Contemporary Approaches to Qur’an and Sunna

IIIT Summer Institute for Scholars
July 27 – August 7, 2009
Call for Papers

The International Institute of Islamic Thought (IIIT) is pleased to announce its second Summer Institute for Scholars to be convened at IIIT headquarters in Herndon, Virginia, USA between July 27 and August 7, 2009. The purpose of the Summer Institute is to bring together and engage senior and young scholars with a particular interest or expertise in Qur’anic studies or Sunna in focused, organized discussions of topics related to a contemporary understanding and articulation of issues involving Qur’an and Sunna. The specific objectives of the seminar are:

• To develop methods or approaches to understanding Qur’an and Sunna that are both authentic and relevant to contemporary realities and sensibilities in the West and the Muslim world.
• To suggest means and instruments of engaging the scholarly community, the religious community, the media and the public at large in learning processes, debates or experiences that make intelligible the wisdom of the Qur’an and the Sunna and their relevance to contemporary human affairs.
• To broaden the scope of conversations on issues pertaining to Qur’an and Sunna through the inclusion of social and physical scientists – Muslims and others – beside the scholars of the traditional Islamic disciplines.

Papers may focus on one of three areas:

• The Qur’an: its history, its early and modern interpreters, contemporary translations of the Qur’an, themes of the Qur’an, methods of understanding the Qur’an, Qur’an and science, women in the Qur’an, Qur’an and human rights, Qur’an and the environment, etc
• The Sunna: its history, its relationship with the Qur’an, its significance, the major narrators and compilers of Hadith, Sunni and Shia, contemporary challenges to Sunna and how to address them, etc.            
• The relationship of the Qur’an and the Sunna in the spheres of belief, law and ethics.

Interested scholars should send a one page abstract by May 15, 2009. IIIT will notify scholars with results by May 22, 2009. Final papers should be sent to IIIT no later than July 10, 2009. The accepted research papers will be included for presentation and discussion during the seminar and the final papers will be considered for publication in an edited volume to be published by IIIT. Please send abstracts to Dr. Mahmoud Ayoub, Professor Emeritus of Religion, Temple University ( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ) the Institute’s Chair and Chief editor of the volume.

The two weeks program will be organized into three major sessions: one focusing on the Qur’an, the other on the Sunna and the third on their relationship. The total number of scholars for the three sessions will be twelve.

For further information or suggestions, please contact  Khaled Troudi at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or call (703) 471-1133 Ext 112.