Professor of theology and Islamic studies, he directs the Centre for the Study of Cultures and Religions. He co-directed the university diploma 'Religion, Religious Freedom and Secularism' from 2013 to 2019. He coordinates Pluriel and the seminar 'Religions and Businesses'. In 2020, he became deputy director of the Research Unit 'CONFLUENCE Sciences & Humanities', UCLy. On 1 September 2023, he was appointed Dean of the Faculty of Theology at the Catholic University of Lyon for a three-year term.

Theological and metaphysical thought in Islamic contexts has contributed to the development of a value system that played a fundamental role as a social and cultural bond in Muslim-majority societies throughout history. We will see that, beyond logic and rhetoric which constitute a sub-branch of modern axiology, the two major disciplines that are its preferred domains—ethics and aesthetics—are omnipresent in the moral, intellectual, and artistic determination of Islamic civilization. Indeed, ethical concern is central in the profusion of al-adab treatises and the long tradition of 'etiquettes of souls' with the appreciation of good conduct and savoir-vivre. And the particular importance of aesthetics characterized a hedonistic life sensitive to refinement and artistic production, with beauty as supreme theophany and magnificence as transcendent ideal; the contemplation of Creation's splendors in the 'spread book' being in perfect congruence with meditation on the verses of the 'revealed book'. Finally, we will question the disposition of contemporary theological thought, beyond a 'morality of prohibition,' to constitute itself in an innovative and bold vein, as a source of humanist ethics with the aesthetic experience of the love of beauty culminating in a life-giving and elevating spirituality.

Ghaleb Bencheikh el Hocine, born January 25, 1960 in Jeddah (Saudi Arabia), is a French-Algerian Islamologist, holder of a doctorate in physical sciences (fluid mechanics, Paris 6 University) and trained in philosophy. Son of Sheikh Abbas Bencheikh el Hocine, rector of the Great Mosque of Paris (1982-1989), and brother of Soheib Bencheikh, Grand Mufti of Marseille, he comes from an Algerian Sufi lineage. Known for his liberal and reformist Islam, he advocates a 'theological refoundation' of Islam adapted to modernity and republican secularism. From 2000 to 2019, he hosted the program Islam on France 2, then produced Questions d'islam on France Culture. President of the World Conference of Religions for Peace (French branch), he teaches the history of monotheisms at Paris-Dauphine University and the Secular School of Religions. Elected president of the Foundation for Islam in France (FIF) in December 2018, succeeding Jean-Pierre Chevènement, he was re-elected in 2024. The FIF supports doctoral students in Islamic studies, trains imams in secularism, launches 'popular universities' and the Lumières d'Islam website. A member of the Council of Sages on Secularism, he works on radicalization and interreligious dialogue.

A Dominican, Emmanuel Pisani holds a doctorate in philosophy (Arab studies, University of Lyon-III) and a doctorate in theology (Catholic University of Lyon). Holding a canonical licentiate in theology and a DEA in political science (IEP Bordeaux), he received the Mohammed Arkoun Prize in 2014 for a thesis in Islamic studies entitled "Heterodox and Non-Muslims in the Thought of al-Ghazali." Director of the Dominican Institute for Oriental Studies (IDEO, Cairo), he teaches at the Catholic Institute of Paris, where he directed the Institute of Sciences and Theology of Religions from 2013 to 2021.

The famous polymath Ibn Ḥazm of Córdoba (d. 456 AH/1064 CE), a figure as ambivalent as he is divisive, composed an ethical treatise, the K. al-Aḫlāq wa-l-Siyar. A late work, Ibn Ḥazm presents, in a vivid and personal manner, a series of aphorisms resulting from his observation of his time.

Drawing on his own testimony, certain anecdotal events serve him to elaborate a practical ethics. His treatise differs from other works of the genre through its literary aestheticism and pragmatic adaptation to the tastes and customs of his cultural environment. While the tripartite soul and the presentation of cardinal virtues and vices conform to ancient Platonic or Aristotelian philosophical tradition as defined by Miskawayh, it seems pertinent to compare it with that of the Jacobite philosopher Yaḥyā b. ʿAdī, whose certain details are very similar if not identical. Both philosophers 'moralize' the schema of soul functions. Ibn Ḥazm's definition of happiness—namely, dispelling worries—also closely resembles al-Kindī's Risāla fī-l-ḥīla li-dafʿi-l-aḥzān (Epistle on the Means of Dispelling Sorrows). While there appears to be an influence of Stoicism or Epicureanism on Ibn Ḥazm's ataraxia, its historicity remains difficult to trace. The ṭard al-hamm, Ibn Ḥazm's definition of happiness, semantically echoes al-Kindī's dafʿi-l-aḥzān.

The K. al-Aḫlāq presents no guiding thread. This absence of structure or wandering of thought is, according to Gabriel Martinez-Gros, an attitude faithful to adab and surprising for such an ordinarily rigorous author. The mirror or necklace structure invites creative literary analysis. His ethical treatise is a learned explicit and implicit intertextual blend referring to endogenous and exogenous sources of the Arab-Andalusian cultural context. We therefore propose to examine, in a comparative approach, the ethical and moral treatises of Ibn Ḥazm's time, and to examine the stylistic processes leading Ibn Ḥazm to address politico-religious instability.

Holder of a PhD in Oriental Languages, Civilizations and Societies (Sorbonne Nouvelle, 2022) and affiliated member of the Centre for the History of Medieval and Modern Societies (MéMo, Paris Nanterre/Paris 8), Yacine Baziz has also been a teacher in the Versailles Academy since 2013. His work focuses on Arab-Andalusian literature, cultural history, and memorial constructions around Ibn Ḥazm of Córdoba, from the medieval period to Orientalism and contemporary receptions. He is also interested in intertextuality in Arabic biographical dictionaries, employing digital humanities approaches (literometrics, text mining). He has taught practical Arabic and media Arabic at undergraduate level at Sorbonne Nouvelle and regularly publishes articles and papers on these themes.

This paper proposes a textual analysis of several excerpts from two emblematic works by the Cordoban philosopher Ibn Ḥazm (d. 1064): Ṭawq al-ḥamāmah fī al-ulfah wa al-ullāf and al-Iḥkām fī uṣūl al-aḥkām. Through specific passages, it examines the conditions of possibility for an aesthetic and ethical discourse, where the word becomes a site for the pursuit of beauty as much as moral commitment.

In Ṭawq al-ḥamāmah, the analysis of amorous feelings is not reduced to subjective chronicle; it relies on subtle reflection about the formulation of emotions, the precision of words, and sincerity (ṣidq) as a criterion of truthfulness. Far from indulging in the expression of feelings, Ibn Ḥazm implements a rhetoric of inner testimony, where stylistic elegance (balāgha) never obscures the quest for truth (ḥaqīqa). The text mirrors a moral disposition founded on the loyalty of speaking truth.

In al-Iḥkām, this requirement takes a more normative but no less linguistic turn. The juridical text, seemingly cold, reveals the same attention to discourse structure, lexical rigor, and fidelity to scriptural statements. Respect for the letter (ẓāhir) does not oppose thinking about language; it constitutes its very foundation. For Ibn Ḥazm, language is not merely a tool for transmitting meaning but a divine institution—a revealed deposit whose function is to preserve an order of truth. Thus, the act of speaking entails responsibility, and speech—'the touchstone of true or false' (Roger Arnaldez)—is invested with both ethical and aesthetic value.

Three lines of inquiry will guide this paper:

• How does Ibn Ḥazm articulate his Ẓāhirite fidelity to texts with writing deeply marked by emotion, nuance, and stylistic pursuit?
• How does the shaping of amorous discourse in Ṭawq al-ḥamāmah engage an implicit conception of language as a vector of ḥaqīqa?
• Finally, to what extent can we read, in this tension between normative rigor and aesthetic quest, the outline of a philosophy of language that prefigures certain insights of linguistic philosophy or contemporary discourse analysis?

Mohamed-Ali Mostfa holds a PhD in linguistics and Anglophone cultures, is Associate Professor at the Catholic University of Lyon (UCLy), and is accredited to supervise research (HDR) in sociology.

He is a member of the research unit Confluence: Sciences and Humanities (EA 1598), associate researcher at the Centre for the Study of Cultures and Religions (CECR), coordinating member of the PLURIEL platform (University Platform for Research on Islam in Europe and Lebanon), and co-director of the 'Mohammed Arkoun' Islamic studies training program, in partnership with UCLy, Jean Moulin Lyon 3 University, Lumière Lyon 2 University, and Sciences Po Lyon.

Ibn Hazm al-Andalusi's Ṭawq al-Ḥamāma (The Ring of the Dove) is considered one of the earliest literary works to address the theme of love. The text remained lost for centuries until it was edited and published by D. K. Petrov in 1914. Since then, scholarly studies have gradually begun to examine and analyze this epistle.

This article focuses on examining and analyzing Arab critical writings—articles and books—that have explored this treatise, employing Tzvetan Todorov's methodology of 'criticism of criticism.' It is evident that the corpus of Arab literary criticism devoted to Ṭawq al-Ḥamāma is not as extensive as one might expect. The first known Arab critical study of the text was written by the Syrian poet Muhammad al-Bazm, who wrote an introduction to the Syrian edition published in 1930. Subsequent studies appeared sporadically, with a notable concentration of critical writings emerging during the 1960s.

The majority of these critical contributions took the form of journal articles, many of which remained scattered across various periodicals. Some were later compiled by their authors into essay collections, as was the case with Taha Hussein's article 'Fī al-Ḥubb,' originally published in al-Kātib al-Miṣrī in February 1946 and later included in his book Alwān. The only book entirely devoted to studying Ṭawq al-Ḥamāma is Céza Qāsim's monograph, which was initially submitted as a master's thesis at Cairo University in 1970.

Accordingly, this article aims to critically examine and evaluate these Arab writings, and to explore the development of modern Arab critical thought throughout the twentieth century by analyzing its engagement with Ṭawq al-Ḥamāma. The study also seeks to situate each critical work within its historical and intellectual context and to assess the extent to which Arab critics have employed the methodologies and tools of modern literary theory in their interpretation of classical Arabic texts.

This article is based on a corpus of twenty-two critical articles published in various Arab literary journals, in addition to the aforementioned work by Céza Qāsim, which—although published in Cairo in 2014—originated from a master's thesis defended in May 1970.

A graduate in Arabic language and literature (Cairo University), this specialist in medieval Arab studies and information sciences has been working since 2018 at IDEO (Dominican Institute for Oriental Studies) as a reference cataloguer, conducting research on the editorial history of Arabic works and their authors for an innovative cataloguing system. A former collaborator at the Dar Comboni Institute, he served as junior editor for an academic journal of literary criticism. An Arabic teacher (private and online courses) and translator, he has published a study on theatre in Quaderni di Studi Arabi and translated several reference works.

Semiotics in badī'ī discourse represents one of the rhetorical and semantic phenomena that requires reconsidering the aesthetic function of art, not as a mere ornamental mechanism, but as a sign of ethical and cultural content. In the context of the badī'ī school's flourishing during the Abbasid and Mamluk periods, writers, particularly the authors of diwanī letters, devoted themselves to employing badī'ī embellishments in highly elaborate linguistic structures that valorize expression and excel in formulating meanings according to solid rhetorical logic.

However, this intensive work on stylistic ornamentation stemmed not only from a desire for strangeness or dazzlement, but emanated from a deep awareness of the aesthetics of Quranic language, which constituted the supreme model of Arabic expression and an ultimate reference for art, truthfulness, and refinement. Writers assimilated this model as a rhetorical summit and an incarnation of harmony between word and meaning, between form and intention, between expression and ethics. Hence, imitating Quranic aesthetics in their letters was simultaneously an imitation of its rhetoric and its ethics.

In diwanī letters, as in the texts of al-Ṣāḥib ibn 'Abbād, Ibn al-'Amīd, and al-Qalqashandī, verbal ornaments—paronomasia, rhymed prose, antithesis, parallelism, and others—are mobilized to highlight a system of political and ethical values such as wisdom, justice, humility, and good governance. These texts transcend the level of ornamentation to show language's capacity to convey ethical and cognitive meanings, where the signifier shows a close link with the signified, and where noble values such as wisdom and justice are transmitted through badī'ī formulation.

Thus, the badī'ī school is understood not only as an ornamental current, but as a semiotic expressive system embodying an interaction between aesthetics and ethics. Indeed, rhetoric in these texts contributes to shaping a political discourse carrying ethical values within it, reinforced by Quranic language symbolism, reflecting a profound influence on social and political construction.

From here emerges the research problem we will address using the analytical semiotic method, which consists of understanding how these linguistic signs express the ethical dimension in badī'ī discourse present in diwanī letters. How can we interpret the relationship between the signifier and the signified in this context, particularly with the use of badī'ī embellishments to convey ethical and political meanings? Can this art be considered an imitation of Quranic rhetoric, such that it reflects the ethical values embodied in the Quranic text, such as truthfulness, wisdom, and justice? And how does this linguistic structure contribute to shaping the discourse of power and prestige, in light of imitating Quranic aesthetics and its commitment to supreme values?

Holder of a PhD in Arabic language and literature (Saint Joseph University of Beirut), his research focuses on narrative discourse and identity issues in Lebanon, through analysis of novelistic works. A public secondary school Arabic teacher since 2008, he also serves as lecturer at USJ (Institute of Oriental Literature) and has taught Arabic as a foreign language at AUB (CAMES program). In parallel, he works as proofreader and linguistic editor for research centers, academic journals, and publishing houses, and participates in designing textbooks and curricula for Arabic language teaching, particularly for university audiences and heritage learners. He publishes in peer-reviewed journals and contributes to international conferences.

This paper explores the deep connections between ethics and aesthetics in Averroes' thought, drawing on the concept of Universal Intellect as it unfolds in his Aristotelian commentaries and within the cultural and philosophical framework of al-Andalus. It proposes a rereading of the Andalusian philosopher as an emblematic figure of ethical rationalism, founded on the recognition of cognitive pluralism and the search for intellectual harmony. Faced with the post-Averroist episteme, marked by an exclusive sacralization of revealed truth, Averroes affirms the unity of truth while valuing the diversity of rational paths leading to it, according to each person's intellectual dispositions. This pluralism grounds a genuine ethics of knowledge: a requirement for discernment, measure, and intellectual responsibility, where reason is conceived as humanity's common heritage. The quest for truth thus becomes a moral act, oriented toward the common good and nourished by a cognitive hospitality open to otherness. Parallel to this, the reflection highlights an implicit aesthetics of thought in Averroes: through order, rigor, and demonstrative clarity, truth is embodied in a form that elevates the mind. This aesthetics of reasoning—or beauty of logos—articulates an ethics of discourse with a formal coherence reflecting a broader ontological order. The Universal Intellect thus designates far more than a mere abstract faculty: it represents a living space of shared memory and co-construction of knowledge, the fruit of crossed rational efforts by thinkers from diverse religious traditions. Heir to an Andalusian pluralism founded on the transconfessional circulation of ideas, it also constitutes a normative horizon for our time: it calls for transcending closed affiliations, renewing intellectual dialogue, and conceiving a conviviality of knowledge anchored in mutual recognition. By revisiting this conception in light of contemporary challenges, this paper proposes to consider Averroes not as a figure from a bygone past, but as a transmitter of shared rationality, bearer of an ethical and aesthetic project of living together.

Holder of a PhD in philosophy obtained in 2019, this specialist works at the intersection of the history of philosophy and contemporary religious studies. She was Assistant Professor in history of philosophy at the University of Moncton (Edmundston campus, humanities sector) from 2022 to 2024, and has been Associate Professor at the University of Sherbrooke, at the Centre for Contemporary Religious Studies (CERC), since 2022. She is currently Assistant Professor at the Royal Military College Saint-Jean.

The theory of emanation poses a problem in the general economy of the philosopher al-Fārābī's system (d. 950). It is not found in all his treatises and only assumes its clear and distinct aspect in his work "The Opinions of the Inhabitants of the Virtuous City." In this work, the question of beauty is never approached as a strictly aesthetic category; it is inscribed within a broader metaphysical and cosmological framework, based on a unified and hierarchical conception of being. Beauty is thus deeply rooted in a worldview dominated by order, unity, and intelligibility. Our paper therefore attempts to examine the role of beauty in this system, as it appears by articulating the notions of beauty, order, and ontological perfection. The aim is to show that beauty constitutes not merely a supplement to reality, but an essential expression of the very structure of being. Al-Fārābī's metaphysical system rests partly (this restriction may be discussed at the conference) on the doctrine of emanation (fayḍ), inherited from Neoplatonism, particularly in the Arabized version of Plotinian Neoplatonism through the Theology of Aristotle. According to this doctrine, being emanates gradually from a primary source, absolutely one, simple and immaterial—God or the First (al-Awwal). Each degree of emanation gives rise to a level of reality that preserves, at its degree, a reflection of original unity and perfection. The universe thus conceived is not a fragmented ensemble, but a continuous chain of beings (al-mawjūdāt), hierarchized according to their proximity to the First Cause. This gradation is not arbitrary: it is founded on principles of order, proportion, and intelligibility, which are also the criteria for what is held to be beautiful. We will see that in the reading we propose, beauty is not external to the structure of the world; it is its sensible or intelligible manifestation. It constitutes the visible language of universal harmony.

Holder of a PhD from Michel de Montaigne Bordeaux III University in Arabic philosophy (highest honors with distinction) and holder of the agrégation in Arabic, this researcher conducts work at the intersection of Islamic philosophy, intellectual history, and literary studies. His research focuses particularly on logic and Andalusian thought (Averroes, Fārābī), the circulation of texts and concepts, as well as the political stakes of scriptural heritage. He has published in Studia Islamica and MIDEO, contributed to the Encyclopédie philosophique universelle (PUF), and authored studies on Mahmoud Darwish, medieval Arab theatre, and the Arab world's perspective on Pierre Loti.

In contemporary Iran, 'classical' spiritual poetry is not merely a living heritage preserved in memory and venerated near the tombs of Ḥāfeẓ, Saʿdī, and others. It permeates the theological and even juridical reflections of religious scholars and philosophers of all orientations. On the one hand, they illustrate their arguments by citing spiritual poets from the medieval period, most of whom were Sunni. On the other hand, some theologians and philosophers draw on these poets to develop innovative proposals for the doctrine of faith, moral theology, and dogmatics.

Within their vast poetic heritage, these authors accord a privileged place to Jalāl ol-Dīn Rūmī (1207-1273) and his Mathnawī. The philosopher ʿAbd ol-Karīm Sorūsh (1945- ) maintains multiple relationships with the poet. Not only are his works on epistemology and 'new theology' (in his own terms) punctuated with abundant citations from Rūmī, but he has also edited and taught his works. By combining modern European philosophical hermeneutics with meditation on Rūmī, the theologian Moḥammad Mojtahed Shabestarī (1936- ) has endeavored since the mid-2000s to rethink moral theology and dogmatics, including the dogma on the Quran. Finally, the philosopher Moṣṭafā Malekiyān (1956- ) elevates Rūmī as a beacon to illuminate his questioning about the knowledge of God and his meditation on the place of silence and speech in moral life.

Considering the place of spiritual poetry in the religious culture of contemporary Shi'ite Iran, our proposal aims to analyze the relationships established with Rūmī by three innovative figures in theology and philosophy of religion.

A historian of contemporary Islamic doctrines, Constance Arminjon is Director of Studies at EPHE-PSL (Religious Sciences Section), holding the chair in 'Intellectual History of Contemporary Shi'ism,' after serving as Associate Professor from 2012 to 2022. A former student at EHESS (doctorate, 2011) and accredited to supervise research (2020), she works on the recomposition of religious authority, relations between Shi'ism and the state, as well as debates on human rights and hermeneutical renewals. Author of several reference works (CNRS Éditions, Cerf, Labor et Fides), she also maintains sustained editorial activity (editorial boards, scientific expertise and evaluation). She works in Arabic, Persian, and English.

In our forthcoming text, with which we aim to participate in this conference, we propose studying a famous passage from Averroes' text translated from Hebrew into Arabic: the Commentary on Plato's Republic, where he compares women and men regarding the place they should occupy for the city's development: 'Women differ from men in degree and not in nature. They are capable of everything men do—war, philosophy, etc.—only to a lesser degree. Sometimes they surpass them, as in music, so that the perfection of this art would be for music to be composed by a man and performed by a woman...' The aim of our study is to try to understand the ethical, aesthetic, and philosophical dimensions of this text by Averroes, based on the analysis of other texts by Plato and Aristotle, against Ernest Renan's clearly racist reading, but also against any other laudatory reading. We believe it is necessary to understand the historical and intellectual motives behind such an attitude from an Arab-Muslim philosopher where gender identity poses no obstacle to participation in public affairs (politics), and how and why music (art) becomes an argument for defending equality in social and political responsibility. Without forgetting to problematize Averroes' idea: what interpretation do we give to this idea, which appears revolutionary for its time? How are the beginnings of an Islamic ethico-aesthetic articulated in this idea? How is the feminine represented while avoiding the socio-political commonplaces widely shared in Averroes' era? Thus, our contribution will attempt to answer some questions formulated in the first axis: Ethics and aesthetics in Islamic heritage: history, language, and philosophy.

Holder of the agrégation and a doctorate in literature (philosophy), Essaid Labib is a lecturer-researcher at the Faculty of Letters and Human Sciences of Chouaib Doukkali University (El Jadida). Holding a bachelor's and master's degree in French studies, he develops work at the intersection of philosophy, aesthetics, and film studies, with a marked interest in gender issues and contemporary readings of Michel Foucault. He is a member of the Moroccan Association of Film Critics, the Association for Feminist and Gender Studies, and the Centre for Aesthetic and Artistic Research. His recent publications include 'Foucault and Queer Theory in Judith Butler' (2023) and Fi ta'wīl al-'amal al-fannī (2025), as well as articles in French on Moroccan cinema (2023).

Research question: How does the relationship between beauty and ethics manifest in Ibn Arabi's thought? And can the aesthetic experience be considered a form of ethical and spiritual realization? Abstract: The aesthetic vision in Ibn Arabi constitutes an entry point to the knowledge of the Truth, where beauty is a divine attribute that manifests in existence and opens the way to a spiritual experience based on taste (dhawq) and unveiling (kashf). Art and beauty do not aim at practical utility or traditional convention, but at lifting the veils from truth and establishing a direct connection with the Absolute. From this standpoint, the aesthetic and the ethical intertwine, as the human being who tastes divine beauty embarks on a spiritual ascension through which they rise through the stations of perfection, where truth is not attained through sense or reason alone, but through taste and the adoption of divine attributes. Ibn Arabi considers that aesthetic manifestation is one of the faces of divine theophany, and that love springs from beauty, so that love of the world for its beauty becomes love of God, for there is no beauty but Him. In this context, extinction (fana') becomes an aesthetic experience par excellence, in which the perfect human being is realized as the true connoisseur of divine beauty. Thus, beauty in Ibn Arabi acquires an ethical dimension, where the human being is called to abandon blameworthy attributes and adorn themselves with praiseworthy qualities, in pursuit of union with divine Truth through love and beauty. This study seeks to explore this circular causality between beauty and ethics in Ibn Arabi, through analysis of the concepts of theophany, taste, extinction, and striving toward God, to reveal how the aesthetic experience transforms into an ethical and spiritual experience, leading the human being to perceive the Truth through beauty and to embody His attributes through love. Methodologically, this study relies on an approach adopting the method of Jean-Louis Le Moigne and Edgar Morin in complex modelic thinking, which deconstructs cognitive and symbolic systems as dynamic and interactive structures that can only be understood in their relational context. Ibn Arabi's aesthetic-ethical vision resembles, in its structure, an intelligible model that links multiple levels (sensory, rational, gustatory, ethical, spiritual...), through processes of symbolization, abstraction, and interpretation that transcend linear explanation. Thus, adopting this method allows reading Ibn Arabi's thought not as a closed system of ideas, but as a living system of intertwined meanings, where 'taste,' 'theophany,' 'love,' and 'extinction' each constitute a functional component in the process of realizing the Truth, where the aesthetic and the ethical intertwine in a single experience.

Lebanese researcher and educator specializing in philosophy (logic and epistemology), he has taught general philosophy and coordinated social science content in several secondary schools. Holding a State Doctorate in Philosophy from the Lebanese University (with distinction), he has been an associate professor at the Lebanese University since 2014 and also teaches at Saint Joseph University of Beirut. Since September 2022, he has directed the Institute of Oriental Letters. He participates in conferences in Lebanon and internationally. His research focuses on epistemology and complex thinking, formal and mathematical logic, the connections between philosophy, architecture, and Arab music, as well as hermeneutics and methods of scientific reasoning. Among his publications: Mabahith fi al-ibistimulujiya (Dar al-Jil) and Textes philosophiques traduits (Dar al-Kutub al-Haditha).

Classical Islamic thought abounds with figures whose intellectual richness remains largely unknown. Among them, Abu Hayyan al-Tawhidi (d. 414/1023) stands out for his singular approach to humanity, blending philosophy, literature, spirituality, and social critique. This work proposes a cross-analysis of two central dimensions of his thought: ethics (akhlaq) and aesthetics (jamaliyya). These two domains, although rarely articulated together systematically in the Islamic tradition, occupy an essential place in al-Tawhidi's writings, particularly in al-Imta' wa al-mu'anasa and al-Hawamil wa al-shawamil. Our study highlights an ethics founded on reason, lived experience, and human nature, conceived in connection with the three souls of man (rational, irascible, and concupiscent) and constantly illustrated through social and literary observations. In parallel, aesthetics in al-Tawhidi is constructed from a dual source: Greek and Islamic, between sensible perception and transcendent ideal, with beauty perceived as a reflection of harmony, perfection, and ultimately, divinity. By articulating the good and the beautiful, ethics and aesthetics, al-Tawhidi proposes a philosophical anthropology where man is both mirror of the cosmos and artisan of his own perfection. Far from being a mere transmitter of ancient ideas, he asserts himself as an original thinker, concerned with expressing the profound movements of human consciousness. This study thus aims to restore his thought to its rightful place in the field of Islamic philosophy, both as a living heritage and as a source of contemporary reflection.

Associate Professor of Arabic Language, Literature, and Civilization at the University of Caen Normandy, Faisal Kenanah also teaches classical literature at Sorbonne Nouvelle. Holding a doctorate from the University of Bordeaux III, he devotes his research to Abbasid prose, exploring humanism and ethics through the work of Abu Hayyan al-Tawhidi, particularly through the lens of animal figures and scholarly sociabilities. His work extends to the didactics of Arabic as a foreign language and the history of ideas. Author of works on medieval thought and pedagogical methods, he directs international conferences promoting dialogue between East and West.

This paper examines the invitation extended by Ibn Barrajan (d. 536/1141) to contemplate the divine signs (ayat Allah) in the world. In the age of the Anthropocene, while modernity has spread a materialist vision of nature and the religions of the Book are often criticized for their anthropocentric view, examining his work leads us to rediscover another vision of the natural world. This work exhorts us to reconsider the link between aesthetic, spiritual, and philosophical contemplation of the natural world and the adoption of an ethical stance towards it. Ibn Barrajan, following the philosophical and spiritual tradition of the Muta'birun (or contemplatives) of al-Andalus, invites his reader to immerse themselves in the contemplation of nature considered as theophany, as divine manifestation. This author maintains that true spiritual knowledge does not reside solely in reading the Quran, but also in attentive observation of nature. For him, contemplation of divine signs in nature allows one to transcend visible forms, thus offering a path to knowledge of higher spiritual realities. He advocates a contemplative meditation on the natural world which, far from being limited to a mere accumulation of knowledge, becomes a means of interpreting divine signs. This contemplative approach leads to a deeper understanding of divine wisdom and the harmony of creation. Thus, nature is no longer an object to be exploited, but a sacred text to be deciphered. For this author, the person who contemplates and adopts a posture of cosmic humility draws closer to the divine: spiritual lowering constitutes a vector for elevation. Ibn Barrajan argues that every natural being or element should be recognized as a master providing teaching ('ibra), leading to wisdom and harmony. The contemplation of divine signs provides teaching that grounds an ethics based on humility and respect for the natural world. Rereading this work from the past will help us redefine our relationship with the natural world today. By examining the articulation between a contemplative approach and the adoption of an ethical stance towards the natural world, we will identify the possible foundations for an ethics respectful of nature.

Holding a doctorate in Religious Studies (2020), obtained jointly from the University of Montreal and the Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes (PSL), she conducted several religious anthropology surveys in Syria and Lebanon before pursuing doctoral research between Paris and Montreal. Her thesis, published by Brill in 2023 under the title Louis Massignon et la mystique musulmane, examines the epistemology of Islamic studies and the role of subjectivity in religious studies. Since June 2024, she has been an assistant professor at Ibn Haldun University (Istanbul) in the philosophy department. Her work focuses on the vision of the natural world in classical Sufism and environmental ethics. ORCID: 0009-0000-1883-3615.

This paper examines Fakhr al-Din al-Razi's (1150-1210) vision of the beauty of the soul in his epistle 'Condemnation of Worldly Pleasures' (Risalat Dhamm Ladhdhaat al-Dunya). This vision can be described as a critique of the concept of material beauty and a defense of inner beauty. Al-Razi considers that wisdom is the pinnacle of spiritual beauty, and that neglecting it opens the door to physical and spiritual illness. He divides worldly pleasures into three categories: the first concerns bodily pleasures, which al-Razi considers the lowest; the second category comprises imaginary pleasures, namely the pleasure of leadership and prestige, of which he exposes the good and bad aspects; the third category is intellectual pleasure obtained through knowledge, of which he shows the aspects of attraction and repulsion. This vision will be discussed in the context of the influence of Platonic philosophy (purification of the soul) and Islamic thought (al-Ghazali's Ihya' 'ulum al-din) on al-Razi. Keywords: beauty of the soul - physical healing - pleasure. Research question: How does al-Razi conceive spiritual beauty?

Holder of a doctorate in private law, he works at the Oued Souss High School in Ait Melloul. He defended his thesis at the Faculty of Legal, Economic and Social Sciences of Ibn Zohr University on "ethics of medical work in Morocco" using a comparative legal approach. Holding a master's degree in private law specializing in family law in Moroccan and comparative law (FSJES, Agadir), he also holds a degree in Sharia and law (Faculty of Sharia, Ait Melloul). He completed his training with a summer program at Georgetown University on "Religion and Society".

In his Kitab Adab al-sama' wa-l-wajd (Book on the Etiquette of Mystical Audition and Ecstasy), the theologian al-Ghazali (1058-1111) tackles the thorny and polemical question of mystical ecstasy within sama' ceremonies, Sufi rituals of listening to music and spiritual poetry. The treatment of this question fits into one of the main aims of Ihya' 'ulum al-din-of which this book is a chapter-namely, to fully integrate Sufism into Muslim orthodoxy by defining it as a 'purification of hearts' and an ethics indispensable for salvation. While condemning conceptions of ecstasy that seem theologically problematic to him (al-Hallaj's hulul), he defines the etiquette of religiously licit sama' according to various criteria (spiritual or profane context, music, poetry, place, company, permitted physical gestures, etc.). This text has aroused great interest, particularly for its polemical stakes and its condemnation by Ibn Taymiyya [Michot, 1991] and for the question of the influence of falsafa's musical theory [Weinrich, 2019 and 2024]. In this paper, we will focus beyond music on the role played by poetry within this aesthetic experience. Al-Ghazali treats it in a way that neither reduces it to a mere stimulus enabling the shift into trance, nor to a dimension of ritual to be regulated by the distinction between profane and sacred. He offers considerations on what might be called a 'hermeneutics of trance' and a relationship to meanings (ma'ani) that is profoundly modified within the sama' experience: the field of possible interpretation expands, offering greater latitude to choose, in an instrumental relationship to the text, the one most likely to favor the shift into trance. Conversely, the sama' experience also allows one to grasp the true hidden meaning of the text, and even to access knowledge of a higher order in a mystical vision that is not exhausted by the ineffable. Ghazali thus proposes through sama' a specific path of knowledge that he links to an aesthetics-musicality playing a key role-as well as to an ethics, emphasizing the purification of the heart that sama' promotes and which is indispensable to this knowledge.

Doctoral student in philosophy and Arab studies at ENS Lyon, she is preparing a thesis on political metaphors in al-Ghazali, examining the links between mysticism, morality, and political theory. Her background combines contemporary philosophy (EHESS), religious studies (EPHE), and management (ESCP), with research on Sufism, secularization in Islam, and political-economic dynamics. As a teaching assistant and then lecturer at ENS Lyon, she teaches master's courses on Arab political thought, Islamic philosophy, legal doctrines, Middle East conflicts, and research methods. She publishes on mystical epistemology and contributes to edited volumes and reviews, while regularly participating in seminars and academic conferences. Active in the Diwan association, she helps coordinate networks of young researchers.

The lowering of the gaze (ghadd al-basar), a fundamental principle of Islamic ethics, has rarely been approached through an aesthetic lens. This paper, informed by the interdisciplinary perspective of Islamic sciences proposed by Taha 'Abd al-Rahman and Seyyed Hossein Nasr, explores how a moral value could constitute conceptual ground conducive to the emergence of an Islamic aesthetics, where sensory experience, taste, self-discipline, pleasure, and spirituality intermingle. The aim is thus to interrogate an aesthetics that does not approach the adjective 'Islamic' as a geo-historical or stylistic category (Grabar, Papadopoulo, Naef), but rethinks it as an epistemological marker, examining in this light the concept of ghadd al-basar as a demonstrative paradigm. The study begins with a semantic analysis of the term basar, distinguishing it from other forms of visual perception (nazar, mushahada, ru'ya, lahz, tahdiq), before examining its conceptual evolution in the writings of three Sufi thinkers: al-Muhasibi, al-Qushayri, and al-Ghazali. This analysis highlights how, in Sufi interpretations, ghadd al-basar transcends a simple moral injunction related to chastity or sexual desire to become an active operator of taste refinement (tadhawwuq, tazkiyah, 'iffah), applying to the perception of various forms of beauty (ayat). This theoretical approach is then related to phenomena in Islamic art and architecture, where certain elements were designed not to captivate the gaze, but to guide it toward lateral beauty, thus acting as mediators (wasita). The originality of this approach lies in the inversion of ontologies: while conventional aesthetics places sensory attention as a sine qua non condition of sensory experience and taste judgment, ghadd al-basar proposes an inverted epistemology, opening the way to other perceptive modalities and to a dialectical dynamic of an Islamic science of beauty, situated at the intersection of sensory regimes (halawa, tadhawwuq, 'uns) and extra-sensory ones (basira, barakah, fath). This reflection thus seeks to open new perspectives for academic research in aesthetics and Islamic arts, anchoring these fields in Islamic sciences as conceptual grounds.

PhD candidate in Aesthetics at Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, trained both in aesthetics and Arabic studies, he is currently a teaching and research assistant at Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, where he teaches aesthetics and philosophy of art. His research is structured around two complementary axes: the first focuses on aesthetics within the Arabic and Islamic tradition, with research dedicated to aesthetics in the thought of Abū Ḥayyān al-Tawḥīdī; the second examines contemporary issues related to artistic and spatial practices (architecture, urban studies, cartography) in the Middle East and the Islamic world. He is also a published poet in Arabic.

Ida Zilio-Grandi is an Associate Professor at Ca' Foscari University of Venice (DSAAM), specializing in Arabic language and literature as well as Islamic thought. A graduate in Oriental languages from Ca' Foscari and holder of a doctorate from L'Orientale University of Naples, her research focuses on the Quran (evil, figures such as Mary, Cain, Jonah), Islamic ethics, and Judeo-Christian-Islamic convergences. From 2019 to 2023, she directed the Italian Cultural Institute in Abu Dhabi. She teaches at several Italian universities, coordinates master's programs (LEISAAM, MIM), and participates in the Islam Committee in Italy (Ministry of the Interior). A member of the Mediterranean Dialogue (College des Bernardins), she has published Le virtu del buon musulmano (2020) and studies on Islamic environmental morality.

The body has a double and contradictory reality that oscillates between interior and exterior. It is both subject and object of representations and imaginaries. A psychic and physical entity that presents different modes of self-presentation. Islam implies a particular culture of the body that manifests itself, among other things, through clothing. Indeed, Islam presents a variety of ethical norms whose objective is to discipline this body to achieve higher spirituality. The body thus becomes a 'privileged space of discipline and self-management, but also a social showcase that displays the believer's performance.' The mode of dress then serves to communicate our relationship to religion and allows emphasis on negotiations between religious ethics on the one hand and modernity on the other. Appearance is, in fact, an act underpinned by several requirements and desires. On the one hand, the requirement of conformity to the dress ethics of the society in which one lives, and on the other, the desire for personalization, for self-affirmation in the act of appearing. It is in this sense that we have noticed, from the 2000s onwards, the emergence of hijab wearing in Tunisian society as a dress trend that privileges modesty while valuing aesthetics. By claiming both their faith and their style, young Tunisian women seek to express their respect for Islamic ethics of modesty without renouncing taste. This dress choice is part of a concern for bodily ethics: to cover without hiding, to respect without going unnoticed. The 'new veils' thus become a medium for artistic creation, between tradition and modernity. Currently, the hijab is characterized by a diversity of models and colors and an adoption of new dress styles; a 'bricolage' that veil wearers make between modern and traditional clothing, trying to conform to Quranic prescriptions. The veil, like any other garment, is exposed to multiple changes. It is open to several innovations that current fashion establishes through the reconciliation between tradition and novelty on the one hand, and openness to other cultures on the other. How then is this relationship between ethics and aesthetics articulated through clothing in Tunisian society?

Holder of a doctorate in sociology and graduate of the Faculty of Human and Social Sciences of Tunis (University of Tunis), she has developed expertise focused on the analysis of contemporary social dynamics. Her doctoral training combines theoretical approaches and field research, with particular attention to institutional transformations, the recomposition of social ties, and issues of knowledge production. Her work is part of a sociology attentive to contexts, actors, and power relations, contributing to academic debate within the human and social sciences.

How can we think about art in a context of religious tension? This paper will shed light on the influences that nourished Nasr Hamid Abu Zayd's reflection on art, and which ground his inscription in the reformist current. Whether it be currents of thought (Mu'tazilism, Sufism, al-Andalus heritage, modern hermeneutics) or events of his time, Abu Zayd knew how to articulate heritage and context to defend an open, dialogical, and pluralist approach. Faced with the rise of Islamisms, he maintained an ethical stance, embodied in his relationship to freedom of conscience. His thought will be put into perspective with that of Sayyid Qutb, whose transition from a sensitive literary criticism to a reductive ideological vision (hakimiyya) illustrates, for Abu Zayd, the danger of doctrinal withdrawal. Where Qutb assigns art to a moral function, Abu Zayd sees the expression of an existential need. Through his writings and his attachment to hermeneutics, he opposes any attempt to confiscate meaning. This reflection also opens, implicitly, perspectives for dialogue with certain contemporary Christian approaches to theological aesthetics.

Clemence Guinot is an independent researcher, prison intervention specialist, and author-illustrator. Trained in Islamic studies, anthropology, and communication, she dedicated her master's thesis (PISAI, Rome) to conceptions of art in Islam according to Nasr Hamid Abu Zayd. From 2022 to 2025, she worked within prison services on combating violent radicalization, providing individual follow-up, building reintegration pathways, and facilitating cultural mediation workshops in multidisciplinary coordination. She also develops writing and visual creation activities, and is involved in educational and intercultural dialogue projects.

This paper proposes to address how the ethics and aesthetics of Islamic heritage are being reinvented in contemporary art through a case study examining exhibitions in Zamalek art galleries, Cairo's cultural epicenter. Through the exhibited works of Mohamed Hasan, Rana Chalabi, and Katherine Bakhoum in particular, we will analyze the visual expressions of Muslim spirituality and ask how Islamic heritage inspires these artists' approaches. What dialogues do they establish between tradition and modernity? How do they translate Islamic concepts into contemporary mediums? What dialogues are established between the sacred and the profane? By combining iconographic analysis with interviews conducted with actors in the field, our paper will thus question the place of Islamic faith in an artistic space perceived as secularized, thereby revealing a subtle but significant reappropriation of Islamic heritage and its resonance with contemporary ethical sensibilities.

A Dominican, Emmanuel Pisani holds a doctorate in philosophy (Arab studies, University of Lyon-III) and a doctorate in theology (Catholic University of Lyon). Holding a canonical licentiate in theology and a DEA in political science (IEP Bordeaux), he received the Mohammed Arkoun Prize in 2014 for a thesis in Islamic studies entitled "Heterodox and Non-Muslims in the Thought of al-Ghazali." Director of the Dominican Institute for Oriental Studies (IDEO, Cairo), he teaches at the Catholic Institute of Paris, where he directed the Institute of Sciences and Theology of Religions from 2013 to 2021.

Dans Soufi, mon amour, roman publié en 2010, Elif Shafak constitue plusieurs temporalités narratives et construit un espace où s'entrelacent création artistique et spiritualité : quel est l'héritage du poète Rumi et de la spiritualité musulmane du XIIIe siècle à aujourd'hui ? À travers la figure de Rumi et celle de son guide Shams de Tabriz, le roman expérimente une réflexion sur la puissance de l'esthétique, notamment par le biais de la danse, de la musique et de la poésie, face aux interdictions de l'Islam, son histoire et son patrimoine. Dans cette communication, nous proposons d'analyser la tension entre l'esthétique (entendue ici comme une représentation et une pratique artistique) et les contraintes religieuses au sein du roman. De quelle manière la figure du poète soufi incarne-t-elle une posture esthétique et éthique encore éclairante aujourd'hui ? Comment la danse des derviches tourneurs et la poésie peuvent-elles être encore des formes de résistance ? Quels enjeux culturels soulève cette représentation dans la littérature contemporaine, notamment pour un lectorat occidental, l'autrice écrivant en turc et en anglais des romans très largement diffusés en Europe et aux États-Unis ? Nous explorerons les dimensions esthétiques de l'œuvre tel que le corps dansant comme un vecteur d'élévation spirituelle, la musique comme un langage mystique ainsi que la parole poétique comme lieu de transmission du divin. À travers ces formes, Soufi, mon Amour interroge l'équilibre fragile entre respect des croyances et liberté créatrice, dans un contexte où l'esthétique est toujours traversée par des enjeux religieux, politiques et identitaires. Cette analyse mettra en lumière les rapports complexes entre l'éthique, l'art et la religion, tout en questionnant la place du sacré dans une œuvre littéraire.

Holding a bachelor's degree (2020) and a master's in modern literature with honors from the University of Rouen (2022), this doctoral student in comparative literature has been conducting since 2023 a thesis on "The Algerian War in Theater: Through Memories and Descendants." Alongside her research, she teaches French: home tutor at Acadomia since 2020, teacher at College des Ormeaux (Le Havre) since September 2024, and lecturer at the University of Le Havre from September to December 2024. A French native speaker, she is fluent in Spanish (C1) and Italian (B2), with basic knowledge of English (A2) and Arabic (A1). Her interests include literature, theater, the arts, and travel.

Cette communication propose une réflexion sur les liens entre esthétique et éthique dans les pratiques quotidiennes, à travers l'analyse des choix vestimentaires féminins dans l'Égypte postérieure à la révolution de janvier 2011. En prenant pour point de départ le développement de la Modest Fashion, le mode vestimentaire conciliant respect des prescriptions religieuses et inscription dans une modernité globalisée, ainsi que le phénomène de dévoilement croissant observé au lendemain de la révolution, il s'agira d'interroger les rapports entre normes esthétiques portées par les femmes égyptiennes, les valeurs morales, revendications identitaires et aspirations féministes ayant émergé dans ce contexte de transformation. Le contexte égyptien, marqué depuis 2011 par une recomposition complexe des rapports entre pouvoir politique, autorité religieuse et société civile, place les apparences féminines dans l'espace public au cœur d'enjeux politiques, sociaux et symboliques majeurs. Loin de constituer une simple expression individuelle du goût, le vêtement féminin devient un vecteur d'affirmation de soi, de liberté, de contestation - ou, à l'inverse, un instrument de contrôle - d'identités multiples, prises entre tradition et modernité, religiosité et émancipation, conformité sociale et agentivité individuelle. La Modest Fashion comme le dévoilement, à travers leurs formes locales et leurs circulations transnationales, cristallisent ces tensions. Ils peuvent être envisagés tant comme des stratégies de réappropriation du corps et de l'image de soi par les femmes, que comme des outils de normalisation mobilisés par divers acteurs (États, institutions religieux, classes sociales, médias) au nom d'une certaine conception de la morale publique. Cette intervention s'inscrit dans le prolongement de notre recherche doctorale intitulée "Genre et transitions politiques : la politisation du genre en Égypte post-révolutionnaire". En articulant les dimensions esthétique, éthique et politique des pratiques vestimentaires, cette communication met en lumière la complexité des régimes de visibilité féminine dans un contexte de transition et de recomposition identitaire, où le corps des femmes notamment depuis l'émergence de la quatrième vague du féminisme, devient un vecteur central des luttes pour le pouvoir symbolique et politique.

Doctoral student in Arabic linguistics and civilizations at Lumiere Lyon 2 University (ED 3LA, CERLA laboratory), Nada Amin is preparing a thesis on "Gender and Political Transitions in Post-revolutionary Egypt (2011-2024)," analyzing the politicization of gender issues in the "New Republic" project. Her background combines gender studies, international relations, and Islamic studies (DU in Islamology, certificate in religious studies and social sciences at IDEO). Lecturer and course instructor (Paris 8, Sorbonne Nouvelle, Paris Cite, INALCO), she teaches Arabic language, history, and political sociology of Arab worlds. Active in academic events, she co-organizes study days with HALQA/IISMM and regularly presents her work at conferences. She publishes on feminisms, political Islam, and minorities in Egypt.

The title of this research raises a fundamental question linked to values in their ethical and aesthetic dimensions, and to gnosis ('irfān) as a method of Sufi experience that grounds its knowledge on a creative gustatory-affective terrain. In this regard, Ibn Arabi considers that taste (dhawq) is 'the first of the principles of divine theophany,' and that the science of theophany is for him the noblest and highest of sciences. The ethical principles that Akbarian gnosis seeks to construct possess 'merciful' (raḥmāniyya) meanings, through which the 'Breath of the Merciful' is actualized. This mercy, in its cosmic extension, is the 'value of values,' for it encompasses all beautiful and delicate educational acts such as mutual aid, tolerance, coexistence, proximity, and mutual knowledge... The ethical objective is to realize 'creative happiness' in this world as a condition for happiness in the hereafter, through awareness of the rank of 'existence as pleasure and sweetness which is pure Good,' as the 'Sheikh al-Akbar' sees it. Toshihiko Izutsu considers that the concept of God in Abrahamic religions is that of an 'ethical God.' Therefore, the relationship to the divine must necessarily be ethical, for God acts toward the world as 'Good' and 'Just.' The human being has only to respond to this divine act aesthetically: does this require an aesthetic synthesis between the gustatory and the ethical, between reason and heart? Is it through this taste founded on feelings that the essence of Islamic aesthetics is formed? The aesthetic synthesis required in Akbarian gnosis gathers existence in its transformations—theophanies—and the Good in its luminous force. This is the solid foundation of the theosophy—the wisdom—of Islamic art, which unites Light (Unity) and shadows (multiplicity) through radiance. The place of this union—this synthesis—Ibn Arabi calls the 'center of Light, radiance, and shadows,' where it is possible to conjugate Majesty (jalāl) and Beauty (jamāl)—aesthetic Majesty. Through the aesthetic synthesis is determined the wisdom of gnostic ethics leading to beauty (al-ḥusn, natural beauty) and to beneficence (al-iḥsān, spiritual beauty), as well as to the highest gustatory aspiration, what Ibn Arabi calls the 'religion of Love,' capable of being shared among individuals, societies, and religions. The epistemological result of this synthesis is to reconsider the meanings of Truth outside the unilaterality of abstraction and incarnation—transcendence (tanzīh) and resemblance (tashbīh)—but rather to see them in a single focus, that is, in their interpenetration.

Ahmed Kaza holds a PhD in philosophy and is a professor of higher education at Chouaib Doukkali University (El Jadida, Morocco). He defended his thesis in 2005 at Mohammed V University in Rabat and obtained his habilitation in 2018. His work focuses on philosophical and mystical thought, particularly the work of Ibn Arabi, to which he devoted the book The Image between Occultation and Manifestation in Ibn Arabi (Mouminoun Bila Houdoud, 2018). He regularly participates in national and international conferences (Turkey, United Arab Emirates) on hermeneutics, metaphysics, religious phenomena, digitization, and ethics.

La littérature a constamment interrogé les grandes questions qui préoccupent la condition et la vie humaines. Plusieurs approches sont alors employées pour lire telle ou telle œuvre littéraire, ce qui situe la littérature au carrefour de nombreuses disciplines et théories. La littérature maghrébine d'expression française, depuis ses débuts, a attaché plus d'importance au patrimoine islamique qui définit amplement les motivations des personnages et l'orientation de la trame narrative. Nous pensons plus particulièrement à un récent roman de Najib Redouane intitulé Sous le Ciel d'Oran et revenant sur l'histoire de l'Algérie avant et après la colonisation. C'est un arrière-plan où se déroulent les situations humaines et existentielles, mais aussi un espace où le lecteur est invité à découvrir des pratiques et des rituels religieux définissant le bien-être spirituel des personnages, lequel bien-être est à la fois une source de réconfort et une aspiration à la liberté et à la justice individuelle et collective. Cela étant, notre étude du roman de Najib Redouane concerne deux points importants. D'une part, il est question de sonder le paysage islamique en termes de rituels, de relations et de pratiques à travers leur durabilité et leurs changements. D'autre part, l'accent est mis sur l'esthétique du patrimoine islamique tel qu'il est façonné et relaté. Autrement dit, il s'agit de montrer comment le romancier associe ce patrimoine islamique à un fil conducteur permettant de voir l'évolution de la société algérienne, sa lutte pour restaurer les valeurs islamiques pendant les crises politiques.

Senior lecturer at the Faculty of Languages, Arts and Human Sciences (FLASH) in Settat since September 2022, Noureddine Fadily specializes in French literatures. After teaching experience at middle school level (2008-2015) then high school level (2015-2022), he continues his teaching and research activities at Hassan I University. Coordinator of the "Literature and Culture" program, he is a permanent member of the LIDEAL laboratory and an associate member of the Laboratory of Languages, Arts and Human Sciences of Settat. He participates in research on French language didactics within the Moroccan section of AIRDF. He also contributes to academic events (journals, conferences).

Dans Le Voyage d'Ibn Fattouma de Naguib Mahfouz, Quindil entreprend une traversée initiatique à travers différents royaumes, chacun prétendant incarner un modèle de société idéale. Cette quête vers Dar al-Jabal, cité utopique jamais atteinte, s'inscrit à la fois dans un imaginaire islamique soufi et dans une structure littéraire empruntant à la fable philosophique et au récit de voyage. À travers cette fiction, Mahfouz construit une critique à la fois éthique et politique : les sociétés qu'explore Quindil se révèlent chacune comme des utopies corrompues, où le pouvoir s'approprie les langages de la vertu, de la liberté ou de la foi pour mieux asseoir sa domination. La quête spirituelle du héros, inspirée des maqamat soufies, est détournée à chaque étape par des logiques institutionnelles dysfonctionnelles. En mobilisant les enseignements d'al-Ghazali (notamment dans Ihya' 'ulum al-din) sur la purification intérieure, et ceux d'Ibn 'Arabi sur le dévoilement progressif de la vérité (kashf), on peut lire ce voyage comme une allégorie de la tension entre cheminement éthique et entrave politique. L'esthétique du récit, fondée sur une narration allégorique, un lexique symbolique, et une structure circulaire (le voyage comme boucle), joue un rôle fondamental. Elle permet de faire dialoguer le patrimoine islamique classique avec les formes modernes du roman dystopique. Cette tension entre quête intérieure et chaos extérieur, entre élévation mystique et corruption politique, donne au texte sa force critique. À travers une lecture croisée de l'éthique soufie et de l'esthétique narrative du voyage, cette communication mettra en lumière la manière dont Mahfouz élabore une critique subtile des institutions politiques, en révélant comment celles-ci détournent ou trahissent les finalités spirituelles de l'islam. Cette analyse s'inscrit dans une réflexion plus large sur le patrimoine islamique et sur la manière dont la littérature contemporaine réactive ses questionnements essentiels à travers l'imaginaire dystopique.

Siham Amraoui is a doctoral student in the Ph.D. French Program at the City University of New York (CUNY), where she conducts research in literature and Francophone studies. She has been teaching French at Hunter College (CUNY) since 2023 and Arabic at City College of New York (CUNY) since 2024. Her interdisciplinary background combines literature, law, and humanities, with training in digital law and litigation, as well as advanced studies in French language. She has also worked in education in France and in the legal sector. She presented her work at Columbia University (2025) and Harvard University (2025) on dystopia in Boualem Sansal's writings.

Qu'elle soit d'inspiration grecque ou d'obédience arabo-musulmane, l'intrication de l'éthique et de l'esthétique traverse la critique littéraire arabe. Dans les travaux des théoriciens de la poésie arabe (Tha'lab, Qudama b. Ja'far, al-'Askari, 'Abd al-Qahir al-Jurjani, al-Amidi, Hazim al-Qartajanni, etc.), le jugement esthétique oscille entre une soumission à des considérations morales (en particulier le bien et le mal), et une transgression des principes éthiques motivée par une pragmatique verbale. Dans cette configuration, l'efficace du discours prévaut sur son inscription dans un paradigme axiologique ou un contexte doctrinal. La sphère philosophique (al-Kindi, al-Farabi, Averroès, Avicenne, Miskawayh, etc.) s'est également emparée de cette problématique et s'est interrogée sur la place des considérations éthiques dans l'élaboration d'un canon esthétique. D'où une question centrale qui traverse la poétique et la rhétorique arabes médiévales : le poétique obéit-il à l'éthique ? Quelle est la place de la morale dans la définition de l'esthétique poétique ? Notre intervention vise à mettre au jour l'existence de fractales normatives (religieuse, logique, etc.) qui sous-tendent les travaux de ces deux écoles et la permanence de tensions entre les horizons esthétique et éthique.

Holder of the agregation in Arabic and a doctorate in philosophy (Arabic languages and civilizations), Mohamed Ben Mansour has been a senior lecturer in Arab studies at ENS Lyon since 2018 and is a member of the Triangle laboratory (UMR 5206 CNRS). His research focuses on the connections between poetics, rhetoric, and power in medieval Islam, particularly during the Abbasid period, as well as on mirrors for princes and freedom of speech. He published Le poete et le Prince (Geuthner, 2021) and several articles on poetic parrhesia, politics, and translation. He directs master's programs and contributes to ENS Lyon recruitment examinations.

During the second half of the 20th century, numerous musical expressions of protest emerged in the United States, in reaction to a capitalist and racist system that marginalized large segments of the population. These movements generally also expressed a rejection of religion, perceived as part of the established order. Hip-hop, rap, and punk rock embody the most radical forms of this phenomenon, deeply rooted in urban peripheries. These musical styles also developed within marginalized Muslim communities in the United States, even incorporating more electronic forms like trap or more extreme ones like punk rock. However, the appropriation of this culture by these communities is not always accompanied by a rejection of religion. On the contrary, we often observe a reaffirmation of Muslim identity, resonating with certain anarchist tendencies in Islam, to the point of seeing the emergence of what has been called taqwacore, a fusion between taqwa (piety) and hard rock. In this way, a transgressive aesthetic becomes a vehicle for expressing a counter-cultural ethics. In our presentation: 1. We will describe these movements through the analysis of their songs and the examination of some interviews. 2. We will observe how they spread to Europe - including Spain - as well as to Muslim, African, or Asian countries, particularly Indonesia. 3. We will study how artists perceive the compatibility between this type of music and their Muslim identity. 4. We will analyze how this rebellious musical aesthetic is rooted in authentically Muslim values - particularly the demand for equality and justice in the face of capitalist inequalities - and how their rejection of authority aligns with anti-hierarchical elements of Islam. Thus, without proposing an anarchist political system per se, these movements outline certain libertarian-inspired practices, resonating with an Islamic anarchist tradition.

Dr Jaime Flaquer is a full professor at Loyola University (Faculty of Theology of Granada) and director of the Andalusian Chair for Dialogue of Religions (CANDIR). Specializing in theology of religions, fundamental theology, and Christian-Muslim relations, he participates in several interreligious dialogue forums. He coordinates the Islam cluster of the Kircher Network and sits on the academic council of the PLURIEL platform. Trained in philosophy (University of Barcelona) and theology (Loyola Faculties, Paris), he obtained a doctorate in Islamic studies at EPHE-Sorbonne with a thesis on Jesus in Ibn 'Arabi (with distinction summa cum laude). His international background has nurtured research focused on Ibn 'Arabi, Islam-science relations, and doctrinal issues between Quran and Logos.

The muezzin's public call to prayer (adhan) is an integral component of Islamic societies' religious and cultural heritage. Nevertheless, it is frequently subject to legal restrictions, even within these societies. In liberal societies, the adhan is frequently perceived as the epitome of missionary Islamism and rejected accordingly. The adhan's function as an overt proclamation of Islamic faith contrasts with the multifaceted meanings attributed to church bells, critiques argue. Undoubtedly, the adhan is an "acoustic occupation of space" that is perceived very differently by different groups in society. In light of this, judicial bodies at all levels - local, national and international - have repeatedly addressed the adhan in recent decades. Significantly, it is often not the content but the loudness of the adhan that is the subject of legal proceedings. The reason for this is to protect the human right to public practice of religion (UDHR, Art. 18; ECHR, Art. 9). However, this right must not conflict with the human right to respect for privacy, family life and home (ECHR, Art. 8). The rejection of public calls to prayer is not a new phenomenon in Europe. Historically, there have been various attempts in regions where Christians and Muslims have coexisted to impose legal restrictions on the adhan, dating back to the Middle Ages. More recently, attempts have been made to neutralise existing or foreseeable conflicts either through virtual calls to prayer via radio or the internet, or through architectural concepts such as the "minaret of light". Against this backdrop, the paper will firstly delineate contemporary debates in liberal societies concerning the public call of the muezzin (1). Following this, historical debates about the adhan will be recalled (2). The third section of the paper will address the delicate balancing act between noise pollution control and religious freedom at various levels of jurisdiction (3). Finally, novel mosque designs that seek to transpose the adhan from the acoustic to the optical realm will be presented (4).

A Catholic theologian, Dirk Ansorge trained in philosophy and Catholic theology at several European universities and in Jerusalem. After teaching at the Catholic Academy of the Diocese of Essen, he has held the chair of dogmatic theology and history of dogma at Hochschule Sankt Georgen (Frankfurt am Main) since 2011. Vice-rector from 2014 to 2018, he currently directs the Alois Kardinal Grillmeier Institute, dedicated to the history of dogma, ecumenism, and interreligious dialogue. His work focuses on creation, sacraments, Christology, and ecclesiology, as well as the links between religion and politics in the Middle East. In 2023, he was elected president of the association of Catholic faculties and institutes in Germany.

'Campo Grande was the scene of one of the most exciting performances at the Salvador Carnival: the parade of the Afro bloc Malê Debalê on Carnival Saturday (March 1st). Considered the largest Afro ballet in the world, with more than 2,000 dancers, the group brought beauty and joy to the avenue with a procession full of colors, rhythms, and cultural expressions. With about fifteen wings, percussion groups, and ensembles, Malê Debalê reaffirmed its commitment to maintaining the traditions of Salvador's Black community' (https://www.ba.gov.br/cultura/noticias/2025-03/63142/male-debale-celebra-os-190-anos-da-revolta-dos-males, March 2, 2025). In March 2025, the Salvador de Bahia Carnival, one of the most important in Brazil, was once again marked by the captivating presence of Malê Debalê. Founded in 1979, the Afro 'bloc' Malê Debalê was born as a tribute to the Hausa people who participated in the Malê Revolt, an uprising of Black Muslims that took place in 1835 in Salvador and continues to generate some editorial success (Gilvan Ribeiro, Malês. A révolta dos escravizados na Bahia e ses legado, Planeta, São Paulo, 2023). Among other movements, this aesthetic mobilization of the Malês' memory in the context of the Bahia Carnival continues to fuel a form of Afro-Brazilian cultural resistance within contemporary Brazilian society. These manifestations join a broader current of Black resistance in the Americas which, like the Nation of Islam in the United States, have clearly displayed a Muslim dimension. Can we therefore speak of a Muslim ethics of resistance? Starting from this transatlantic context and some aesthetic manifestations of Muslim-characterized revolts, this contribution will seek to question the existence of a Muslim ethics of resistance.

Associate researcher at PISAI (Rome) and IREMAM (Aix-Marseille University), he works on the history of Christian-Muslim relations and Mediterranean mediations in the 20th century. Holder of a PhD in history (AMU) and a Master's in philosophy (Dominican University College, Ottawa), he has been conducting post-doctoral research since 2023 in Belo Horizonte on the White Fathers' approach to Islam. He teaches history, literary history, and the geopolitics of religions, following positions in Nairobi, Rome, Marseille, and Ottawa. His working languages include French, Italian, English, Portuguese, and Swahili.

Dance(s) and Spirituality(ies): Stakes and Challenges for Developing Interreligious Dialogue Practices in Contemporary Africa While dance is rarely associated with spirituality in Christian traditions imported by missionaries who established historical, evangelical, or charismatic churches in Francophone Africa, or by those from Salafist or Wahhabi movements returning from Mecca, it is part of the religious and spiritual heritage of African peoples' traditions. This reality shows how dance occupies a complex and even controversial, but above all crucial place in religious and spiritual movements in Francophone Africa. Protestant, charismatic, or Catholic churches, as well as Sufi brotherhoods in Africa such as Tijaniyya or Mouride, have developed liturgical practices marked by the important place of dance, considered as a means of uniting visible and invisible realities. How could spiritual dance, which is a trans-confessional reality, be an important element in developing discourses and practices of dialogue between various religious traditions in Francophone Africa? Our presentation will explore the place, role, and relationships of spiritual dance in various religious traditions in Francophone Africa, as well as its potential in developing theological discourses and practices from an interreligious perspective.

Holding a PhD in practical theology, Jean Patrick Nkolo Fanga is a professor of practical theology and academic director, engaged in pastoral training and applied research on African and migratory ecclesial realities. His work focuses particularly on ministry practice, homiletics, church governance, competency-based management, and conflict resolution. He has conducted several research stays in France and Northern Europe, with international support for publication. Author of reference monographs and numerous articles, he has also served as president of the International Society for Practical Theology and contributes to ecumenical and interreligious dynamics.

The mystical moment, in the Sufi tradition, stands at the summit of human experience. It is that point of incandescence where the being, exceeded by itself, opens to the invisible. It touches the ultimate, beyond forms, beyond the sayable. Eroticism, too, is a crossing—but through the body. It is fire, breath, loss, cry. Two experiences that everything seems to oppose, yet which meet in their intensity, their gentle violence, their power of transfiguration. This paper proposes a reflection on erotic-mystical thought as it manifests in Sufi texts. We will read there an aesthetics of continuity, where carnal love and divine love extend into each other, interpenetrate, seek each other. Unity is not given; it is lived in ecstasy, in fusion, in loss—until effacement. We will propose a poetic and philosophical reading of what we call spiritual eroticism, through the figures of Abu Nawas, Al Hallaj, Rabia al-Adawiyya, Ibn Arabi, and also forgotten or contested authors, whose verses, often marginalized for their audacity, are nonetheless traversed by the presence of the divine. Their poems speak of intoxication, the nakedness of the soul, the trembling of the flesh, the thirst for fusion. For eroticism and spirituality are two poles of the same desire: to transcend the limits of being, to open oneself to the other, to the Other, without partition or judgment. Together they offer a path of freedom, a deep breath of the human—in breath and in touch. What this thought reveals is this: there are bodies that pray in silence, and souls that delight in the invisible, as Al Hallaj's words so profoundly testify: 'I am the one I love, and the one I love is me. We are two souls melted into a single body.'

Holder of a PhD in Literature, Education and Humanist Culture, she is a lecturer-researcher at the Faculty of Educational Sciences in Rabat (Morocco). Her work examines the links between eroticism, aesthetic education, and Moroccan francophone writing, combining literary, cultural, and pedagogical approaches. She regularly participates in conferences and cultural events in Morocco and internationally, particularly in France, Belgium, the United States, and several African countries. She recently published 'Inhabiting Exile in Khatibi's Writing: Towards a Poetics of Plurality' in the journal LOXIAS.

Islamic ethics presents itself as a complex synthesis of Quranic teachings, pre-Islamic Arab traditions, and non-Arab elements (Greek and Persian in particular), integrated into a general moral structure. It is a process of assimilation and integration of divergent tendencies that coexisted and juxtaposed rather than supplanting one another, lasting at least until the 11th century. Nevertheless, it was the Sunna that played a decisive role in elaborating a properly Muslim ethics, to the point that one could affirm that the hadith corpus constitutes in itself a manual of ethics. It was also Imam al-Shafi'i who advanced the normative use of the word adab (savoir-vivre) by using it as a quasi-synonym of akhlaq. Aesthetics in Islam has, in turn, undergone a complex evolution since the orthodox tendency ended up overly limiting the impetus of this creative quest by imprisoning it within the normativity of prohibitions. The proof is that Islam has not always been iconoclastic. Parallel to the juridico-theological grip that would eventually reduce Islamic spirituality to an ethics frozen in a rigid normative framework, openness to the other and the values of hospitality and "Muruwwa" allowed Arab-Islamic civilization to give the best of itself. The experience of al-Andalus is precisely the major articulation of a sublime aesthetic experience combining the ethics of alterity, openness, and inclusion with the refinement of living together among Muslims, Christians, and Jews. Architecture, music, poetry, the intertwining of languages, the marriage of iconographies and culinary arts, setting aside one's language to borrow that of the other, translating and allowing oneself to be translated; aesthetics became the bridge between self, other, and world. It thus transcends a simple exploration of beauty in art or architecture to become the quest for the Human wherever they may be, and the deepening of an Islamic knowledge made universal through its openness. By visualizing artistic works, unique architectural models, and manuscripts, this presentation attempts to analyze the articulation between ethics and aesthetics of a past experience while continuously linking it to the burning current questions of this largely unknown dialectic between ethics and aesthetics.

A legal scholar and researcher in cultural studies, Raja Sakrani is an associate researcher at the Emile Durkheim Advanced Centre for Research about Crisis Analysis (University of Bonn). From 2009 to 2022, she scientifically coordinated the Kate Hamburger Centre "Law as Culture," contributing to its design, funding research, and implementation. Her work focuses on the history of Islamic law and exchanges between Islamic traditions and Europe, religious socialization, legal and extra-legal modes of conflict resolution, as well as narrative memories and crossed identities. She also analyzes the evolution of human rights in the Muslim world, particularly for women and minorities. Co-director of the "Convivencia" project (2015-2018), she has been a member of Pluriel since 2020 and has taught in Paris, Bonn, Basel, Madrid, and Onati.

In the 18th and 19th centuries, numerous artist workshops, Muslim in Mecca and Christian in Jerusalem, produced souvenir images for pilgrims who came in large numbers to these places of worship. The holy sites were reproduced in paintings on canvas that could be rolled up for easy transport. These artistic representations appeared in great numbers during these periods and spread throughout the world thanks to pilgrims. Islamic art developed, through these painted canvases, a symbolic vision of Mecca, with the composition centered on the Kaaba and the representation of an important relic: the Prophet's sandals. The artist allowed the pilgrim, once returned home, to keep a visual memory of their pilgrimage and possibly reactivate the mystical experience lived during their Hajj. Christian art in parallel offered, on these painted canvases called proskynetaria, a reproduction of Jerusalem in the form of a symbolic and spiritual topographic map. Events from the life of Christ and saints are represented in narrative form, with the Holy Sepulchre at the center of the composition and the re-actualization of scenes from Christ's passion-resurrection cycle. The artist allowed the pilgrim to remember the foundational events of their Christian faith. Rather than speaking of mutual artistic influence, these souvenir images testify to a common approach: the pilgrim's relationship to the sacred. Each pilgrim wants to keep the memory of this holy place where they prayed, as a trace for their daily life upon returning home. Is the artistic work then merely a souvenir of a spiritual journey, or does it resemble a prophylactic contact relic connecting the human to the divine through what it offers for contemplation? BIBLIOGRAPHY Flood, F. B., Technologies of Devotion in the Arts of Islam: Pilgrims, Relics and Copies, Paris, Hazan/Louvre editions, 2019. Immerzeel, M., The Narrow Way to Heaven. Identity and Identities in the Art of Middle Eastern Christianity, Orientalia Lovaniensia Analecta 259, Leuven, Peeters, 2017.

Marie-Laure Davigo is an independent researcher specializing in art history and archaeology of Eastern Christianity, with a particular interest in Coptic icons and their conservation issues. Holding a degree in religious studies (EPHE/PSL, 2022, with highest honors) and trained in philosophy (Loyola Faculties of Paris), she is pursuing a degree at the Institut Chretiens d'Orient. Her work focuses on Egypt and Jerusalem in the 18th-19th centuries, as well as ecumenical and interreligious dialogues. She is preparing a scientific catalog of unpublished icons (IFAO) and will publish in 2025 in Eastern Christian Art. She conducts research at the Byzantine Library of the College de France and regularly presents her findings at international conferences.

The art of ecclesiastical painting emerged in the early centuries of Christianity, dividing people between supporters and opponents. Clement of Alexandria (d. 216) and Origen (d. 254) rejected it. However, Saint Basil (d. 379) accepted it and called on Christian painters to glorify the martyrs in their paintings, since "the honor given to images passes to the person they represent," in his own words. The debate over icon veneration continued, and the crisis on this issue erupted in the eighth century when Caliph Yazid ibn Abd al-Malik ordered in 723 the destruction of all images in churches and homes. Jewish and Muslim objections led many Christians of the Arab Near East to question the legitimacy of icon veneration. Arab theologians then defended this practice. Saint John of Damascus (d. 750) wrote three discourses in defense of icons; Patriarch Timothy I (d. 823) answered, in his dialogue with Caliph al-Mahdi, why Christians prostrate before the cross; Theodore Abu Qurra (d. c. 825) composed his Treatise on the Veneration of Icons; and Yahya ibn Adi (d. 974) wrote an article explaining why Christians venerate the Holy Cross. The intellectual openness of Muslim caliphs in the Middle Ages contributed, on one hand, to promoting dialogue between Muslims and Christians on religious and doctrinal matters, and on the other hand, to encouraging Christians to write on various delicate subjects, including icons. This paper aims to study the subject of icon veneration from the perspective of Arab Christians, particularly Theodore Abu Qurra and al-Mu'taman ibn al-'Assal (d. after 1260), within the Islamic context in which they lived. It raises the following problematic: How does the ethical dimension manifest in the veneration of images, particularly those of Christ, the Virgin, and the saints? From this problematic emerge the following questions: How can prostration before images be "veneration" rather than worship? What are the reasons justifying the veneration, glorification, and kissing of the cross? How does veneration of saints' images lead to their intercession as mediators between God and humanity? And how does veneration of Christ's image, particularly the cross, lead to reward?

Associate professor and director of the Louis Pouzet Center for Ancient and Medieval Civilizations Studies at Saint Joseph University of Beirut, she specializes in classical Arabic philosophy. Her research focuses on critical editions and the study of manuscripts relating to medieval Arab Christian thought. She has published numerous articles on collation methods, dating, and text establishment, as well as their intellectual contextualization. Her work particularly focuses on the writings of Yahya ibn 'Adi and 'Isa ibn Zur'a, which she helps make accessible to researchers.

Conference Handout

The Sword, the Script, and the Spectacle: Aesthetics of Jihad in Classical and Contemporary Islam

Naveed S. Sheikh University of Nottingham naveed.sheikh@nottingham.ac.uk

Abstract

This paper explores how political violence in Islamic traditions and modern Islamist movements operates through deeply aesthetic registers. Drawing on Walter Benjamin's critique of the aestheticisation of politics, Judith Butler's theories of grievability and performativity, and Talal Asad's anthropology of pain and ethical formation, it argues that aesthetics is not decorative but constitutive of jihadist violence. Acts of violence—whether textual, corporeal, or symbolic—are made affectively persuasive and ethically charged through aesthetic form. The paper traces six registers across classical and contemporary contexts: juridical literature, the mujāhid's choreographed body, martyrdom and grievance, sacred calligraphy, apocalyptic narrative, and architectural ruin. Together, these trace a movement from ornament to annihilation, revealing aesthetics as fundamental to how violence is imagined, legitimated, and made to matter.

Core Argument

Violence becomes imaginable, desirable, and obligatory through aesthetic form itself. This is not propaganda superimposed upon "actual" motivations—rather, form is the very mechanism through which ideological and ethical subjects are constituted. From the earliest classical jihād texts to contemporary Islamic State media, violence is rendered legible through aesthetic mechanisms that make it morally intelligible and affectively compelling.

Theoretical Framework

Benjamin's analysis of fascism reveals how aestheticised politics transforms mass movements into orchestrated performances that subordinate critical thought to sensory immersion (Benjamin 1936/2008). Jihadist media operates through similar logic, rendering violence as beautiful spectacle that invites identificatory absorption rather than analytical distance. Butler's work on grievability demonstrates that frames of representation determine whose lives and deaths are made visible and mournable (Butler 2009). Jihadist discourse produces radically asymmetric grievability: Muslim suffering infinitely visible and morally luminous; enemy suffering foreclosed or delegitimated. Asad's anthropology of ethical formation shows that religious traditions shape subjects through embodied practices, sensory disciplines, and affective engagements with authoritative texts and images (Asad 1993, 2003). Jihadist aesthetics operate precisely through such formation, cultivating subjects for whom violence appears as internalised obligation.

Section Summaries

1. The Adorned Law—Classical Jihād as Rhetorical Form

Classical Islamic discourse aestheticises violence from its earliest systematic articulations. Al-Shaybānī's Kitāb al-Siyar (8th c.) renders the world as ordered moral space through the dār al-islām / dār al-ḥarb binary—not mere legal taxonomy but cosmological architecture (Khadduri 1966). Elaborate taxonomies of permissibility produce juridical elegance: violence appears disciplined, proportionate, embedded within divine surveillance. Ibn al-Mubārak's Kitāb al-Jihād (8th c.) ornaments violence with prophetic authority and paradise imagery. Sensory descriptions make martyrdom desirable; death becomes passage into eternal beauty (Cook 2005). Both texts reveal that form itself performs ethical work, cultivating subjects for whom violence appears morally intelligible and affectively compelling. As Asad argues, to study these texts is not only to acquire legal knowledge but to be formed into subjects who experience violence as cosmologically ordered (Asad 1993).

2. The Mujāhid as Icon—Gendered Bodies and Gestural Discipline

Contemporary jihadist media render the militant body as aesthetic object: standardised poses, codified uniform (black clothing, shahāda headband), the tawhīd gesture. The body becomes reproducible icon, fusing masculinity, piety, and violence (Winter 2015). This is performance in Taylor's sense: embodied practice that transmits cultural knowledge through gesture and disciplined repetition (Taylor 2003). The aesthetic has classical roots in furūsiyya literature (Mamluk martial arts treatises) and futuwwa tradition (spiritual chivalry), which treated the warrior's body as object requiring aesthetic cultivation. The righteous warrior must be visually legible through disciplined gesture and posture. Butler's analysis of gender performativity illuminates the mechanism: masculinity is produced through repeated stylised acts that congeal over time (Butler 1990). Digital media transforms mechanisms of production and circulation but inherits the underlying logic: ethical virtue performed through aesthetically distinguished bodily practices.

3. Blood Witness—Martyrdom and the Aesthetics of Grievance

Martyrdom operates through two-stage aesthetic process. First, grievance must be aestheticised. Jihadist media curates images of Muslim suffering (Palestine, Syria, and other sites of Muslim dispossession), producing differential grievability—Muslim pain hyper-visible, enemy suffering invisible or delegitimated. Butler demonstrates that not all lives are equally mournable; grievability is produced through aesthetic and discursive frames (Butler 2009). This creates moral capital authorising violence as sacred duty. Second, martyrdom provides sacred answer. Drawing on Karbalā as affective template (blood on sand, righteous minority, cosmic injustice), martyrdom videos aestheticise death through careful visual grammar: waṣiyya (testament), calm demeanour, nashīd soundtrack, scriptural overlay (Hafez 2007). The video performs sanctification, constituting death as meaningful through aesthetic form. As Hegghammer observes, this aesthetic grammar migrates across sectarian boundaries, with Sunni jihadists inheriting Shiʿi martyrological aesthetics while inverting theology (Hegghammer 2017). The martyr's blood answers the beautiful victim.

4. Sacred Script—Calligraphy and the Sanctification of Violence

Arabic holds unique status as language of divine revelation; Qurʾanic iʿjāz (inimitability) makes calligraphy inherently sacred (Boullata 2000; Schimmel 1984). Script functions as aesthetic technology sanctifying violence in situ. Three manifestations operate simultaneously: (1) Shahāda banners render divine speech present in combat zones, performing sanctification (Wasserstein 2017); (2) Qurʾanic verses inscribed on weapons transform implements into liturgical objects—violence participates in divine speech itself; (3) Āyāt superimposed on execution videos perform real-time transformation: murder becomes divine judgment enacted. Asad's anthropology of ethical formation is crucial here: Islamic traditions cultivate ethical subjects through embodied practices of recitation and ritual engagement with sacred texts (Asad 1993). Messick extends this to calligraphic practice, showing how script makes divine speech materially present and affectively compelling (Messick 1993). Script interpellates viewers into economy of embodied piety—to see script is to recognise divine authority, to accept the act as commanded. Violence becomes liturgy.

5. Terminal Aesthetics—Apocalypse and Ruin

Violence rendered not as means but as consummation. Islamic State deploys malāḥim (eschatological battles) literature as operative framework, replacing linear chronology with prophetic periodisation (Cook 2002; McCants 2015). Events appear as destiny unfolding. Dabiq magazine structures violence within cosmic rupture—this differs from al-Qaeda's defensive/reactive temporality, as evidenced in Bin Laden's writings (Bin Laden 2005). The sublime of ruin provides spatial performance: architectural destruction (Palmyra, Mosul Museum, Bamiyan) filmed with cinematic precision. In Kantian and Burkean aesthetics, the sublime names experiences combining terror with awe. Ruins signify divine sovereignty. Pre-Islamic monuments rendered as jāhiliyya made stone; their destruction enacts purification, divine law fulfilled (Flood 2002; Harmansah 2015). Benjamin's observation that no document of civilisation is not simultaneously document of barbarism is inverted here: barbarism becomes the document (Benjamin 1940/2007). Beauty resides in deliberate unmaking.

6. Conclusion: From Ornament to Annihilation

Six aesthetic registers traced: (1) juridical order, (2) devotional exhortation, (3) choreographed bodies, (4) aestheticised grievance/martyrdom, (5) sacred script, (6) apocalyptic ruin. Each intensifies the analysis, moving from ornament rendering violence morally legible to annihilation requiring no justification beyond sublime performance. Aesthetics is constitutive: violence becomes imaginable, desirable, obligatory through form itself. This has profound implications for scholarship and policy—we cannot understand or meaningfully respond to jihadism without attending to aesthetic regimes through which it operates. Effective responses require counter-aesthetics: alternative visual grammars, narrative structures, and affective economies that render violence as futile, horrific, and theologically illegitimate.

A lecturer-researcher in international relations at the School of Social Sciences at Keele University (UK) since 2005, Naveed Sheikh teaches Terrorism Studies, Security Studies, and Middle Eastern international relations, and supervises dissertations and theses at all levels. Teaching commitments have been recognized with several certifications and awards, including the Keele Students' Union Teaching and Learning Award (2014) and the University Award for Excellence in Teaching and Learning (2018). Program director in international relations (2018-2021), Naveed Sheikh has also served since 2009 as editor-in-chief of the international journal Politics, Religion & Ideology. Naveed Sheikh teaches at the College of Europe (Warsaw) as a visiting professor and has conducted research and teaching stays at Harvard, Notre Dame, Louisville, Hosei (Tokyo), and the Cambridge Muslim College, as well as in Indonesia (UIII). Holding a PhD from Cambridge, a master's from Durham, and a bachelor's from Buckingham, research focuses on ideologies, religion, and politics in the Middle East and the Muslim world.

The admirable conjunction of artistic styles present in the Mosque-Cathedral of Cordoba, transcending the Islamic era through spolia, makes it a unique laboratory for studying the aesthetic and ethical dialectics between Islamic and Christian architectures and their symbolic meanings, such as the wise use of light and the employment of columns. Antagonism and inclusion resolved themselves in a Christian building that, through various interventions, embraces the ancient mosque in an extraordinary demonstration of architectural dialogue, at once harmonic and discordant, sometimes subtle, sometimes dramatic. After the conquest of 785, Abd al-Rahman I built the foundational mosque, reusing salvaged elements and a peculiar Christian basilical layout. The building extended south and east over the following centuries. On June 29, 1236, the ancient mosque suddenly became a church dedicated to Saint Mary, then a cathedral, but the transformation process was gradual. Unlike other mosques in al-Andalus, the Cathedral of Cordoba was the exception: antagonism gave way to inclusion. Christians recognized its architectural value from the beginning, combining transformation and conservation through six stages: the closing of the doors, the gradual construction of chapels, the conversion into a cemetery, the construction of the first and then the second transept, and the graffiti marking the columns. At the beginning of the 19th century, Bishop Trevilla's enlightened ideas reversed the process, promoting the restoration of the ancient vestibule of the mihrab. ICOMOS and UNESCO have recognized this exceptional monument: the Cordoba Resolution (1973) and the Buenos Aires Assembly (1984) highlighted the unique embrace between Arab architecture and later Christian constructions. The Qatar Assembly (2014) declared the historic center of Cordoba, and especially the Mosque-Cathedral, a site of Outstanding Universal Value, noting that religious use has largely ensured its conservation.

Jesus Daniel Alonso Porras was born in Cordoba. After graduating in 1989 with a degree in philosophy and letters (geography and history) from the University of Cordoba, he joined the secondary education teaching corps in 2001. In 2003, he obtained a leave of absence to pursue ecclesiastical studies at the San Pelagio Conciliar Seminary. Ordained priest on May 9, 2009, he specialized in Rome: licentiate in Church Cultural Heritage (2012) at the Pontifical Gregorian University, training at the Vatican Secret Archives School and the Pontifical Institute of Christian Archaeology. In 2019, he defended a doctoral thesis on the adaptation of the church model to the Islamic context based on the Great Mosque of Cordoba. He currently holds diocesan responsibilities in cultural heritage and teaches at the San Pelagio Theological Institute.

During Spain's transition from Francoist national-Catholicism to the democratic regime, two international Islamic-Christian Congresses of global influence were held in Cordoba in 1974 and 1977. In their final declaration, the expression "Spirit of Cordoba" was coined, later used by Cardinal Duval. These Congresses were supported by the diocese and municipality of Cordoba and by Spanish pioneers of Islamic-Christian dialogue, and featured the participation of prestigious national and foreign speakers, both Catholic and Muslim, as well as the Secretary-General of UNESCO. For the first time since 1236, in the Mosque-Cathedral, during the Congress, in addition to the Mass, Muslim Salat was prayed, with the Khutba delivered by the Jordanian Minister of Religious Affairs and Dean of the Faculty of Theology of his country, Dr. Jayat, and this event was broadcast on Spanish and Algerian television. I addressed this issue tangentially in a previously published article ("Initiatives for Islamic-Christian Encounter in Today's Cordoba," in G. Lora Serrano-J. Garcia Diaz (eds.), "The Mozarabs: Past, Present and Future of Christian Communities under Islamic Rule," Silex Universidad, 2023, 553-568). The proceedings of these two Congresses and the reflections of their organizers in books and unpublished materials before and after the Congresses, as well as the influence these Congresses have had on other subsequent initiatives, including those recently implemented, will be the subject of this paper. In terms of methodology, I intend to focus on the ethical dimension related to Axis 3 of the Congress (Aesthetic and Ethical Heritages: Tensions, Dialogues and Hospitality). Cordoba, by virtue of its past and its geopolitical situation, is the axis of the West in terms of Islamic-Christian relations in the past and could continue to be so in the future.

Jose Luis Llaquet de Entrambasaguas is a senior lecturer at Loyola University (Seville, Cordoba, and Granada campuses). Holding doctorates in law (University of Barcelona) and canon law (ICT-France), he is also an honorary doctorate recipient from Ovidius University. His academic career combines law, theology, philosophy, and conflict mediation. Accredited by ANECA and AQU, he has three research six-year terms (CNEAI). A former diocesan judge and notary of an ecclesiastical tribunal, he also served as a substitute magistrate. He has been teaching since 1991 and regularly participates in international events. His work focuses on modern and contemporary spirituality, legal history, ecclesiastical, canon, and university law, as well as indigenous peoples and Christian-Muslim dialogue.

The Basilica of Hagia Sophia, built under Justinian (532–537), represents one of the most accomplished examples of an aesthetic legitimation of political power as a reflection of the divine order. In this presentation, we would like to briefly show how this Byzantine grammar of sovereignty, far from disappearing with the Ottoman conquest of 1453, was assimilated, translated, and reconfigured within the framework of Islamo-Ottoman political theology. This is not a matter of doctrinal continuity, but rather of formal and symbolic continuity, in which architecture plays the role of mediation between divine transcendence and earthly authority.

Professor and Dominican (OP), Claudio Monge has lived and worked in Istanbul since 2004, where he directs the Dominican Study Institute. Holding a doctorate in fundamental theology (Strasbourg), specializing in Abrahamic traditions, he explores theology of religions, Turco-Ottoman Islam, sacred hospitality, and issues of otherness. He has taught as a visiting professor at Fribourg, Bologna, Toronto, and Porto Alegre, among others. A consultor to the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue since 2014, he participates in several research networks, including PLURIEL. His recent works develop a theology of hospitality and a Mediterranean reading of living together.

Eschatology is a difficult terrain in interreligious dialogue between Christians and Muslims. The traditional vision of Judgment and its precursor signs in Islam remains difficult for contemporary Christian theology to understand, having subjected its own eschatological inventory to a demythologizing revision during the 20th century. The suspicion that by advocating a retributive ethic at the doctrinal level, Islam would approach a 'dark' pedagogy and consequently be irreconcilable with the Christian idea of grace leads to treating eschatology with great caution in dialogue, or even not considering it a promising field at all. Through which discourses within contemporary Islam could Christian partners rediscover the relevance of Muslim discourses on eschatology without falling into stereotypes that exclusively associate them with apocalyptic and fundamentalist currents? From the perspective of a Christian theology of dialogue, this paper proposes a dual approach combining comparative theology and literary hermeneutics. Through three texts by Bosnian novelist Dzevad Karahasan (1953-2023), the relevance of Muslim eschatology for interpreting contemporary history will be demonstrated. Karahasan, a Muslim man of letters from Sarajevo, uses eschatological motifs in his texts to describe the harmful effects of the Yugoslav Wars (1991-2001). His work lends itself particularly well to an interreligious study that connects aesthetic and ethical dimensions in a reflection on eschatology. He thematizes interreligious coexistence in the Balkan region and describes how threatened it is by ethnic conflicts. By explicitly addressing the motifs of paradise, hell, barzakh, or judgment, Karahasan not only provides proof of the vitality of eschatological thought among intellectuals of his generation but also shows its potential for interreligious dialogue. In our paper, we will first present the use of eschatological motifs in Karahasan. Then, we will show the potential of a comparative theology that focuses not on doctrinal texts but on contemporary aesthetic and literary production.

Holding a doctorate in Protestant theology (joint supervision, Universities of Strasbourg and Leipzig), she devoted her thesis to Paul Ricoeur's ecumenical hermeneutics and its significance for dialogue processes in France. Since 2021, she has taught systematic theology at the University of Geneva (bachelor's and master's levels), with a marked interest in eschatology, the Trinity, kenosis, the relationship between faith and truth, God and time, as well as interreligious dialogue. She directs IRSE, leads the project "For a Theology Engaging Religions," and chairs the Equality and Diversity Commission. Her work focuses on ecumenism, interreligious hospitality, and theology of Israel.

In Children of Gebelawi, Naguib Mahfouz uses allegory to create an artistic work that questions the tensions between aesthetics, power, and ethics in a plural religious context. The work, both 'religious' and political, offers a re-reading of monotheisms through the figure of the father (Gabalawi, who represents God) and his descendants who successively represent prophetic figures (Gabal/Moses, Rifaa/Jesus, and Qassim/Muhammad). This narrative structure provides a space of symbolic hospitality where Judaism, Christianity, and Islam coexist.

The novel thus becomes a place of interreligious encounter: by drawing inspiration from the 'sacred books' of monotheistic religions, Mahfouz establishes a kind of common denominator between them, particularly around questions of justice and violence. Literary aesthetics is thus used as an ethical tool that critiques politico-religious dominations and calls for questioning them. This transgression is highlighted by the revolts led by the three major prophetic figures of the novel to free the people of the Medina from the yoke of political tyranny, embodied by the figures of the overseer and the futuwwas.

Mahfouz's novel thus articulates ethics and aesthetics in a quest for a more just Arab-Muslim society that protects its most vulnerable citizens. This articulation also aims at writing history in order to provide citizens with a living and interpretive memory capable of making them masters of their destiny. Mahfouz's novel thus reveals that the interweaving of aesthetics and ethics appears more than ever as a duty and a necessity for Arab-Muslim societies.

Gabriel Khairallah is a lecturer at the Faculty of Modern Letters and the CLN of Saint Joseph University of Beirut. Holding a doctorate from Sorbonne Nouvelle University (Paris III), his work focuses on the family crisis and individual autonomy in Naguib Mahfouz and Francois Mauriac. He also holds a double Master 2 (Paris III–Loyola) dedicated to the figure of God in Children of Gebelawi, as well as a master's on forgiveness in Paul Ricoeur. He has taught at USJ since 2011 and has been teaching at Sciences Po Paris since 2013 and Sciences Po Aix since 2024. His research explores the connections between sacred texts and literature, literature and religion, politics and feminism. He has published in international journals and conference proceedings and has been director of the Cercle de la Jeunesse Catholique since 2018.

Abd al-Ghani al-Nabulusi, a Damascene commentator and defender of the Andalusian master Ibn Arabi, was the most prominent religious and literary figure of Ottoman Syria. His works include poetry collections, fatwas, treatises on oneiromancy, metaphysics, prophetology or theology, as well as four travel books. In these rihlas, which gather his experiences throughout his journeys between Egypt, Syria and the Hejaz, along with reflections prompted by an anecdote, a visit, or a vision, the author displays a peculiar approach to the buildings and sacred places that mark his journey. For Nabulusi and his travel companions, the tombs of Christian saints, biblical patriarchs, and even monasteries constitute places of veneration and contemplation. Besides incorporating sacred Christian sites into his travels—which had a clear spiritual intention—another distinguishing feature of Nabulusi's work is his description of landscape and architecture. For this author, the locations of certain buildings and the arrangement of their elements can be interpreted from a symbolic point of view, establishing analogies between distant places or between architecture and certain Sufi conceptualizations, etc. His vision of landscape and architecture goes beyond the principles of aesthetics and historical logic; one could say that for him, each element of the landscape or the city contains a teaching that must be decoded and that can be expressed, as is usual in Sufi language, in an apparently irrational and even paradoxical manner. Upon the real landscape, he superimposes a spiritual landscape.

Gracia Lopez Anguita is a professor in the Department of Arabic and Islamic Studies at the University of Seville, where she teaches Arabic language and classical Arabic and Islamic thought. Holding a degree in Arabic philology from the University of Granada, she obtained a European doctorate in 2014 at Seville with a thesis on Ibn 'Arabi's treatise Uqlat al-mustawfiz, which received an Extraordinary Prize. Her research focuses on the thought of Ibn 'Arabi and his school. Her publications include Historia del Sufismo en Al-Andalus (2009) and Ibn Arabi y su epoca (2018). She was a visiting researcher in Tehran (2018) and at EPHE Paris (2021, 2022). She currently participates in an R&D&I project on cultural and religious identity in Sufism in Morocco and Senegal (hagiographies, gender, symbolism).