Hosted by聽The Centre for the 久久久福利国产 of Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations聽in Birmingham from 23-26 July, the theme of this year鈥檚聽BRISMES聽conference was 鈥淔aith, Politics, and Society in the Middle East鈥. Papers were presented at the conference by聽Dr Alnoor Dhanani,聽Dr Ali Qutbuddin, and聽Salman Alibhai, all of whom are affiliated with the IIS.
Among the keynote speakers at this year鈥檚 event were Professor Tariq Ramadan, Professor Jorgen Nielson, and Tarek Mitri. Presentations were grouped into thematic panels such as 鈥業slam in a Globalising World鈥, 鈥楶olitics and Identity鈥, 鈥楾he 蚕耻谤鈥檃苍Muslims believe that the Holy 蚕耻谤鈥檃苍 contains divine revelations to the Prophet Muhammed received in Mecca and Medina over a period of 23 years in the early 7th century CE. More and today鈥檚 World鈥, and 鈥業nterfaith Attitudes鈥. The conference provided a forum for participants to engage with questions such as: Can religion support political change? Can religion be a force for peace, as it so often claims to be? What are the causes and consequences of a diversity of religious expressions?
Dr Alnoor Dhanani, head of the Institute鈥檚 Graduate Programme in Islamic Studies and Humanities (GPISH), presented a paper on 鈥淭he Soul in Late Kalam鈥 which looked at the different philosophical conceptions of 鈥榮oul鈥. The 鈥榮oul鈥, which is central to falsafa and grounded in the views of Plato and Aristotle, plays an important role in many questions including the nature of life, the primary characteristics of being human, and the mechanics of the celestial realm. However, in kalam, falsafa鈥檚 intellectual rival, 鈥榮oul鈥 was a problematic concept. For the majority of the early mutakallimun, who were atomists and materialists, they had to account within their system for the phenomena that falsafa explained by the 鈥榮oul鈥.
Dr Ali Qutbuddin presented a paper on 鈥淎l-Mu鈥檃yyad al-Shirazi鈥檚 Refutation of the Mulhid of Ibn al-Rawandi.鈥 Ibn al-Rawandi claimed that intellect and reason were capable of perceiving the religious and philosophical truths, independent of revelation and the prophets. Al-Mu鈥檃yyad al-Shirazi, the 11th century chief missionary for the FatimidsMajor Muslim dynasty of Ismaili caliphs in North Africa (from 909) and later in Egypt (973鈥1171) More, took the position that reason is not a source of religious, eschatological knowledge, but a receptacle for the knowledge bestowed by God through the Prophets. Thus, intellectual freedom came from acknowledging the potential and the limits of the human intellect, bound, as it were, by the physical body.
Salman Alibhai, a student from the Institute鈥檚 Graduate Programme, presented a paper entitled 鈥淣egotiating Faith and Diversity: The Da鈥檞a and Dawla of the Fatimids鈥 which discussed the Fatimids鈥 novel approach to the management of religious and cultural diversity. Through the flexibility of the Ismaili da鈥榳a, the separation of secular and religious state bureaucracies, and the recognition of independent leadership and partial autonomy for particular groups, the Fatimids were able to create and sustain an inclusive polity in which multiple religious traditions found common ground. Thus, during Fatimid times, the criterion for material success and advancement came to be based largely on individual merit rather than religious affiliation.
The British Society for Middle Eastern Studies (BRISMES), established in 1973, promotes the study of the Middle East in the United Kingdom. Its annual conference brings together teachers, researchers, students, diplomats, journalists and others who deal professionally with the Middle East. An important focus of discussion at this year鈥檚 conference was exploring ways of opening up new dialogues between Christians and Muslims. Within this forum, scholars presented examples from their own religious traditions of ways in which dialogue occurs and how it can continue to occur to foster the mutual values of respect and diversity.
