DAAD Regional Office Cairo
Wednesday, 06. December 2023, 18:00-21:00
“Human Image in the Age of the Anthropocene. Approaching Sura 2:30-38 from the Perspective of Islamic Practical Theology”
Abstract:
This lecture is the fourth lecture in the Environmental Cluster in the scope of the “OIB-COSIMENA Research Colloquium on New Islamic Ethics in the Present and the Future”. The Colloquium is a series of intercultural and interreligious lectures in Cooperation with the Orient Institut Beirut (OIB) on Gender Ethics, Environmental Ethics and Biomedical Ethics.
The lecture will deal with the following perspective:
The image of human beings is the most discussed topic, whether in religions or in cultures. Classical or postmodern issues such as human rights, migration, interreligious dialogue, bioethics, climate change or gender equality cannot hope to produce new results without a discussion of the topic. In Islam, the discourse is often normatively charged. As a still open to design field the Islamic Practical Theology (IPT) has taken up the topic from new perspectives.
The lecture aims to introduce what IPT means and what challenges or enrichment it brings to the study of Islamic theology. In the second part, the lecture would like to consider the topic of human beings considering the challenges of the Anthropocene. It will be shown that for a better understanding in this regard, it is important to differentiate the discourse into three categories: philosophical, anthropological and legal-ethical. Finally, some (new) theological, organizational and socio-political consequences will be discussed.
The event is organized in cooperation with the Orient Institut Beirut (OIB) within the framework of the DAAD project “Clusters of Scientific Innovation in the Middle East and North Africa” (COSIMENA), which is a platform that aims to strengthen and initiate scientific cooperation and networks between researchers and universities in Germany and the MENA region. As a result, existing cooperation is made visible and potential synergies are initiated.
Bio:
Dr Mahmoud Abdallah is a Senior Scientist at the Center for Islamic Theology at the University of Tübingen and a visiting lecturer at the Universities of Vienna, Innsbruck and St Andrews. In 2019-2020, he was Senior Scientists at the Institute for Islamic Theology and Religious Education at the University of Innsbruck - Austria. He studied Arabic Studies, German Studies, and Islamic Theology at al-Azhar University in Cairo. Subsequently, he was at Minia University. In 2012, he received his PhD from Heinrich Heine University in Düsseldorf. He is co-founder and editor of the series “Theology of Living Together - Christian and Muslim Contributions”.
Dr Abdallah is a member of the German Islamic Conference (Deutsche Islamkonferenz) and Chairman of the Board of the Egyptian-German Cultural Association BWB. His research focus is Islamic pastoral care, theology of coexistence, Umma in a plural society and the image of man and God in Islam.
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