Presentation

Oxford Town Hall
Oxford
England
13 July 2013

Scriptural studies are central to the understanding of religions that have scriptures at their heart. These are pieces of sacred literature which provide information, guidance and directions for and about the religions and their adherents. This is certainly true about the Holy Quran. This is a book that is described by Muslims as directly composed by God word by word. They are of the conviction that this belief is substantiated by various pieces of evidence from not only historical transmissions of the religious traditions and theological arguments but by first and foremost the Quran itself. This, associated with a sense of perpetuality of the mission as well as an understanding that Islam is set to address and permeate all aspects of life, has rendered the Quran a source of incessant inspiration for renewed efforts of exploration of God’s will. The Holy Book offers theologians, jurists, ethicians and many more categories of people a foundation to delve into new arenas of spirituality and scholarly expeditions. The conference in Oxford is intended to be an extra step towards drawing further contributions as far as these expeditions are concerned. The conference propounds topics of universal interest with an eye on more pressing areas in the modern times. Therefore it will be our privilege to call upon all those who find areas of the Quran studies that might be in need of further examination to submit their proposals.

The general topics that will be considered are but not limited to the following :

– The emergence of Islamic governments and their Quranic guidelines.
– The law in the Q uran and its relation and interaction with secular laws as well as the international law.
– Islamic banking and financial markets ; their Quranic foundations and also analyses of the current Islamic systems with the Quranic requisites and qualifications.
– The Quranic answers to intellectual and philosophical challenges facing Muslims such as questions raised by atheism and other ideologies and ideas.
– The Quranic foundation of spiritual and mystical trends inside and outside the Muslim world
– The development of media coverage of the Quranic themes.
– An exploration of the literature aiming at clarification of various dimensions of impact by the Quran on the worlds of knowledge, politics, society, psychology and so forth.
– The works undertaken to develop an insight into the traditional interpretations and hermeneutics of the Holy Quran.
– The Arabic language of the Quran, is it in decline or is it being upheld by the advent of new media ?
– Translation of the Holy Quran.
– The ethical structures suggested by the Quran and how these structures helped Muslim communities throughout history be morally balanced and in peace.
– The mental healing and therapeutic properties of the Quranic Verses prescribing methodologies in order to keep mental disorders such as depression in check.
– The impact of the Quran and Quranic studies on the discourse of the religious thinking across the world.