Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin - Berliner Institut für Islamische Theologie

There is a growing debate about the relevance and desirability of publicly funded religious education in a fragmenting, secular world in the grip of an anti-globalisation, nationalist/populist politics, increasingly turning authoritarian. The degree to which RE can facilitate critical religious literacy, interfaith dialogue, as well as cultivate meaning and inspire ethical self-awareness and moral conduct have been questioned. The European RE models are shaped by each country’s distinctive historical, cultural, educational and, critically, Church-state settlements. These national RE systems range from various types of confessional/denominational approaches to secular educational framings such as multi-faith RE and more recently the ethics/philosophy-focused 'worldviews' paradigm.

However, the theoretical (philosophical and theological) foundations of modern Islamic Religious Education (IRE) in Europe, as a subject within mainstream secular curriculum, have yet to be worked out. IRE in the modernised/westernised educational systems of Muslim majority countries, reflect similar shortcoming: its primary focus is to achieve citizenship goals of a nationalist educational philosophy rather than facilitate critical religious literacy and faith development. It needs to be stressed that Islamic Education cannot be confined to a curriculum subject. It signifies a broad, faith-embedded, educational philosophy with a distinctive set of ontological, epistemological and axiological principles which, as Sahin proposed (2018), delineate a cross disciplinary field of 'Islamic Education Studies'.

We invite you to join us to explore the theoretical foundations of Islamic Religious Education and Islamic Education in the modern world. Although the discussion will be mainly focused on mainstream schooling, philosophical approaches to modern Islamic Higher Education will also be covered. Below are some of the questions that will be raised to facilitate the conversation:

• What are the weaknesses/strengths of the literature (current research) examining theoretical issues in Islamic (Religious) Education?
• What are the disciplinary contours of educational philosophy in Muslim intellectual heritage?
• What are the languages of ‘educational imagination’ in the 'Islamicate' Muslim civilisation?
• What was the impact of ancient Greek, Indian and Persian science and wisdom traditions on the formation of classical Muslim educational culture and thought?
• What is the role of ‘educational theorising’ in managing conflict & post-conflict reconstruction and peace building in Muslim majority societies & minority communities?
• How do Sunni and Shia approaches to philosophy & Islamic educational philosophy converge& diverge?
• How are 'education, educational good and spirituality of education' imagined in Islam?
• Are there distinctive civic aims of education (and pedagogy) in Islam?
• What role does theological anthropology play in shaping a contemporary philosophy of IRE?
• What are the main theoretical issues facing Islamic theological Education in Europe?
• How do Islamic (neo) traditional revivalism and modernist reformism define education?
• Are there recognizable philosophies of teaching/learning Islam in the modern world?
• What is the role of 'hermeneutics' in developing a contextual, learner-led and plural philosophy of Islamic (Religious) Education?
• What is the scope of a dialogue between Western secular and Islamic approaches to education?
• How to position theoretical discussions in Islamic Education in the face of persisting coloniality in contemporary Eurocentric educational philosophy?
• Can Western conceptual analysis frameworks such as ‘intersectionality, critical theory, feminism, phenomenology’ be adapted/adopted in Islamic educational theorising?
• What are the challenges/opportunities of AI in theory building in IRE?

A detailed programme of the event will be circulated near the time. Following the inaugural online meeting, future in-person meetings of the Forum at Warwick and Berlin are planned. Papers presented in the Forum will be considered for publication in a special issue of a related international academic Journal.

If you are interested in joining the Online Forum, please prepare a max 300-word abstract outlining the key questions and issues related to the theoretical foundations of Islamic (Religious) Education you want to examine. Please send your abstract to sekrelpa[at]hu-berlin.de by 31st October 2025.

For further information contact:

• Dr. Abdullah Sahin (a.sahin@warwck.ac.uk), Centre for Education Studies, School of Education, Learning & Communication Sciences, University of Warwick
• Prof. Dr. Tuba Işık (tuba.isik@hu-berlin.de), Professor of Islamic Education & Practical Theology, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin´ Institute for Islamic Theology

Please find the complete Call for Abstracts here.