Research Group - Islamic Theology

• Mission

  The Research Group mission includes:

  a) providing a reliable and academic space for the contextual and interdisciplinary study of Islam

  b) the enhancement of research and education in the growing field of Islamic theology in the Netherlands and Europe,

  c) the facilitation of interdisciplinary and interreligious cooperation on national and international levels

  d) contributing to knowledge transfer and the social impact of academic research through common research projects in and outside the Netherlands . Is this respect, both research and education are inseparable and interwoven academic fields.

  Key words here are:

  a) hermeneutical (understanding Islam from the sources and trying to understand faith responsibly in the present)

  b) contextual (in the Dutch/Western/Cosmopolitan context)

  c) dialogic (in conversation with a diversity of worldviews).

• Goals

  The team is committed to the strategic aim to become a centre for academic expertise, education and research in the field of Islam.

  This shapes the following goals:

  a) more publications in peer-reviewed journals

  b) applying for research funding to acquire a large-scale research project

  c) increasing the number of PhD projects (at least two)

  d) yearly organisation of an international conference, symposium or colloquium with more attention to proceeding/volume publications

  e) the investment in European/international network for co-projects, fund proposals and cooperation.

  
  

• Team

  Team leader
  
  Yaser Ellethy
  

  Team members
  
  Mohamed Ajouaou

  Usaama al-Azami

  Welmoet Boender

  Pieter Coppens

  Nelly van Doorn-Harder

  Razi Quadir

  Jumana al-Ahmad

  Sefer Korkmaz

  Ramzi Oulad Lmaroudia

  Sem van Vliet

  Arif Rabbani

  Massoud Vahedi

  Bassam Zawadi

  All CIT staff members, PhD students and (in case of) Re-MA students participate in this research group. A number of international PhD students are also actively present. In accordance with the strategic plan, all staff members commit to the publication criterion . Some participants are (international) PhD students, some of them are active in the field of publishing and research projects.

• Disciplines

  Literary, Historical, Systematic, Empirical

• Possible thesis topics

  Suggested generic areas of research for theses and PhDs:

  -          Exegesis and hermeneutics of the sources (Quran and Sunna).

  -          (Minority) fiqh and ethics in the European-Western context.

  -          Intra-Islamic theology, interreligious studies and intercultural theology.

  -          Practical and political theology with focus on Islam, secularism, modernity, liberal democracy and sustainable development.

  -          Practicing Islamic spiritual care in an interfaith setting. New horizons for Muslim chaplaincy (educational institutions, police …etc).

  -          Islamic religious leadership and gender studies.

  -          Islamic history and the contemporary Muslim world.

  -          Philology, manuscript studies and digital humanities.

• Possible PhD Topics

  The following generic core research areas offer specific research clusters that reflect the expertise of the group members and can help (Re-)MA and PhD students to develop their future research plans: Exegesis and hermeneutics of the sources (Quran and Sunna); Fiqh and ethics; Creed and systematic theology; Practical and political theology; Islamic history and the contemporary Muslim world; Philology and manuscript studies; Interreligious studies and intercultural theology; Spiritual care; Islamic religious leadership; Islam, modernity and secular society.

  Suggested generic areas of research for theses and PhDs:

  -          Exegesis and hermeneutics of the sources (Quran and Sunna).

  -          (Minority) fiqh and ethics in the European-Western context.

  -          Intra-Islamic theology, interreligious studies and intercultural theology.

  -          Practical and political theology with focus on Islam, secularism, modernity, liberal democracy and sustainable development.

  -          Practicing Islamic spiritual care in an interfaith setting. New horizons for Muslim chaplaincy (educational institutions, police …etc).

  -          Islamic religious leadership and gender studies.

  -          Islamic history and the contemporary Muslim world.

  -          Philology, manuscript studies and digital humanities.

• Collaboration Senior and Junior Researchers

  Proposals from junior researchers, including PhD students and Re-MA students, are presented on the basis of a pre-sent document, thoroughly discussed and provided with feedback from all participants in the presence of the supervisors/promoters. The individual concrete feedback is collected afterwards in digital form and sent to the relevant member. International PhD students and Re-MA students (if any) participate in the group with pieces/chapters from their theses, sometimes with a view to publication. Junior members are also engaged by playing organizational roles (session chairing, secretarial role, coordinating activities)

• Connection with education

  The team contributes to the education and valorisation programs of the SRT by developing research-based curricula, teaching and supervising theses in the BA, Minors, pre-MA, MA, PAO and HOVO programs.

• Academic relevance and societal urgency

  Religion/Islam still matters in our postmodern world. Our academic endeavor is significantly informed by problem-based research and education seeking liaisons between belief and praxis and the societal urgency of challenging issues. This is reflected in the alignment of education and research with the valorization and investment of academic knowledge in service of the community and the broader society by a) addressing social-relevant challenges related to religion b) facilitating access of different social groups to our output and c) being informed and utilizing feedback form our communities and social partners (Community-outreach publications, public lectures, HOVO-courses, PAO-PIN programs, tailor-made courses for stakeholders and social partners)

• Connection with centers/institutes

  All staff members of the Center for Islamic Theology (CIT) participate in this research group. The group seeks and establishes contacts with various national and international research bodies through the involvement of the team members in these bodies and centers (e.g. The Amsterdam Center for Religion and Sustainable Development (ACRSD), the Center for Religion and Law (CRR), NISIS, NOSTER, ESITIS, Faculty of Theology Bonn, German Centers for Islamic Theology , Faculty of Theology in Sarajevo, Univ Sunan Kalijaga –Yogyakarta, Indonesian-Dutch Consortium for Christian-Muslim Relations, Al-Azhar Uinv, e.a). In addition, several members are involved in other teams and co-projects (spiritual care, digital humanities, the future of academic theology/religious studies, co-project handbook spiritual care in an interreligious context, co-project inclusion-exclusion in Biblical and Islam scriptures)

• Methods

  The team employs a variety of research-methods depending on the topic, the discipline and the state of art in the relevant research field to study Islam as a discursive tradition. Literature research, historical-critical methods and hermeneutics of the source-texts are common in Islamic theology and Islamology. However, the combination of qualitative and quantitative research methods become mandatory especially in field-research areas such as spiritual care studies on psychic treatment and palliative care (Islamic chaplaincy and acute psychic trauma’s, suicidality, sedation, euthanasia, etc.)