Al-Mahdi Institute, in collaboration with Duke University’s Department of Religious Studies and the Duke Center for Islamic Studies, held its second Islamic Philosophy and Theology Conference on 24–25th July 2025. This two-day event, held at Duke University’s Rubenstein Library in Durham, North Carolina, brought together leading scholars from around the world to examine the theme: “Islamic Perspectives on Prophecy and Revelation.”
Building upon the success of the inaugural conference in February 2023, which explored Islamic Perspectives on God and monotheism, this second conference focused on another foundational tenet of Islamic faith: the belief in prophecy and revelation. Together with the belief in divine unity and the afterlife, prophecy constitutes one of the core doctrines of Islam. Indeed, it is through the revelatory experiences of the Prophet Muhammad, as preserved in the Quran, that Muslims derive their fundamental articles of faith concerning God’s nature, the resurrection, and eschatological concepts such as heaven and hell. Prophecy and revelation thus form the principal epistemological foundation of Islam.
Despite the centrality of these concepts, the phenomenon of prophecy in Islam has not been sufficiently problematized or discussed in secondary literature in Western languages, particularly when compared to other doctrinal issues such as divine attributes, monotheism, and the salvation of non-Muslims. This conference aimed to shift the focus and methodology of studying prophecy in Islam from the purely historical study of the Prophet Muhammad to the phenomenon of prophecy and revelation itself, thereby directing attention to the vast body of literature across different Islamic disciplines that investigates the philosophical dimensions of these concepts.
The two-day conference was divided into six panels featuring twelve papers by internationally acclaimed experts in theology, philosophy, religious studies, intellectual history, and Islamic studies. The conference attracted participants from North America, Europe, and the Middle East. However, global challenges and travel restrictions prevented three invited speakers from attending in person; these scholars participated remotely via online connections.
Day One: Thursday, 24 July 2025
Proceedings on the first day began with an opening address by Dr Wahid M. Amin (Al-Mahdi Institute), who welcomed participants and outlined the conference’s objectives. Dr Amin emphasised the importance of examining prophecy through multiple methodological lenses and acknowledged the support of both the Al-Mahdi Institute and Duke University in making the event possible. He expressed particular gratitude to Professor Mohsen Kadivar for his instrumental role in organising the conference at Duke.
Panel One opened the scholarly discussions with two papers examining the epistemology of prophethood and miracles in classical and medieval Islamic thought. Dr Muhammad Fariduddin Attar (Carleton University) presented a fascinating examination of how Abū Ḥamīd al-Ghazālī and Fakhr al-Dīn al-Rāzī approached the question of miracles and their relationship to prophecy. His paper explored the controversial position that miracles cannot verify prophetic claims to divine guidance, arguing instead that miracles serve primarily a persuasive rather than evidentiary function. Attar demonstrated how both theologians affirmed the naturalistic basis of occult phenomena such as magic and thaumaturgy, complicating attempts to distinguish genuine miracles from manufactured supernatural displays. The second paper, delivered by Dr Nazir Khan (University of Nottingham), provided a comprehensive analysis of Ibn Taymiyya’s epistemology of prophethood and miracles. Dr Khan examined Ibn Taymiyya’s critique of both Muʿtazilite and Ashʿarite approaches to miracles, showing how the fourteenth-century scholar expanded the evidentiary basis for prophethood beyond miracles to include moral integrity, rational coherence, and alignment with human nature (fiṭra).
Following lunch, Panel Two shifted focus to the phenomenology and metaphysics of prophetic experience. Professor Mahmoud Morvarid (Institute for Research in Fundamental Sciences, Tehran) offered a sophisticated philosophical analysis of the veridicality of perceptual prophetic experiences. Drawing on contemporary analytic philosophy, particularly David Chalmers’ work on perfect and imperfect content, Professor Morvarid proposed a new framework for understanding how prophetic experiences can be veridical despite not involving encounters with physical objects. His paper provided a fresh alternative to classical Islamic theories proposed by al-Fārābī, Ibn Sīnā, Suhrawardī, and Mullā Ṣadrā. Dr Halim Calis (Respect Graduate School) then presented on divine speech, revelation, and prophethood within the Akbarī school of philosophical Sufism. His paper examined how Ibn al-ʿArabī, Ṣadr al-Dīn al-Qūnawī, and Shams al-Dīn al-Fanārī conceptualised revelation as an ontological process—a progressive self-disclosure of the Divine Essence that mirrors the emanation of existence itself. Dr Calis clarified Ibn al-ʿArabī’s often-misunderstood distinction between messengership (risāla) and sainthood (wilāya), demonstrating their complementary rather than hierarchical relationship.
After the afternoon break, Panel Three engaged with critical perspectives from both Islamic philosophy and Western philosophy of religion. Dr Jamie Turner (University of Birmingham) presented a thought-provoking paper bringing together al-Fārābī’s account of prophecy with John Hick’s theory of religious pluralism. Dr Turner argued that this “Farabian-Hickian” approach, which understands prophecy as a “bottom-up” achievement through heightened spiritual awareness rather than a “top-down” divine bestowal, provides a more intellectually satisfying framework for religious pluralism and addresses contemporary epistemic challenges regarding religious diversity. The final paper of the day, delivered by Professor Imran Aijaz (University of Michigan-Dearborn), applied David Hume’s famous argument against miracles to Islamic concepts of prophecy and revelation. Professor Aijaz contended that Hume’s critique, properly understood, successfully challenges apologetic attempts to establish prophetic truth through scripture and tradition as “external evidence,” thereby inviting Muslim philosophers to reconsider the epistemological foundations of prophetic belief.
Day Two: Friday, 25 July 2025
The second day opened with Panel Four, which examined modern and contemporary approaches to Quranic revelation. Professor Aarash Naraghi (Moravian University) analysed Fazlur Rahman’s influential theory of revelation, focusing particularly on its psychological dimension and the relationship between “feeling,” “idea,” and “word” in the prophetic experience. Professor Naraghi employed Charles Sanders Peirce’s concept of “inner speech” to clarify the cognitive and linguistic processes underlying Rahman’s framework, which draws on both classical Islamic thinkers and modern philosophical resources. Professor Mohsen Kadivar (Duke University) then presented his ambitious project of developing an Islamic model of revelation. His paper critiqued both propositional and non-propositional models of revelation from Christian and Jewish theology, arguing that while the Islamic understanding aligns more closely with propositional models, it significantly diverges from both Christian and Jewish formulations. Professor Kadivar grounded his proposed Islamic model in Quranic principles and prophetic tradition. Dr Amir Saemi (Independent Scholar) concluded the panel with a sophisticated examination of the moral function of revelation in the modern age. His paper addressed the tension between scriptural commands and independent moral judgment, arguing that when such conflicts arise, believers should rely on their moral reasoning while recognising that revelation generates new reasons through what he termed “underdetermination-solving” and “relationship-based” functions.
Following lunch, Panel Five turned to linguistic and textual dimensions of revelation. Dr Wahid M. Amin (Al-Mahdi Institute) presented on the Quran as divine speech, engaging Shīʿī Uṣūlī legal theory with contemporary speech act theory. His paper examined the classical problem of al-khiṭābāt al-shafāhiyya—whether divine commands addressed to specific audiences extend to others not directly addressed—analysing how figures such as Mīrzā Qummī, Ākhund Khurāsānī, and Muḥammad Ḥusayn Nāʾinī grappled with questions of context-dependence and the universalizability of divine speech acts. Shaykh Arif Abdul Hussain (Al-Mahdi Institute) then offered an inter-Quranic contextual analysis of the nature of revelation and the revealer. Through literalistic analysis of key Quranic terms such as tanzīl, inzāl, rūḥ, and waḥī, Shaykh Abdul Hussain argued that the Quran represents an articulation of formless meanings from the Umm al-Kitāb, shaped by the Prophet’s context, with important implications for distinguishing between God as ineffable and the agent of revelation who speaks within the text.
The conference’s final panel, Panel Six, addressed ethical and gender dimensions of prophetic thought. Dr Seyyed Amir Asghari (Baylor University) examined prophetic wisdom (ḥikma) in the Quran, exploring how wisdom functions as a bridge between divine revelation and universal ethical principles. His paper highlighted the Quranic emphasis on teaching both scripture (al-kitāb) and wisdom, arguing that this pairing enables prophetic guidance to transcend specific legal codes and speak to shared human ethical concerns across cultures and religions. The conference concluded with a compelling paper by Dr Celene Ibrahim (Groton School) on ameliorating gender bias in Muslim prophetology. Through careful intra-textual reading of Quranic passages, particularly those concerning Maryam, Dr Ibrahim challenged the theological consistency of excluding women from prophetic categories, offering suggestions for addressing religiously grounded sexism in classical and contemporary Islamic thought.
Conclusion and Publication
The second Islamic Philosophy and Theology Conference successfully demonstrated the breadth and sophistication of scholarly engagement with prophecy and revelation in Islamic thought. The papers presented showcased diverse methodological approaches—from classical textual analysis to contemporary analytic philosophy, from historical contextualization to phenomenological investigation—while maintaining rigorous academic standards and respect for the tradition under examination.
The interdisciplinary nature of the conference proved particularly valuable, as philosophers, theologians, and Islamic studies specialists brought different perspectives to bear on shared questions. This cross-fertilisation of approaches enriched discussions and revealed new avenues for future research. The conference successfully balanced critical scholarly inquiry with sensitivity to the profound religious significance these concepts hold for Muslim communities worldwide.
The papers from this conference will be published in an edited volume by AMI Press and De Gruyter Brill, co-edited by Professor Mohsen Kadivar and Dr Wahid M. Amin. This volume will join the proceedings from the first conference, Islamic Perspectives on God and (Other) Monotheism(s), in forming part of a trilogy examining core Islamic doctrines. The publication partnership with Brill De Gruyter, recently established by the Al-Mahdi Institute, represents a significant milestone that will enhance the dissemination of high-quality scholarship in Islamic Studies to the global academic community. Al-Mahdi Institute looks forward to continuing this series with a third conference that will complete the trilogy on fundamental Islamic beliefs, further contributing to scholarly discourse and cross-cultural understanding in the contemporary study of Islam. The methodological, theological, and practical insights raised stress the value of continued dialogue across disciplines and traditions. The session also outlined future directions for this field of inquiry, calling for expanded collaborative research and stronger institutional support to ensure that Islamic intellectual disciplines remain both intellectually rigorous and responsive to contemporary challenges.
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