celebrating the centenary of the Grande Mosquée de Paris, “Spiritualités de la rencontre [Spiritualities of Encounter]”. Admission is free, and registration is recommended on the event page; the four-evening programme runs until 9 December 2026.
On 12 November 2026, from 6:00 to 7:30 p.m. (Paris time), Emmanuel Pisani, OP, will moderate an online webinar entitled “Quelle est la vision du dialogue interculturel et de l’amitié sociale dans la pensée du Grand Imam d’al-Azhar ? [What is the vision of intercultural dialogue and social friendship in the thought of the Grand Imam of al-Azhar?]”, organized by the Network of Centers for Christian-Muslim Relations (NCCMR). Registration is available on the webinar page.
IDEO Conference on the Composition of the Qurʾān
On 19–20 March 2027, in partnership with OIB, IDEO will host an international conference on the composition of the Qurʾān. It will examine how textual form shapes meaning, bringing Muslim scholarly traditions (tafsīr, balāġa, naẓm, munāsabāt) into dialogue with contemporary literary, philological and historical approaches. The two keynote lectures will be given by Nicolai Sinai and Islam Dayeh. For more details…