Reasoning from the Scripture:
Investigating the Hermeneutics and the Construction of Islamic Applied Ethics
The Premise: The Challenge of Relevance
In an era defined by rapid scientific advancement and structural political shifts, Muslim scholars face the profound "burden of relevance." There is a persistent tendency to return to the Scripture to investigate whether the Quran and Sunnah provide actionable guidance on complex issues ranging from gene editing and pandemics to human rights and environmental crises.
This inclination has given rise to the flourishing field of "Islamic Applied Ethics." Yet, despite the proliferation of fatwas and academic literature, there remains a gap in our understanding of the mechanisms of this relevance. How exactly are ancient texts being bridged to modern realities?
This seminar seeks to investigate the hermeneutical strategies and interpretive choices that underpin the attempt to make scripture speak to a world it did not historically predict. If we view interpretation as a "Fusion of Horizons" (where the horizon of the Text meets the horizon of the Reader), we must explore how scholars today strike a balance between three distinct tendencies:
1. Historicism (Freezing): Restricting the text so rigidly to its original context that it loses its operative power for the present.
2. Instrumentalization (Projection): Imposing modern scientific or political presumptions onto the text, forcing it to validate a pre-decided reality (e.g., finding "democracy" in the 7th century).
3. Anachronism: Reading modern cases into specific ancient verses that were never understood to address them.
Research Questions
We invite scholars from Islamic studies, applied ethics, philosophy, law, and comparative religious ethics to address the following:
1. The Nature of Guidance: What kind of guidance does scripture offer for unprecedented issues? Is it a blueprint of specific laws and code of conduct, or a horizon of ethical values? If it is the latter, how do we move from abstract values to concrete policies without being arbitrary?
2. Methodological Mechanisms: What specific tools are used to bridge the gap between 7th-century texts and 21st-century problems? Are scholars engaging in "Conceptual Translation"—converting theological concepts into "secular" rights-based language—and what is lost in this translation?
3. The Authority of the Text: In the absence of a central adjudicating authority, how is the "validity" of a modern interpretation established? If the text yields conflicting answers to different readers, does the authority reside in the Scripture or in the moral reasoning of the interpreter?
4. The "Gap" Analysis: To what extent are modern ethical challenges (e.g., AI, climate change) qualitatively different from pre-modern nawāzil? Does the shift from a "Muslim social context" to a "Global secular context" fundamentally alter the way scripture is read?
The Comparative & Historical Dimension
A central goal of this seminar is to investigate the trajectories of moral reasoning from scripture. We explicitly encourage:
• Micro-Genealogies of Proof-Texts: Papers that track the trajectory of a single verse or hadith (e.g., the "ensoulment" hadith regarding abortion, or the "plague" hadith regarding pandemics) to see how its legal and ethical application has shifted from the classical schools to the modern period.
• Inter-Religious Comparative Analysis: How does "Scriptural Reasoning" in Islam compare to Jewish Halakhic bioethics or Christian scriptural ethics? Do these traditions face similar crises of authority and hermeneutics when confronting modernity?
Call for Papers: Areas of Exploration
We welcome theoretical papers and case studies in fields such as:
• Bioethics & Medicine: (e.g., The hermeneutics of "life" and "lineage" in the age of IVF; comparative studies of abortion in Classical Fiqh vs. Modern law).
• Technology & AI: (e.g., Can scriptural ethics of privacy and agency apply to Algorithms and Surveillance?).
• Politics & Governance: (e.g., The use of scripture to legitimize or critique the modern Nation-State and Human Rights discourse).
• Environment & Economy: (e.g., Reading texts on stewardship (Khilafa) and usury (Riba) in the context of global capitalism).
• Gender & Society: (e.g., The tension between historical rulings and modern conceptions of justice and equity).
• Case Studies: Specific analyses of how classical rulings (e.g., Hanafi, Maliki) are re-deployed, ignored, or re-interpreted in contemporary ethical debates.
Deadlines and Submission Information
The seminar will be held in Doha on September 22-24, 2026, at the Research Center for Islamic Legislation and Ethics (CILE). Accepted papers will be published either as a thematic issue in the Journal of Islamic Ethics or as an edited volume in the Studies in Islamic Ethics series, both published by Brill.
Abstracts and papers will be evaluated by a scientific committee based on academic criteria, with consideration given to their relevance to the seminar’s theme. A limited number of successful submissions will be selected, and their authors will be invited to participate in the seminar in Doha.
Important Dates
• March 15, 2026: Deadline for submitting an abstract (approx. 500 words).
• March 25, 2026: Notification of accepted abstracts and invitation to submit full papers.
• July 30, 2026: Final deadline for submitting full papers (7,000–10,000 words).
• August 10, 2026: Notification of accepted full papers and invitation to attend the seminar.
• September 22-24, 2026: Seminar to be held in Doha.
Financial Support
• Travel and accommodation costs will be covered by CILE.
• Open-access publication fees in the specified refereed venue will also be covered by CILE.
Submission Guidelines
• Abstracts should be approximately 500 words.
• Please include a short biography (maximum 500 words) detailing your academic background, research interests, and key publications.
• Submissions must be original and unpublished.
• Scholars whose abstracts are accepted will be invited to submit full papers (7,000–10,000 words) according to the timeline provided above.
For referencing, please follow the citation style used by the Journal of Islamic Ethics (JIE) and the book series Studies in Islamic Ethics (SIE). Full guidelines are available at the following link:
https://brill.com/fileasset/downloads_products/Author_Instructions/JIE.pdf
Contact details
• Submissions are to be sent by email to info@cilecenter.org
• For inquiries relevant to this call, please contact Dr. Samer Rashwani srashwani@hbku.edu.qa
• For inquiries relevant to Journal of Islamic Ethics and Studies in Islamic Ethics book series, please contact jie@brill.com