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Postdoc seminar

Presentations on two postdoc projects, one on Cairo and one on atheism, with subsequent discussion.

Info about event

Time

Tuesday 18 March 2025,  at 14:15 - 16:00

Location

1451-516

Organizer

ICSRU

Two presentations:

Mattias Gori Olesen, "Cairo as an Indian Ocean City: The Case of the Indian Shia-Ismaili Dawoodi Bohras"

Since the late 1970s, the most controversial actor in the urban conservation and restoration of Islamic Cairo has been the Indian Ismaili-Shia Dawoodi Bohras, often accused of destroying the historic authenticity of the city. However, the Bohras themselves – considering Cairo of the medieval Shia Fatimid dynasty (10th to 12th cent.) their ancestral home – portray their engagements in the city to have instigated a revival of the Fatimid Islamic tradition, reflected especially in the Bohras’ architectural replication of Cairene Islamic architecture across Indian Ocean locales in India, the Gulf and East Africa. Approaching Cairo as an Indian Ocean city, the presentation discusses the history and contemporary significance of the Bohras’ “return” to, and engagements in, Cairo.

Ataur Rehman, "Atheistic Beliefs in Early Islamic, Medieval, and Contemporary Era: A Historical Review of Jewish, Christian and Muslim Scholarly Responses"

This research explores the evolution of atheistic beliefs through a historical lens, focusing on the responses of early Islamic, medieval, and contemporary Jewish, Christian, and Muslim scholars. By analyzing key figures such as Al-Ghazali, Al-Kindi, Al-Razi, Ibn Sina, Thomas Aquinas, and Maimonides, the study examines how these scholars engaged with and critiqued atheism within their religious frameworks. The research extends to contemporary discourse by conducting interviews with Muslim, Christian, Jewish scholars, atheist intellectuals, and ordinary individuals, offering a comprehensive analysis of modern religious and non-religious perspectives. This interdisciplinary study bridges historical theology with current debates on belief and unbelief.