CALL FOR PAPER: Conference – Ibn Taymiyya’s thought – 9-10 November 2022, Paris (or online)

ORGANIZERS
• Mehdi Berriah, VU Amsterdam
• Arjan Post, KU Leuven
• Sarah Van Eyken, KU Leuven
• Nadjet Zouggar, Aix-Marseille University

OVERVIEW
Over the past two decades, the growing number of works on Ibn Taymiyya (d. 728/1328) confirms the ever growing interest of scholars in the famous Ḥanbalī theologian of Damascus who is undeniably one of the most studied and well-known medieval Muslim theologians both in the Arab world and in the West. This is due to his numerous works on a wide range of subjects, in which a rich and complex writings which still influence to a certain extent contemporary Islam. As a result, Ibn Taymiyya is more often (mis)quoted than understood in
addition to be often wrongly described as “fanatical”, “rigorist” and “radical” (Makdisi, L’Islam hanbalisant, 57-58, 61, 67; Rapoport and Shahab, Ibn Taymiyya and His Time, 4; Michot, “Ibn Taymiyya et le mythe du grand méchant barbu”, 35-54.). The flowering of studies on the shaykh over the last two decades has broadened our knowledge of his work and thought, including his position in matters of dogma, Sufism, logic, philosophy, politics but also the reading and reception of his writings after his death and during the modern period (Caterina Bori). There nevertheless remains much ground to be covered in all these topics of research.

This conference seeks to contribute to a better understanding of the “Ibn Taymiyya phenomenon” (Little, “Did Ibn Taymiyya Have a Screw Loose?”) by providing a platform for specialists in the field to present and share their latest findings. The frame of the conference is widely defined and may include papers on Ibn Taymiyya himself, his students and followers, or the influence of his intellectual legacy in later times. Participants are encouraged to propose a paper on any new or little-studied aspect related to Ibn Taymiyya’s thought and legacy.

ORGANIZATION
This conference is part of the research project “The taymiyyan corpus of jihad: reception, decontextualization and instrumentalization by the contemporary jihadist movements” (Mehdi Berriah), winning project of the call for projects « Islam, religion et society » of the French Ministry of Interior – Central Bureau of Cults and the PhD Project “Questioning the Quiescence of the Ottoman Ḥanbalīs: The Genesis of Conservative Salafism” (Sarah Van Eyken) and organised in partnership with the VU Amsterdam, KU Leuven, the Centre for Islamic Theology (CIT-VU) and the CNRS-UMR 8167 Orient et Méditérannée.

The conference will take place at INALCO (National Institute for Oriental Languages and Civilizations) in Paris, on 9-10 November 2022 and the papers will be peer reviewed and published in a collective volume. If travelling will not be possible in November 2022, we will offer an online conference. English, French and Arabic will be the languages of communication, and the duration of each paper submission will be 20-25 minutes. Each session will be followed by 15-20 minutes Q&A’s session.

SUBMISSIONS
Submissions including a title of the contribution with an abstract (350-500 words) and a short academic CV, which must be sent by 30/04/2022. Please send this to the two email addresses provided below.

PARTICIPATION MODALITIES
The conference will cover accommodation costs (2 nights max) and the meals of the 2 days-conference. Transportation costs are not covered.

CONTACT
m.berriah@vu.nl
arjan.post@kuleuven.be

CALENDAR
– 30/05/2022: Papers acceptance
– 20/09/2022: Publication of the conference’s programme
– 09-10/11/2022: Conference
– 30/06/2023: Submission of articles for evaluation
– 30/10/2023: Feedback for submissions
– 15/12/2023: Submission of final version of article