Two lecturers and three students from Dundee’s Al-Maktoum Institute for Arabic and Islamic Studies are in Yemen for a major conference on Islamicjerusalem, a study pioneered at the Institute.
This is the first time this new field of study has been discussed in an Arab country and the 250 delegates will be told about the work of the Centre for Islamicjerusalem Studies at the Institute and how the understanding of the region within Islam provides a model for conflict resolution, peaceful co-existence, security and multiculturalism.
The conference (November 20) is being held at the Centre for Humanities and Social Sciences Research at the University of Science and Technology in Sana’a, the capital of Yemen, sponsored by its Minister of Higher Education and Research.
The Dundee delegation consists two members of teaching staff, Dr Khalid El-Awaisi and Dr Maher Abu-Munshar, who will present papers in Arabic plus a postgraduate student, along with two scholars from the Arab world. “This is the first time that we have participated in such an event in the Arab world for the promotion of our cutting-edge research on Islamicjerusalem Studies,” said Al-Maktoum Institute’s Acting Principal, Professor Malory Nye. “This clearly demonstrates how the Institute is taking the leading role in setting the new agenda for the study of Islam and Muslims at this crucial time.”
Director of the Centre for Islamicjerusalem Studies, Dr El-Awaisi said that Islamicjerusalem Studies was a new and exciting field. “It gives us a vital model for peaceful co-existence and mutual respect,” said Dr El-Awaisi. “It offers a way for people from different religious and cultural backgrounds to live together in an environment of multiculturalism and religious as well as cultural diversity and tolerance. “We are looking forward to the conference and, of course, we hope what we have to say makes an impact and a positive impression.” Last month, Dr Maher Abu-Munshar’s book, “A History of Tolerance and Tensions,” examining the special place Islamicjerusalem has in the hearts of religions that believe in the existence of one God, was published.
It is a study, using extensive original research to explore Muslim treatment of non-Muslims in the 7th Century and in the Middle Ages, which the author hopes will be a valuable source of reference for all interested in Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies, Religion and Medieval History.
