Reason against reason
Guillaume de Vaulx PhD student at Paris-IV University November 3, 2015 Guillaume de Vaulx presented under the title “Reason against reason” a medieval Christian-Muslim polemic. The debate opposed the Nestorian…
The composition of the Qur’an
Michel Cuypers, The composition of the Qur’an, Rhetorical analysis, Bloomsbury, London, New Delhi, New York, Sydney, 2015 (202 pages). The text of the Qur'an appears to many to be desperately muddled…
Muḥammad ʿAbduh (1849-1905): Historian of the Decline of Islam
Adrien Candiard Alumnus of the French École normale supérieure, Paris June 16, 2015 Muḥammad ʿAbduh identifies the reality of Islam and its rationality, and opposes the tradition he sees as…
The sciences of Islam, between repetition and innovation: What is commenting in Islam?
Concluding conference of the 200 Project: “Historical contextualization of 200 authors of the Arab and Islamic heritage” IDEO, Cairo, January 14-16, 2016 The Mellon Sawyer Seminar,1 held at the University…
Ibn Taymiyya (728/1328) and his Darʾ taʿāruḍ al-ʿaql wa-l-naql
Ahmed Waguih PhD candidate in Islamic theology at Dār al-ʿUlūm (Cairo University) May 19, 2015 Ibn Taymiyya (m. 728/1328) is a brilliant author who holds a very special place in…
Ibn al-Qasṭallānī (1287/686) and the reformation of Sufism
Ahmed Gomaa Doctor of al-Azhar University, and manuscript editor April 21, 2015 Dr. Ahmed Gomaa made a presentation on Ibn al-Qastallani (d. 686/1287) and his criticism of the Sufism deviations…
Ibn Manẓūr (711/1311): the Lisān al-ʿArab or the genius of compilation
Jean Druel Doctor in Arabic linguistics March 17, 2015 As the classical corpus of the Arabic language was practically closed by the 4th/10th century, the post-Arab lexicographers were then able…
Reflections on Sufism and interreligious dialogue
Giuseppe Scattolin Doctor in Sufism March 10, 2015 Dr. Scattolin presented his new book, Ta’ammulāt fī al-taṣawwuf wa-l-ḥiwār al-dīnī (“Reflections on Sufism and interreligious dialogue”). In particular, he presented on the…
Historiographical discourses on Constantine
Jonathan Stutz PhD student at the University of Basel March 3, 2015 The comparison of Muslims and Christians Arabic narratives of Constantine's conversion to Christianity allows us to discover very different historical…
Ibn al-Nafīs: The last creative Arab physician?
Alaa Badawi PhD candidate in history, Cairo University February 19, 2015 After the 8th/14th century, physicians were mostly technicians who no longer received formation in logic or philosophy. Medicine was restricted…
The theory of vision in the work of Šihāb al-Din al-Suhrawardī
Mateus Domingues da Silva PhD candidate, Brazil December 18, 2014 Šihāb al-Din al-Suhrawardī (d. 587/1191), philosopher and mystic, has developed a theory of knowledge by simple direct, visionary, and intuitive presence.…
al-Fārābī between the religion’s politics and philosophy
Aziz Hilal Doctor of Philosophy November 27, 2014 For al-Fārābī, philosophy is the eminent way to reach the knowledge of God and the source of religion. Religion itself is only…