Symposium on the Qurʾan and Catholic Theology
Presented by the University of Notre Dame Theology Department in collaboration with Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, co-sponsored by the Notre Dame Medieval Institute.
In recent decades the Catholic Church has grown increasingly committed to Christian-Muslim relations. In his apostolic exhortation Evangelii Gaudium, Pope Francis writes, “Our relationship with the followers of Islam has taken on great importance” (para. 252). At this symposium, we will discuss the intersections between the scripture of Islam, the Qurʾan, and Catholic theology. To Muslims, the Qurʾan is the very word of God transmitted to the prophet Muhammad by the angel Gabriel. Yet how should the Church, with its dual commitment to inter-religious dialogue and to the proclamation of the Gospel, understand the Qurʾan? In addressing this question we will explore the content of the Qurʾan (and in particular its Biblical accounts), the history of Christian commentary on the Qurʾan, and new directions in Catholic theology.
Conference Photos
Schedule (Sessions will take place in Room 100-104, McKenna Hall)
1:00-3:15 - Opening Remarks from Prof. Thomas Burman, Director of the Notre Dame Medieval Institute
Panel 1: Reflections on the Qurʾānic Message
3:15-3:45 - Coffee Break
3:45-5:45 - Panel 2: The Qurʾān and Muslim-Christian Dialogue
Panels
Panel 1: Reflections on the Qurʾānic Message
Mehdi Azaiez, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven - “The Anti-Christian Polemics of the Qur'an through the Lens of Early Islamic Exegesis"
Enno Dango, University of Notre Dame - "A Catholic Reading of the Qurʾānic 'those who believe and do good works' in the Context of the Biblical Discourse on Justification"
Mun’im Sirry, University of Notre Dame - “’Christian Favoritism’ in the Qur’an and Its Exegesis”
Mourad Takawi, University of Notre Dame - “Early Arabic Christian Exegesis of the Qurʾān”
Deborah Tor, University of Notre Dame - "The Qur'ān and the Logos: The Islamic Inquisition of AD 833-852"
Panel 2: The Qurʾān and Muslim-Christian Dialogue
Lailatul Fitriyah, University of Notre Dame - “Al-Ma’idah 51 and the State of Muslim-Christian Relations in Today’s Indonesia”
Marcin Grodzki, University of Warsaw - “Modern Qur’anic Scholarship and the Christian-Muslim Dialogue”
Anna Moreland, Villanova University - “Speak, Lord, Your Servant is Listening: Muhammad and Christian Prophecy”
Gabriel Said Reynolds, University of Notre Dame - “Interreligious Perspectives on Scripture: The Thought of Muḥammad Aḥmad Khalafallāh and Jacques Jomier on the Qurʾānic Message”
Hussein Abdulsater, University of Notre Dame - Respondent