This forum  devotes itself   to   the  study   and  research   in   the  field  of  the  relation  between  knowledge (religious and philosophical)  and culture  in  the Islamic world. 

It  aims   not  only   at   the historical,   hypothetic-deductive  and deconstructive  analyses  of  this  specific  field  of  learning, but  will  also make ample  use  of the methods  of  discursive   and transformative  analysis  (cfr.  N. Fairclough: 'Discourse and Social change’ - 1992; ‘Critical discourse analysis :  The critical study  of  language’  - 1995)  and  in particular  of  those  of the ‘Knowledge audit’ (F. Vandamme :  ‘Kennisaudit’  - 1999; ‘Knowledge Modelling’ - 1993).

Those objectives  are  not  only  to  be structurally developed  synchronically   as  well  as  diachronically,   but   also  futuro- chronically (from the future),   covering  a wide range of topics on Islamic religion and philosophy and its knowledge fields. Of course,  all this will not limit itself  to passive and purely theoretical studies  and publications,   but  will emphasize  interactive  contacts,   making  available   all   the  information  about  the activities,  reference materials  (books,   articles)  and  the external links it possesses.

All  those interested  in  the subject  of  the relation between knowledge and culture  in the (epistemological) sphere  of the Islam, especially in its religion and philosophy, are invited to contact and eventually submit papers for publication on this site, where they will be open to discussion. 

As the purpose of this forum is to provide a special service contributing to the communication, criticism, stimulation and the unification of research and the production of particularly significant  and controversial works in the above mentioned field, appropriate submitted papers will be published in full on this site. The submitted papers will  be judged solely  on their scientific merits, not on the personal antecedents of their writer.  Commentary on those papers may not only be  provided by any qualified professional, but also by members of a more generally interested  public. However, only those commentaries, criticisms, interpretations and elaborations which will be judged appropriate by the editors of this site, adding pertinent complementary and supplementary material from a cross-disciplinary perspective to the subject, will be eligible for acceptance to appear together with the authors response. It is the editors privilege to determine the duration of the appearance of any contribution on this site, but as a general rule the minimum time will be a month. 

Contributions must not necessarily be written in English. Texts in Arabic, Dutch, French and German are equally welcomed.

Please send your reactions, texts and remarks by e-mail to the coordinator of this website:

Marc ROUSSEAUX