Sep 12, 2015 - Principled? Some Instructive Historical Examples of the Delicate Connection between Hermeneutical Theorie
From FromRevelation RevelationtotoScripture: Scripture:
A Symposium on Divine Speech and Prophetic Inspiration in Islam at theatCambridge A Symposium on Divine Speech and Prophetic Inspiration in Islam the Cambridge Muslim College Muslim College What does it mean to believe that God speaks to humanity through prophets? How does this idea affect Draft the theological conception and the Programme for Saturday of 12thGod, September 2015broader intellectual development of a religious tradition? Like other religions with Abrahamic roots, Islam is founded on the idea ofReception the conveyance of a message from God through the medium of 9:00 – 9:45 human language. Historically, natureDean of revelation and prophecy led to 9:45 – 10:00 Welcomedebate addressonbythe College Tim Winter differing Muslim notions of religious authority and marked several turning points in the history Islamic theology, the pivotal third/ninth century event of the Mihna. 10:00 –of12:00 Panel including 1: Revelation and Hermeneutics Today, these questions continue to lie at the heart of major theological divisions within Islam and haveTim often provided the starting point of proposals for reform in contemporary Chair: Winter (University of Cambridge and CMC) Islamic thought. • Holger Zellentin (University of Nottingham) However, partly due to a tendency to focus on natural theology and the “From Messenger to Prophet, from Prophet to Messenger: The Development significance of the translated philosophical heritage, the central role of prophecy of Prophetology in theGreek Qur’an” and revelation in Islamic theology has not been given sufficient attention by modern researchers. This symposium aims toofaddress this lacuna in the field by exploring this • David Vishanoff (University Oklahoma) central theme in Islamic thought. “Can Qur’anic Interpretation be both Practically Adequate and Theologically Principled? Some Instructive Historical Examples of the Delicate Connection We welcome a broad range of participants working in fields related to Islamic between Hermeneutical Theories and Doctrines of Divine Speech” theology, from historians of various periods in Islamic history to scholars of contemporary issues in Islamic thought. We also invite contributions from practising • Jon Hoover (University of Nottingham) Muslim theologians, as well as non-Muslim theologians working in interfaith dialogue “The Qur’an Came in the Best Way: Ibn Taymiyya on the Centrality of with the Islamic tradition. Revelation in the Principles of Religion (uṣūl al-dīn)” Topics of interest include, but are not limited to, the following: 12:00 – 13:30 Lunch Studies upon the Qur’an and the Hadith as the revealed sources of the Islamic 13:30 –tradition. 15:30 Panel 2: Classical Prophetology Chair: Jon Hoover (University of Nottingham) Comparisons between the Islamic idea of revelation and prophecy with parallel teachings in other religious traditions. • Ruggero Sanseverino (University of Tübingen) “Unveiling and Muhammad’s Dignity: The Qur’anic Revelationtraditions as a Revelation prophecy Supreme in various theological and intellectual in Discourse about the Prophet’s Soteriological Significance according to Qāḍī Islam, such as Sunni/Shi’i, Ashʿarī/Muʿtazilī/Māturīdī/Hanbalī, Falsafa and ʿIyāḍ’s Kitāb al-shifāʾ” Sufism, including concepts of divine inspiration, such as kashf and ilhām.
Ramzi Ghandour (University Exeter) framework in which various traditions • Revelation and prophecy as theoftheological “Ibn ʿArabī and the Word: Akbarite Language Theology andthe thedisciplines of law, of commentary and learning developed. This could include Reformulation of the Islamic logos Theory” •
Farrokh Sekaleshfar (Faydiyya Theological Seminaries, Qom) “The Muhammadan Revelation as Seen Through the Eyes of Mystics”
15:30 – 16:00
Tea and refreshments
16:00 – 17:20
Panel 3: Modern Prophetology
Chair: David Vishanoff (University of Oklahoma) •
Oddbjørn Leirvik (University of Oslo) “Waḥy, tanzīl and Modern Conceptions of Revelation in Islam”
•
Omar Anchassi (Queen Mary University) “What has Athens to do with Mecca? Fazlur Rahman on Prophecy and Revelation”
17:20 – 17:30
Short break
17:30 – 18:50
Panel 4: Revelation in the Contemporary World
Chair: Omar Anchassi (Queen Mary University) •
Arshima Dost (King’s College London) “From the Self to the Horizon: Insights from the ayāt in Prophetic Leadership and the ayāt in Global Development”
•
Mohammed Hashas (LUISS Guido Carli University, Rome) “European Islam’s Approach to the Qur’an”
18:50 – 19:00
Short break
19:00 – 19:30
Concluding Session
Chairs: Harith Bin Ramli & Ramon Harvey (CMC) 19:30 – 21:00
Dinner
Note: This is a free public event and the Cambridge Muslim College welcomes all participants. Spaces are limited however, so we request that all intended visitors send an RVSP to the organisers at either
[email protected] or
[email protected]. An email will be sent out a few days before the symposium asking all public participants to confirm their attendance.
