"New Approaches to Qur'an and Exegesis" Videos

The Ali Vural Ak Center for Global Islamic Studies organized this conference to bring together international scholars working on the Qur'an and its classical commentary tradition (tafsir). Held at Mason on October 23-24, 2010, the conference's participants discussed how new scholarly approaches to the Qur'an and the tafsir tradition have led to an increasing appreciation for the diversity of ways in which the Qur'an has been received and interpreted by Muslims, and the significance of this research for contemporary Muslim understandings of the text. Many of the scholars on the panels have been involved with the Study Qur'an project, a collective editorial effort to provide a new translation of the Qur'an accessible to the English-speaking public.

Opening Remarks and Panel 1, "Rethinking Tafsir"

Maria Dakake (George Mason University), Feras Hamza (American University, Dubai) and Joseph Lumbard (Brandeis University)

Panel 2, "Questions of War and Martyrdom in the Qur'an"

Caner Dagli (College of the Holy Cross) and Asma Afsaruddin (Indiana University-Bloomington)

Panel 3, "The Qur'an and Inter-religious Understanding"

Todd Lawson (University of Toronto) and Daniel Madigan (Georgetown University)

Keynote Address: Seyyed Hossein Nasr (George Washington University)

Panel 4, "Philosophical and Scientific Perspectives on the Qur'an"

Mohammad Rustom (Carleton University) and Muzaffar Iqbal (Center for Islam and Science)

Panel 5, "Sufi Perspectives on the Qur'an"

Farhana Mayer (Institute of Ismaili Studies) and Kristin Zahra Sands (Sarah Lawrence College)

Panel 6, "The Qur'an and Contemporary Issues"

Qamar al-Huda (United States Institute of Peace)