Potential for Renewing Islamic Theology through Personal Experience.. Seminar at RIBF

As part of its cultural program at the 30th edition of the Rabat International Book Fair, the Muslim Council of Elders hosted a seminar titled: “The Potential for Renewing Islamic Theology through Personal Experience.”

The seminar was moderated by Dr. Samir Boudinar, Director of the Al-Hokama Center for Peace Research, and featured a keynote address by Dr. Hasan Abdullatif El-Shafei, member of the Muslim Council of Elders, member of Al-Azhar’s Council of Senior Scholars, Chairman of the Union of Arabic Language and Science Academies, and former President of the Academy of the Arabic Language in Cairo.

At the beginning of the seminar, Dr. Boudinar emphasized that the presence of His Eminence Sheikh El-Shafei at the Muslim Council of Elders’ pavilion at the Rabat International Book Fair, and his visit to Morocco as a distinguished guest, held “special significance.” 

He described him as a renewed link between the venerable scholars of the East and their counterparts in the West, particularly between Al-Azhar Al-Sharif in Egypt and Al-Qarawiyyin University in Fez. Dr. Boudinar noted that Dr. El-Shafei is one of the most prominent specialists in Islamic theology, a distinguished scholar whose reputation has spread across the Islamic world, known among scholars and researchers alike for his profound scholarship and meticulous research, both in the East and the West.

For his part, His Eminence Professor Dr. El-Shafei highlighted that there are numerous commonalities in the field of Islamic theology between the scholars of Cairo and Rabat, most notably a “tendency toward institutional renewal” through “scientific bodies” — an approach found uniquely in Morocco and at Al-Azhar headquarters in Egypt. 

He explained that in the Western world, renewal generally meant reviving Roman legal traditions and Greek philosophy, while in the Islamic context, it involved reviving the “experimental spirit” within Islamic heritage. In the West, renewal concerned fundamentals, beliefs, issues, and proofs, whereas “for the East, renewal focuses on issues, methodological rules, and proofs alone,” noting that “we do not have ecumenical councils that introduce new doctrines into the core of our faith.” 

He stressed that “renewal among Muslims means demonstrating the established articles of faith through the Quran and the Sunnah.”