Islamic Analytic Theology Phase 1: Building Foundational Analytic Resources

The project is designed as the first of a three-part initiative which seeks to act as a catalyst for engagement with analytical trends in Islamic theology. The problem addressed by this project is that analytic approaches to philosophical theology in Sunni Islam are not currently engaged with by either contemporary Muslim theologians or in wider philosophical, theological and scientific disciplines. The project will work through three different activity streams: (1) Access to Resources; (2) Research to Create Contemporary Scholarship, that is rooted in tradition but engaged with contemporary scientific advances; and (3) Infrastructure for Collaboration. The outputs to be generated by this project will include: (1) Core research in Islamic analytic theology and co-publication of a set of core resources: around 42 works, including newly commissioned books and translations of works of key contemporary relevance; (2) Research into the Big Questions for an Islamic analytic theology, through a set of meetings and the publication of 9 edited volumes, each focusing on a specific BQ under three working group areas of Ethics, Science and the Unseen; (3) Developing a contemporary glossary of analytic terms in Islamic thought; (4) Compiling a contemporary catalogue of analytic resources in the Islamic tradition; (5) Developing on-line resources to support a contemporary Islamic theology, and on-line collaborative platform including a library, lessons and an interactive text annotation tool; (6) Organizing crash courses in contemporary philosophy and analytic methods for Islamic seminary students. Phase 1 of this project will facilitate access to both existing and new analytic resources, foster new philosophical and theological insights by supporting the creation of new analytic scholarship of contemporary relevance, and lay the foundations for broad-based collaboration on and engagement with the analytic dimensions of Islamic scholasticism, in preparation for Phase 2.