𝐈 𝐇 Rᴇᴘᴏsɪᴛᴏʀʏ

18 March 2026 08:30

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Women’s Testimony in Criminal Law (Ḥudūd and Qiṣāṣ): Classical Islamic Frameworks, Contemporary Applications, and Normative Tensions

By Dr. Zainab Amin, Department of Islamiyat, Shaheed Benazir Bhutto Women University

This article critically examines classical Islamic legal frameworks governing the admissibility of women’s testimony in ḥudūd (fixed punishments) and qiṣāṣ (retributive justice) cases, tracing their doctrinal evolution and contemporary reinterpretations. Grounded in Qurʾānic injunctions and Prophetic ḥadīth, classical jurists generally restricted women’s testimonial roles in criminal proceedings, often invoking epistemological and sociocultural rationales. Modern legal systems in Muslim-majority countries—including Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and Morocco—continue to navigate the tension between inherited juridical norms and contemporary imperatives of gender equity and evidentiary reliability. This study highlights that many classical restrictions were contextually contingent rather than divinely mandated. Drawing on legal-theoretical discourses, Prophetic precedent, and the framework of maqāṣid al-sharīʿah (higher objectives of Islamic law), it argues for a recalibrated evidentiary paradigm where credibility, rather than gender, determines admissibility. Case studies from hybrid legal systems illustrate both the rigidity of traditional positions and the potential for reform through maqāṣid-oriented jurisprudence. The article concludes that the flexibility inherent in Islamic legal theory not only allows but necessitates the revision of evidentiary standards to meet contemporary demands for gender justice and procedural fairness. This analysis contributes to broader discussions on Islamic legal renewal (tajdīd), emphasizing the dynamic interplay between tradition.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/muwo.70021

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Tags: #IslamicLaw #GenderJustice #Shariah #LegalTheory #Maqasid #IslamicStudies

𝐈 𝐇 Rᴇᴘᴏsɪᴛᴏʀʏ

18 March 2026 08:23

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The Precreation Moment Is Easy to Find: A Reply to Ben Page and Some Reflections on Rival Theories of Creation

By R. T. Mullins, University of Lucerne, Switzerland

In previous publications I have argued that divine timelessness is not compatible with the doctrine of creation ex nihilo. The doctrine of creation ex nihilo says that prior to creation God existed all alone, and then God exists with a universe. This precreation moment in the life of God generates all sorts of difficulties for divine timelessness. In a series of papers, Ben Page claims that the doctrine of creation ex nihilo does not have to mean that God once existed all alone, and hence a proponent of divine timelessness can ignore the precreation moment. In “O Precreation Moment, Where Art Thou?” Page argues that it is difficult to find the affirmation of the precreation moment. In this reply, I explain that it is quite easy to find the explicit affirmation of the precreation moment among proponents of creation ex nihilo. I also argue that Page’s reinterpretation of creation out of nothing makes the doctrine indistinguishable from its well-established historical rivals.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11153-026-09988-2

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Tags: #PhilosophyOfReligion #CreationExNihilo #DivineTimelessness #Metaphysics #Theology

𝐈 𝐇 Rᴇᴘᴏsɪᴛᴏʀʏ

17 March 2026 15:33

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Doing Theology Creatively in a Scientific Age: Tradition, Reflexivity, and Second-Order Cybernetics

By Claudio Tagliapietra, Pontifical Gregorian University, Vatican City; KU Leuven, Belgium

This article offers a meta-theological inquiry on the roles of creativity and tradition in innovating theological knowledge. After distinguishing between problem-driven and solution-driven creativity, it argues that theology, as a discipline rooted in a living tradition, must negotiate the tension between fidelity to inherited doctrines and openness to novelty. The article proposes second-order cybernetics as a heuristic vocabulary for understanding theological inquiry as an observer-included and reflexive process. By framing theology in terms of feedback, communal discernment, and historically extended reception, the study shows how new theological insights can emerge without undermining doctrinal continuity. Ultimately, it suggests that the scientific age calls for a more reflexive and self-aware theological methodology, one that remains faithful to tradition while engaging constructively with contemporary epistemic cultures. (MDPI)

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/rel17020242

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Tags: #Theology #PhilosophyOfReligion #ScienceAndReligion #Cybernetics #Epistemology

𝐈 𝐇 Rᴇᴘᴏsɪᴛᴏʀʏ

17 March 2026 09:54

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Islamic Pacifism: Contexts, Principles, and Dilemmas

By Abdessamad Belhaj, Institute of Religion and Society, University of Public Service, Budapest, Hungary

Despite increased interest in Islamic pacifism, there are still significant gaps in academic research on this topic, especially regarding the contexts of its emergence, its shared principles and ethical dilemmas. The goal of this article is to chart the rise and evolution of Islamic pacifism throughout various Muslim contexts since the middle of the 20th century. I will also discuss some of the main ethical principles of Islamic pacifism as they relate to modern Muslim ethics and politics, particularly the peaceful settlement of disputes and the recent work on covenants in Islam and peacebuilding. Additionally, I will address some of the dilemmas that Islamic pacifists confront in relation to absolute pacifism, the efficacy of nonviolence, conflict and just peace. This article makes the case that pacifism could be a viable alternative to Islamist politics in the current Middle East conflicts. However, Islamic pacifists also face major skepticism amidst unjust policies. (MDPI)

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/rel17030327

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Tags: #IslamicPacifism #IslamicEthics #PeaceStudies #NonViolence #PoliticalIslam

𝐈 𝐇 Rᴇᴘᴏsɪᴛᴏʀʏ

17 March 2026 09:48

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Can pantheism’s God be perfect?

By Thomas Oberle, St. Joseph’s College, University of Alberta, Canada

Perfect Being Theism is the idea that God is the greatest metaphysically possible being. Most theists argue that God’s greatness entails that God must be ontologically distinct from the cosmos. Otherwise, God would be dependent in some respect, and so imperfect. This constitutes a formidable challenge to pantheism, the view that God is identical with the cosmos. If pantheism is inconsistent with Perfect Being Theism, then pantheists’ concept of God is deficient. I respond by arguing that Perfect Being Theism doesn’t entail God’s distinctness from the cosmos. I then argue that Perfect Being Theism is not a neutral methodological constraint on our theorizing about the divine nature. As a result, pantheists are entitled to develop an alternative conception of God’s perfection that is congenial to their view of the divine. (watermark02.silverchair.com)

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/pq/pqag010

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Tags: #Pantheism #PhilosophyOfReligion #Metaphysics #PerfectBeingTheism #AnalyticPhilosophy

𝐈 𝐇 Rᴇᴘᴏsɪᴛᴏʀʏ

12 March 2026 19:20

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The Beautiful Prophet: A Literary and Thematic Analysis of Sūrat Yūsuf

By Luis Serrano Lora, Vanderbilt University, USA

This article proposes a literary and semantic analysis of Surah 12, Yūsuf, centred on the concept of iḥsān (virtue, goodness, or beauty), which reveals the intimate connection between the Qur’ān’s aesthetic value and the veracity of its contents. A close reading of the surah reveals that iḥsān encompasses dream interpretation, wisdom, forbearance, moral excellence, and other prophetic qualities bestowed by God and displayed by Yūsuf throughout the story. Likewise, iḥsān is presented as structurally antithetical to the intrigues (kuyūd, sing. kayd) plotted by the characters of the story, such as Yūsuf’s brothers, or the mistress of the house. These intrigues are explicitly associated with falsehood and deceit, which explains their ultimate failure against Yūsuf, the bearer of iḥsān and the knowledge of truth, and the Divine Decree. This story presents an ethical model which transcends the boundaries of the narrative and is constantly appropriated by the Qur’ān at the metalevel to demonstrate its veracity and its divine origin. Qur’ānic claims such as being the most beautiful of the stories (aḥsan al-qaṣaṣ) are not simply declarations of its unparalleled eloquence, but rhetorical devices that confirm the text’s contents and its authority by constructing a nexus between iḥsān and truth.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/rel17020226

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Tags: #Quran #SurahYusuf #QuranicStudies #IslamicStudies #LiteraryAnalysis

𝐈 𝐇 Rᴇᴘᴏsɪᴛᴏʀʏ

12 March 2026 19:15

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Christian Perspectives on imago Dei and Ibn ʿArabī’s Theologization of the Natural World

By Ismail Lala, Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, Gulf University for Science and Technology, Kuwait, Kuwait

This article explores the ecological implications of adopting the theological outlook of Muḥyī al-Dīn ibn ʿArabī, who argues that the natural world is nothing but a manifestation of God’s most beautiful Names. Since humankind is a focused locus of divine manifestation, it exhibits all the divine Names that are manifested in the natural world disparately. This is what it means, says Ibn ʿArabī, when God declares that Adam was created in God’s image. Imago Dei, or the creation of humankind in the image of God, is mentioned many times in the Bible, most notably in Genesis. There have been three main interpretations of what this means: the substantial view, the relational view, and the functional view. This study builds on recent works that argue that (a) these three perspectives are not mutually exclusive in the Christian tradition and all interpretations are co-implicative, and (b) there is a correlation between Ibn ʿArabī’s conception of imago Dei and the Christian perspectives. It uniquely synthesises many of Ibn ʿArabī’s ideas on imago Dei to reveal that they simultaneously maintain the substantial, relational and functional views, much like the Christian tradition. It is the functional view that has major implications for ecological preservation. (Taylor & Francis Online)

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/09596410.2026.2624267

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Tags: #IbnArabi #ImagoDei #IslamChristianRelations #IslamicPhilosophy #Ecotheology

𝐈 𝐇 Rᴇᴘᴏsɪᴛᴏʀʏ

12 March 2026 18:47

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The Relevance of God to Metaethics

By Luke Taylor, Independent Researcher

I argue in this paper that moral realism is more likely to be true if God exists than if God does not exist. I will first argue that, without the existence of God, objective moral facts would be queer, but that the queerness problem is solved if God exists. I will then go on to argue that no being could be God unless that being has authority over all created rational beings just as morality does, which explains why the existence of God is relevant to metaethics.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/rel17020209

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Tags: #Metaethics #PhilosophyOfReligion #MoralRealism #Theism #Atheism

𝐈 𝐇 Rᴇᴘᴏsɪᴛᴏʀʏ

13 February 2026 05:27

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The Problem of Evil and the Problem of Consciousness
One and the Same?

By Yujin Nagasawa, University of Oklahoma

The problem of evil and the problem of consciousness occupy central positions in the philosophy of religion and the philosophy of mind, respectively. On the face of it, these problems seem to be fundamentally distinct. The problem of evil is concerned with whether the existence of evil in the world undermines belief in the existence of God while the problem of consciousness concerns the nature of consciousness and how it can arise from physical processes in the brain. In this paper, however, I defend the following novel thesis: the problem of evil and the problem of consciousness are versions of the same problem, which I term the “problem of ontological expectation mismatch.” I argue that, by recognizing that they stem from the same root, we can gain a fresh perspective for evaluating existing approaches to both problems in a systematic manner. I conclude my discussion by utilizing this thesis to critically examine panpsychism, a response to the problem of consciousness that has recently gained significant popularity.

Link: https://doi.org/10.69574/aejpr.v2i4.26509

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Tags: #PoE #Evil #Consciousness #God

𝐈 𝐇 Rᴇᴘᴏsɪᴛᴏʀʏ

13 February 2026 05:15

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Light, Ontology, and Analogy: A Non-Concordist Reading of Qur’an 24:35 in Dialogue with Philosophy and Physics

By Adil Guler, Marmara University

This article develops a structural–analogical framework to investigate conceptual resonances between Qur’an 24:35—the Verse of Light—and contemporary relational models in physics, while maintaining firm epistemic boundaries between theology, philosophy, and empirical science. The Qur’anic metaphors of niche, glass, tree, oil, and layered light depict a graded ontology of manifestation in which being unfolds through ordered relations grounded in a transcendent divine command (amr). By contrast, modern physics—as represented by quantum field theory, loop quantum gravity, and cosmological models—operates entirely within immanent causality, conceiving spacetime and matter as relational, dynamic, and structurally emergent. Despite their distinct registers, both discourses converge structurally around a shared grammar of potentiality, relation, and manifestation. Drawing on classical Islamic metaphysics—especially al-Ghazālī’s Mishkāt al-Anwār—alongside contemporary relational ontologies in physics (Smolin, Rovelli, Markopoulou), the article argues that “real time” functions as an ontological choice that conditions intelligibility, agency, and novelty. The Qur’anic notion of nūr is interpreted not as physical luminosity but as the metaphysical ground of determinability, while the quantum vacuum is treated as a field of latent potential—without suggesting empirical equivalence. Rather than concordism, the comparison highlights a structural resonance (used here as a heuristic notion indicating pattern-level affinity rather than equivalence, correspondence, or empirical verification): both traditions affirm that reality is neither static nor substance-based, but arises through dynamic relational processes grounded—whether transcendently or immanently—in principled order.

Link: https://doi.org/10.3390/philosophies11010015

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Tags: #Islam #Quran #Physics #Cosmology

𝐈 𝐇 Rᴇᴘᴏsɪᴛᴏʀʏ

13 February 2026 05:07

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Redefining Reality: An Islamic Metaphysical Critique of AI’s Data-Centric Worldview

By Boumediene Hamzi, The Alan Turing Institute

This essay explores the metaphysical and philosophical implications of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) through the intersecting insights of René Guénon (ʿAbd al-Wāḥid Yaḥiā), Martin Heidegger, and Ibn al-ʿArabī. It argues that modern AI systems, particularly in their statistical and data-centric forms, are not merely instrumental tools but expressions of a deeper metaphysical worldview-one rooted in quantification, abstraction, and utility. Guénon’s critique of the “reign of quantity” and Heidegger’s notion of Enframing (Gestell) converge in diagnosing the loss of qualitative and sacred dimensions in modern life. While Heidegger’s phenomenology provides a powerful immanent critique of technological reductionism from within the Western philosophical tradition, Guénon’s metaphysical traditionalism articulates a diagnosis of modernity that resonates with Islamic metaphysics, especially as articulated by Ibn al-ʿArabī. The essay includes Heidegger in the argument as a representative of a critique of modern technology issuing from the Western tradition itself, and by emphasizing his shared concerns with Guénon, whose metaphysics resonates with Ibn al-ʿArabī’s metaphysics. Through a comparative metaphysical framework, this paper proposes an Islamic response to AI that avoids both technophilia and technophobia, insisting instead on a spiritually grounded ethic of technology that preserves human’s dignity and mission. Methodologically, the essay restores a prior order often inverted in contemporary AI ethics: ontology (what AI is) grounds epistemology (what it can know), and only then can ethical evaluation be coherent.

Link: https://doi.org/10.1080/14746700.2025.2592328

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Tags: #Islam #AI #IbnArabi #Ethics

𝐈 𝐇 Rᴇᴘᴏsɪᴛᴏʀʏ

13 February 2026 04:58

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The Thematic and Rhetorical Transformation of ‘Aṣabiyya in Early Islamic Poetry

By Ramazan Aslan, Trabzon University; Ismail Araz, Mardin Artuklu University

Classical Arabic poetry played a powerful social role in Arab society, particularly during the Jāhiliyya (pre-Islamic) period, due to its high level of eloquence (faṣāḥa) and balāgha. Within this poetic tradition—shaped around themes such as heroism (ḥamāsah), boasting (fakhr), satire (hijā’), and love (tashbīb)—‘aṣabiyya occupied a central position as a means of constructing and preserving tribal identity through language. Poets exalted their own tribes and disparaged rival ones by employing persuasive and emotionally charged expression. With the revelation of the Qur’an in 610 CE, this literary and cultural heritage, grounded in aesthetic and expressive power, was reconfigured within a new religious framework. The Qur’an’s challenge-oriented discourse entered into direct interaction with existing poetic sensibilities. Against this background, the present study examines the transformation of ‘aṣabiyya in classical Arabic poetry during the early Islamic period. It offers a comparative analysis of lineage-centered ‘aṣabiyya in Jāhiliyya poetry and the emergence of an ummah-centered discourse of unity in Islamic poetry, drawing on poems by different poets from both periods. Using content analysis, rhetorical text analysis, and inductive methods, the study demonstrates that the Qur’an’s influence on Arabic poetry was neither uniform nor one-dimensional but significantly shaped poetic themes and authorial attitudes. By focusing on ‘aṣabiyya, the article aims to contribute to a renewed understanding of the Qur’an–poetry relationship in early Islam.

Link: https://doi.org/10.3390/rel17010086

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Tags: #Islam #Quran #History

𝐈 𝐇 Rᴇᴘᴏsɪᴛᴏʀʏ

29 January 2026 17:41

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Entropy and Moral Order: Qur’ānic Reflections on Irreversibility, Agency, and Divine Justice in Dialog with Science and Theology

By Adil Guler, Marmara University

This article reconceptualizes entropy not as a metaphysical substance but as a structural constraint that shapes the formation, energetic cost, and durability of records. It links the coarse-grained—and typically irreversible—flow of time to questions of moral responsibility and divine justice. Drawing on the second law of thermodynamics, information theory, and contemporary cosmology, it advances an analogical and operational framework in which actions are accountable in an analogical sense insofar as they leave energetically costly traces that resist erasure. Within a Qur’ānic metaphysical horizon, concepts such as kitāb (Book), ṣaḥīfa (Record), and tawba (Repentance) function as structural counterparts to informational inscription and revision, without reducing theological meaning to physical process. In contrast to Kantian ethics, which grounds moral law in rational autonomy, the Qurʾān situates responsibility within the irreversible structure of time. Understood in this way, entropy is not a threat to coherence but a condition for accountability. By placing the Qurʾānic vision in dialog with modern science and theology, the article contributes to broader discussions on justice, agency, and the metaphysics of time within the science–religion discourse.

Link: https://doi.org/10.3390/philosophies11010008

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Tags: #Islam #Quran #Science #Theology

𝐈 𝐇 Rᴇᴘᴏsɪᴛᴏʀʏ

28 January 2026 17:12

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Islam and Modern Cosmology

By Enis Doko, Ibn Haldun University

Islam and Modern Cosmology examines how contemporary cosmological theories intersect with Islamic theology, exploring how modern science and Islamic thought can be brought into meaningful dialogue. It begins with a concise overview of modern cosmology, followed by an exploration of the Qur'an's cosmological perspectives and the philosophical models of creation proposed by Muslim thinkers, comparing these ideas with current scientific understandings. The discussion then considers the fine-tuning argument for God's existence and addresses the multiverse hypothesis, proposing that, under certain reasonable assumptions, the Islamic conception of God suggests the possibility of multiple universes. Finally, from a Muslim – specifically Sufi – perspective, it reflects on the problem of the significance of human life within this vast cosmos.

Link: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009608350

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Tags: #Islam #Cosmology #FTA #Creation #Science

𝐈 𝐇 Rᴇᴘᴏsɪᴛᴏʀʏ

25 January 2026 16:35

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Repentance Made Manifest: From Highwayman to Ṣūfī in the Thought and Practice of al-Fuḍayl ibn ʿIyāḍ and Bishr al-Ḥāfī

By Jamal Ali Assadi, Sakhnin College; Mahmoud Naamneh, Achva Academic College; Khaled Sindawi, Al-Qassemi Academic College of Education

This article offers a comparative study of two closely linked constellations of early Ṣūfī thought: the ascetic–mystical program of al-Fuḍayl ibn ʿIyāḍ (d. 187/803) and that of his renowned disciple Bishr al-Ḥāfī (d. 227/841). Moving beyond hagiographic anecdote, the study advances the thesis that the pair articulate two complementary modalities of tawba(repentance) that generate distinct ascetic habitus and pedagogical lineages: al-Fudayl’s “ethic of awe” (fear, juridical redress, and renunciation of patronage) and Bishr’s “aesthetics of reverence” (beauty-induced modesty, evident humility, and fame avoidance). Drawing on primary sources (Ḥilyat al-Awliyāʾ, al-Sulamī’s Ṭabaqāt al-Ṣūfiyya, al-Qushayrī’s Risāla, al-Sarrāj’s Lumaʿ), the article reconstructs each thinker’s core concepts, practices (e.g., returning wrongs, ḥafāʾ/barefoot humility), and teaching styles and maps how the teacher–disciple nexus transmits, adapts, and ritualizes these ethics into durable Ṣūfī dispositions. Methodologically, the article combines close textual analysis with practice theory to show how emotions—such as fear and modesty (ḥayāʾ)—are choreographed into public, socially legible acts, thus reframing repentance as embodied discipline rather than interior feeling alone. A prosopographic appendix traces transmission from al-Fudayl to Bishr to Sarī al-Saqaṭī and al-Junayd, clarifying how each modality survives in later Baghdad sobriety and Malāmatī self-effacement. The contribution is twofold: first, it supplies a granular typology of early Ṣūfī repentance that explains divergent stances toward money, publicity, and power; second, it models how to read early Ṣūfī biography as anthropology of practice, recovering the lived grammar by which “conversion stories” become social programs. In doing so, the article nuances standard narratives of early Ṣūfism, showing that Bishr is not merely al-Fuḍayl’s echo but a creative reframer whose “reverential” path complements—rather than imitates—the awe-driven ethic associated with al-Fuḍayl.

Link: https://doi.org/10.3390/rel17010054

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Tags: #Islam #Sufism #Spirituality

𝐈 𝐇 Rᴇᴘᴏsɪᴛᴏʀʏ

18 March 2026 08:27

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Taymiyyan Diplomacy, or ‘What Brings One Close to God’: Revisiting Ibn Taymiyya’s Letter to a Christian Lord in Cyprus

By Caterina Bori, University of Bologna, Italy

This article challenges the conventional reading of Ibn Taymiyya’s Al-Risāla al-qubruṣiyya as an apologetic work. This interpretation marginalizes the letter’s purpose and overlooks its structural coherence. By re-examining the text in light of its historical context and rhetorical strategy, the article argues that the letter should be understood as a ‘diplomatic-like’ appeal – a carefully crafted request aimed at persuading its recipient to release a group of Muslim captives held in Cyprus. This situates the letter within Ibn Taymiyya’s broader experience in negotiating with the Mongol authorities, highlighting his ‘diplomatic’ undertakings in moments of acute military and political crisis. Shaped by the letter’s dense, cross-confessional language, polemics and persuasion are part of the same intended message. Ibn Taymiyya grounds his request in the dialectical truth of Islam, which is theologically at odds with Christianity but in line with Jesus’s ethical teachings. He crafts his requests as a sincere piece of advice (naṣīḥa), an act of moral concern according to which kindness to captives is both a religious duty and a path to future benefit. The article also offers new insights into the likely identity of the letter’s recipient.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/09596410.2026.2626187

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Tags: #IbnTaymiyya #IslamicHistory #PoliticalTheology #Diplomacy #ReligiousStudies

𝐈 𝐇 Rᴇᴘᴏsɪᴛᴏʀʏ

17 March 2026 15:35

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Guardian of Faith: Ibn Taymiyya’s Theological Discourse on Frontier Garrisoning versus Pious Residence in Mecca

By Hassan S. Khalilieh, University of Haifa, Israel

This article analyses Ibn Taymiyya’s theological discourse on the precedence of frontier garrisoning (murābaṭa) over pious residence in Mecca (mujāwara), situating his argumentation within the tumultuous milieu of the thirteenth and early fourteenth centuries. Amid Mongol incursions, Crusader campaigns and pervasive internal discord, Ibn Taymiyya advocates for active frontier defence, arguing that genuine spiritual merit resides not in contemplative retreat within sacred precincts but in actions that safeguard and fortify the Muslim ummah (nation). Drawing upon Qurʾānic injunctions, Prophetic traditions and juristic consensus, he conceives murābaṭa as an essential dimension of jihad, whilst privileging communal welfare above individualistic devotional observances. His treatise challenges conventional notions of sanctity, demonstrating that spatial holiness emanates from virtuous conduct rather than from any intrinsic qualities. Through integrated historical and theological analysis, this article explores Ibn Taymiyya’s enduring intellectual legacy and examines how his reflections on religious obligation, spiritual excellence and collective responsibility continue to resonate within Islamic jurisprudential and theological discourse. (University of Haifa)

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/09503110.2026.2617798

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Tags: #IbnTaymiyya #IslamicTheology #Jihad #IslamicHistory #ReligiousStudies

𝐈 𝐇 Rᴇᴘᴏsɪᴛᴏʀʏ

17 March 2026 15:32

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Neuroscience and the Non-Elimination of Theology

By Paul C. Knox, Independent Researcher

The scientific activity and outputs of the neurosciences are fascinating and, for the most part, uncontroversial. However, there have been sustained claims that neuroscientific findings represent a powerful challenge to historic, orthodox Christian teaching concerning human ontology. While philosophers had long debated the “mind/brain” problem, the rise of “eliminative materialism” (in the specific form of “neurophilosophy”) in the last quarter of the 20th century evoked various responses to the proposition that a mature neuroscience would forever banish familiar “folk science” entities like beliefs and desires as well as immaterial souls or minds.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/rel17020236

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Tags: #Neuroscience #PhilosophyOfMind #Theology #EliminativeMaterialism #PhilosophyOfReligion

𝐈 𝐇 Rᴇᴘᴏsɪᴛᴏʀʏ

17 March 2026 09:52

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Allegory of the Human Condition: Reading the 12th-Century Islamic Philosophical Tale Hayy Ibn Yaqzān Within the Interpretive Model of Erik Erikson

By Aqib Javaid Parry, Mudasir Ahmad Mir, Shamsudheen Mannekuzhiyan, Department of Islamic Studies, Aligarh Muslim University, India

This paper examines the Andalusian philosophical tale Hayy Ibn Yaqzān, written by the 12th-century philosopher Ibn Tufail, through the lens of Erik Erikson’s theory of the eight stages of human psychosocial development. In his book The Childhood and Society (1950), Erik Erikson offers eight key insights into how humans progress through different stages of development across their lifespan. The paper argues that Ibn Tufail’s allegory of the titular character, Hayy, is fundamentally a philosophical romance that examines various phases of Hayy’s philosophical development while also reflecting his complex psychosocial evolution. The paper highlights that Hayy’s early nurturance by a doe and his life among animals and plants correspond to Erikson’s stages of trust, autonomy, and initiative. His later intellectual and ethical development aligns with the psychosocial stages of generativity and integrity—though there are notable differences from Erikson’s model at some crucial stages. The Eriksonian model is applied heuristically, not exhaustively, as the overarching aim is to shed light on the classical Islamic philosophical tale by applying a modern theoretical framework to demonstrate how it prefigures contemporary discussions of the human condition, identity, and spiritual integrity. It contributes to ongoing interdisciplinary discussions on Islamic philosophy and developmental psychology by showing how Hayy Ibn Yaqzān can be read as a narrative of psychosocial growth.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/philosophies11020035

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Tags: #IbnTufail #HayyIbnYaqzan #IslamicPhilosophy #ErikErikson #PhilosophyOfMind

𝐈 𝐇 Rᴇᴘᴏsɪᴛᴏʀʏ

12 March 2026 19:28

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Metaphysical Infinitism and Theoretical Virtue

By Evan Welchance, Department of Philosophy, University of Richmond, USA

Call metaphysicians who think that chains of ontological dependence must terminate in a collection of fundamental entities foundationalists. Call metaphysicians who think that chains of being can proceed ad infinitum infinitists. Foundationalists claim that foundationalism displays certain theoretical advantages over infinitism. First, some maintain that infinitism has a special explanatory problem that foundationalism doesn’t. Second, others maintain that foundationalism exhibits greater theoretical unity than infinitism. I argue that these considerations give us no reason to prefer foundationalism to infinitism. Against the foundationalist’s first purported advantage, I argue that foundationalists must make theoretical concessions similar to those infinitists must make. And against the foundationalist’s second purported advantage—an advantage infinitists haven’t yet addressed—I argue that infinitism exhibits a different, but nevertheless attractive, kind of theoretical virtue; namely, infinitists explain all existence facts in similar ways. I conclude that foundationalism and infinitism are, at worst, on a theoretical par. (Springer)

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10670-026-01084-1

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Tags: #Metaphysics #MetaphysicalInfinitism #Foundationalism #Ontology #Philosophy

𝐈 𝐇 Rᴇᴘᴏsɪᴛᴏʀʏ

12 March 2026 19:17

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Islamic Finance in the Digital Age: Fintech as a Civilizational Tool

By Edib Smolo, International Centre for Education in Islamic Finance (INCEIF), Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

This study explores the potential synergy between Islamic finance and financial technology (fintech). This synergy may prove to be a strong civilizational tool to help in the propagation of the Islamic finance principles as long as it is done right. The study discusses the conceptual compatibility between fintech innovation and the ethical foundations of Islamic finance, while also examining potential risks and governance concerns. By highlighting both opportunities and challenges, the paper argues that fintech can play an important role in expanding financial inclusion, improving efficiency, and strengthening the global relevance of Islamic finance if guided by proper regulatory frameworks and adherence to Shariah principles. (MDPI)

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/rel17020218

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Tags: #IslamicFinance #Fintech #IslamicEconomics #DigitalFinance #ShariaFinance

𝐈 𝐇 Rᴇᴘᴏsɪᴛᴏʀʏ

12 March 2026 19:11

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Ibn al-ʿArabī between Two Renaissances: Genealogies of a Double-Truth Theory

By Aydogan Kars, Department of History, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia

This article sheds light on the influence of tenth-century Baghdad’s philosophical circles – regarded as the architects of what is known as the ‘renaissance of Islam’ – on Ibn al-ʿArabī (d. 1240), and particularly on the theory of knowledge in his later work. This theory envisioned distinct spheres of inquiry, tools, purposes and methods for natural sciences and religion. The article argues that this division strongly resonates with the increasingly pronounced version of the ‘double-truth theory’ that shaped science and philosophy in Europe from the fifteenth century. It thereby invites a broader historical contextualization of Ibn al-ʿArabī’s epistemology. On the one hand, it offers an analysis of Ibn al-ʿArabī’s philosophical background that goes beyond the Brethren of Purity and extends to their rivals within the same intellectual milieu of tenth-century Baghdad. On the other hand, it calls for a prehistory of the double-truth theory that reaches beyond Averroism and European renaissance.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/09596410.2026.2623582
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Tags: #IbnArabi #IslamicPhilosophy #Sufism #Epistemology #MedievalPhilosophy

𝐈 𝐇 Rᴇᴘᴏsɪᴛᴏʀʏ

13 February 2026 05:35

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The ethics of disagreement (adab al-ikhtilaf): religious education for intercultural competence in Arabo-Islamic pedagogy

By Wisam Kh. Abdul-Jabbar, Hamad Bin Khalifa University

This article explores Adab al-Ikhtilaf, the ethics of disagreement in Islamic thought, as a pedagogical framework for teaching religious education (RE) in high schools within diasporic Muslim contexts. It argues that the principles of ethical disagreement can serve as culturally grounded tools for fostering intercultural communication competence. The paper conceptualises Ikhtilaf as a dialogical practice rooted in humility, synthesis, and reasoned argumentation. For example, the integration of Iqrar, or concession, acts as a conflict resolution practice to nurture mutual recognition in classroom settings. The article responds to dominant Western pedagogical paradigms, such as the Socratic dialogue, and offers Adab al-Ikhtilaf, as an Islamic dialectical tradition, as an alternative mode of engaging disagreement. By distinguishing between Jadal, Munadhara, and Mukabara, it proposes a reorientation of Islamic dialectics away from polemics and towards ethical deliberation. The article provides a guide for implementation and an assessment rubric that translate these philosophical and theological concepts into teachable strategies. These include the use of Dalil (evidence) and Tadabbur (deliberation) to foster reasoning and ethical engagement. Ultimately, this study aims to equip students with the ethical, dialogical, and intercultural skills necessary for pluralistic societies. It theorises a curriculum that enacts religious thought as pedagogy.

Link: https://doi.org/10.1080/01416200.2026.2619036

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Tags: #Islam #Pedagogy #Ethics

𝐈 𝐇 Rᴇᴘᴏsɪᴛᴏʀʏ

13 February 2026 05:23

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Sustainable Communication in Sūfī Way of Contemplative Life (Vita Contemplativa): Aspects of Silence (al-Ṣamt) and Speech (al-Nuṭq) in Theoretical and Practical Ṣūfīsm

By Nurullah Koltaş, Trakya University

The desire to discover the nature of existence and one’s proper role in the universe has been a matter of concern throughout the ages, and individuals have endeavoured to examine the events that occur around them accordingly. In their pursuit, some have embarked on a deeper search for meaning, independent of common perceptions, and have posited that forms of expression beyond the limits of language could potentially provide important clues about the course of their lives. Transcending the limits of language can essentially be achieved by choosing a form of expression that goes beyond sounds, letters, words, or speech. Explained by certain scholars as beyond words, silence (Ar. al-ṣamt) is a discourse or mode of expression that involves the ability to speak inwardly (Ar. al-nuṭq). Thus, silence encompasses the ability to speak through remaining silent—a mode that, at first glance, appears to be paradoxical. This study focuses on one of the ways of attaining truth in theoretical and practical Ṣūfīsm: by remaining silent and finding the key to inner silence simultaneously. To reach such a level of understanding, it is crucial to examine how Ṣūfīs attempt to assimilate the inherent meaning beyond the boundaries of ordinary speech and approach the concept of silence from various aspects. By way of examining the possibility of communicating through silence according to some Ṣūfīs, the ways to a life in contemplation may be analysed to the extent that one could find a language that goes beyond letters or words.

Link: https://doi.org/10.3390/rel17020174

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Tags: #Islam #Sufism #Religion

𝐈 𝐇 Rᴇᴘᴏsɪᴛᴏʀʏ

13 February 2026 05:12

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Does the mark of the Beast lead to salvation? Some hypotheses on the eschatological meaning of the mark of the Beast in Christianity and Islam

By Anna Canton, Pontifical Institute for Arabic and Islamic Studies

The anticipation of the Hour or Final Judgment represents a central concern within both Christian and Islamic traditions, each envisioning history culminating in a decisive eschatological event. A shared motif in these narratives is the Beast of the Earth, described in the Book of Revelation (chapter 13) and the Qurʾān (sūra 27:82). In Islamic thought, the Beast (Dābba) is regarded as a divine sign endowed with two attributes associated with Solomon and Moses: the seal and the rod. These objects symbolize divine authority, enabling the Beast to distinguish between believers and unbelievers. According to tradition, it illuminates the faces of the faithful with the rod while marking the noses of the unbelievers with the seal. A parallel motif appears in Revelation, where the mark of the Beast is imposed upon the right hand or forehead of all individuals, regardless of social status. In both traditions, the mark serves as a sign of ultimate division: the faithful are identified for salvation, while the faithless are destined for destruction. This paper seeks to examine the theological and eschatological implications of the Beast’s mark, interrogating questions of authority, permanence, and consequence, and highlighting the interpretive resonance between Christian and Islamic perspectives.

Link: https://doi.org/10.1111/muwo.70020

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Tags: #Islam #Christianity #Eschatology

𝐈 𝐇 Rᴇᴘᴏsɪᴛᴏʀʏ

13 February 2026 05:03

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Awareness, Agency, and Emergence in Organisms and Purpose in Evolution

By Jan-Boje Frauen, Zhejiang International Studies University

Wherever organisms engage in internal sign processing to represent and respond to their environment, subjective awareness and agency can emerge. Through connectivity, they form structures from which “super-agents” with higher levels of awareness and agency can emerge. An increase in subjectivity is thus congruent with an increase in the processing of the physical world through animation. If there were a final end to the increase of agency and awareness in freedom and consciousness, this absolute would fully reflect physical causation in itself. In this picture, subjectivity is thus compatible with physical determinism and yet substantial because it posits causation as much as it is made by it.

Link: https://doi.org/10.1080/14746700.2025.2592328

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Tags: #Evolution #Science #Causality

𝐈 𝐇 Rᴇᴘᴏsɪᴛᴏʀʏ

29 January 2026 17:48

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Jihād and the Protection of Places of Worship in Early Islam: Between Covenant, Conquest, and a Just Peace

By Halim Rane, Griffith University; Ibrahim Zein, Hamad Bin Khalifa University; Ahmed El-Wakil, University of Oxford

This article examines the relationship between jihād and the protection of non-Muslim places of worship in early Islam. Drawing primarily on Qurʾānic verses 22:39–41 and the Covenants of the Prophet, it employs a synchronically comparative framework that analyzes a broad corpus of textual sources, seeking to reconstruct how the early Muslim worldview understood the justification for jihād. It also examines the norms governing conduct after conflict, particularly in relation to treaty-making. The article attempts to make sense of Q22:39–41 within the broader landscape of late antiquity, which was marked by religious persecution and the destruction of sanctuaries under Byzantine and Sasanian rule. The study highlights how clear rules of engagement were articulated in early Islam, including limits on violence and the consequences of treaty violation. It argues that the motivations behind the early conquests cannot be reduced to material interests but rather were guided by a theological and ideological vision linking conquest with the establishment of a just peace, one grounded in the protection of communities, faith, and places of worship through a covenantal paradigm.

Link: https://doi.org/10.3390/rel17010086

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Tags: #Islam #Quran #Exegesis

𝐈 𝐇 Rᴇᴘᴏsɪᴛᴏʀʏ

28 January 2026 17:15

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The Creation of the Heaven and the Earth in the Hebrew Tanakh and the Arabic Qur'an: A Comparative Rhetorical Study

By Hussein Ghaddar, American University of Beirut

This article explores the rhetorical devices employed in two foundational religious texts: the Hebrew Tanakh and the Arabic Qur'an, to present God's creation of the Heaven and the Earth. Through a comparative analysis, it identifies both shared and distinct rhetorical strategies within each text. The study reveals that while the Tanakh and the Qur'an utilize many common rhetorical elements such as metaphor and enumeration, the extent and function of these tools differ significantly. The Tanakh often uses subject-based, generally simplistic rhetorical structure, whereas the Qur'an tends toward expansion and deepening to enhance expressive power and eloquence. Each text uses rhetorical devices in a distinctive way to present the issue of the creation of the Heaven and the Earth and several concepts associated with it, especially the greatness of the Creator and His abundant grace.

Link: https://doi.org/10.1111/rec3.70035

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Tags: #Islam #Quran #Creation #God

𝐈 𝐇 Rᴇᴘᴏsɪᴛᴏʀʏ

28 January 2026 17:09

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Two Nativity Stories: The Example of Jesus And Muhammad in Literary Texts

By Reyhan Keleş, Ali Yılmaz, Esra Hacımüftüoğlu, Ayşe Hilal Kalkandelen, Ataturk University

This article aims to examine the birth of Jesus and Muhammad through literary texts dealing with religious or theological issues. In this literary text, the details, similarities and differences regarding the births of the two figures were revealed by subjecting content analysis. In the research conducted reveals numerous works, poems, and hymns dedicated to these figures. When these texts were analyzed, it was seen that the poets transferred the religious rituals and practices they witnessed and experienced into their poems by shaping tem with the concepts of their own religion and culture. In the Turkish literature, accounts of the birth of the Prophet Muhammad are found in mawlid texts. In contrast, in the Western literature, the nativity of Jesus Christ is discussed in works related to Christmas, Mary, and the Church. As a result of this comparison, some similarities and differences were identified and examined. As a result, when the poems written on the subject of birth are analyzed, it is seen that the content is nourished by religion or theology, and theological elements are widely included in these texts.

Link: https://doi.org/10.1111/muwo.70019

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Tags: #Islam #Christianity #Prophet #Jesus #History

𝐈 𝐇 Rᴇᴘᴏsɪᴛᴏʀʏ

25 January 2026 16:32

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A ‘Lost’ Reading of Ṣaḥīḥ Al-Bukhārī Reconstructed: A Study of Al-Nasafī’s Recension of the Ṣaḥīḥ

By Muntasir Zaman, Qalam Seminary

Marked by a multitude of recensions and sub-recensions, the transmission history of Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī is notably complex and the subject of extensive study. Since its extant version traces back to one source, that is, al-Bukhārī’s student Muḥammad b. Yūsuf al-Farabrī (d. 320 AH), our understanding of the Ṣaḥīḥ is largely limited to what his recension has to offer. By reconstructing an inextant primary recension of the Ṣaḥīḥ, specifically that of Ibrāhīm b. Maʿqil al-Nasafī (d. 295 AH), this paper provides an alternative perspective that sheds light on the structure, variations, and evolution of the Ṣaḥīḥ. Despite the absence of a manuscript for al-Nasafī’s recension, numerous variants documented in secondary sources make it possible to enable its reconstruction. The findings of this study reveal notable variances in the text, chapter headings, exegetical content, and authorial comments between al-Farabrī’s and al-Nasafī’s respective recensions, highlighting the idiosyncrasies of al-Nasafī’s recension and what they tell us about the provenance and posthumous transmission of the Ṣaḥīḥ.

Link: https://doi.org/10.1093/jis/etaf050

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Tags: #Islam #Hadith #History