CRISIS, CRITIQUE AND SELF-CRITICISM:
Perspectives from Jewish and Muslim Traditions
The international conference “Crisis, Critique, Self-Criticism: Perspectives from Jewish and Muslim Traditions” will take place from October 20th to 22nd, 2025, at the University of Vienna, hosted by the Institute for Islamic Theological Studies. This event aims to bring together scholars from various disciplines to explore how Jewish and Muslim intellectual traditions have historically addressed crises, engaged in critique, and fostered self-criticism. These themes are particularly relevant in today’s world, where religious, social, and political challenges demand both critical reflection on others and an honest introspection of one’s own beliefs and practices.
The academic goal of this conference is to contribute to the ongoing scholarly dialogue on interreligious relations, especially between Judaism and Islam, by exploring how both traditions have handled internal and external criticism throughout history. Participants will engage with texts and case studies from both traditions to reflect on the historical and contemporary meanings of critique, crisis, and introspection, as well as on related concepts such as doubt, skepticism, ambiguity, and repair.
Beyond its academic importance, this conference has a broader societal relevance. In an increasingly interconnected world, understanding how different religious and cultural traditions engage with crises and criticism is crucial for overcoming prejudice and promoting social cohesion. Jewish and Muslim thought, with their long histories of dialogue, conflict, and mutual influence, offer valuable perspectives for addressing the complexities of modern pluralistic societies.
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- Asher Biemann, Ufuk Topkara, Tuğrul Kurt —
- Andrea Lehner-Hartmann —
- Kurt Appel —
- Wolfgang Sobotka —
- Shlomo Zuckier — Holy Envy and Holy Sites: Zero-Sum and Additive Models
- Ephraim Meir — Self-Criticism in Martin Buber’s “I and Thou” and in Martin Nguyen’s “Modern Muslim Theology”
- Jennifer Geddes — Hannah Arendt and Critique
- Elliot Niblock — Walter Benjamin and Critique
- Frank Griffel — Sunni Islam’s Crisis at the End of the 11th Century and the Formation of Post-Classical Islam
- Mohammad Gharaibeh — Sunni Discourses on Critique and Self-Critique Across Premodern and Modern Periods
- Esma Ünsal — From Crisis to Critique: İsmail Hakkı İzmirli’s New Kalām and Mustafa Şekip Tunç’s Philosophy of Religion
- Randi Rashkover — Continuity, Crisis and the Sciences: An Examination of the Thought of Leo Strauss and Muhammad Iqbal
- Cedric Cohen-Skalli — Abraham Serfati (1926–2010), Political and Religious Critique and Self-Criticism, in Morocco, Israel-Palestine, and France
- Welcome: Ümit Vural
- Keynote Lecturer: Natan Sznaider — Crisis, Critique and Self-Critique: A Current Assessment from a Jewish Perspective: The Views of Hannah Arendt and Albert Memmi
- Yaniv Feller — Museums as Sites of Critique and Self-Critique
- Esra Almas & Jack Kugelmass — Absent Critique: Jewish Museums in Istanbul and Athens
- Elias Sacks — Political Theology and the Jewish Jesus: The Case of Elijah Zvi Soloveitchik
- Menachem Lorberbaum — Sovereignty or Soul: The Theological-Political Snare of the Nation State
- Shira Billet — No Truthfulness Without Humility: Jewish Philosophical Approaches to Self-Knowledge, Self-Examination, and Self-Criticism as Building Blocks of Knowledge
- Nicholas Iudt — My Place Is the Placeless: Nonmaterial Politics Between the Murīdiyya (muridiyya) of Senegal and Early Hasidism
- Nermin Hatay — The Methodologies of Zahir-Batin Distinctions in Sufi Thought and Jewish Traditions
- Arthur Schechter — Critique and Moral Failure: Was the Rise of Shi’ism in Iran Ethically Legible?
- Asher J. Mattern — Jewish Conceptual Constellations and Fascist Thought
- Elisabeth Becker-Topkara — “Why Not Peace?” Albert Einstein and the Jewish Universalist Tradition in Crisis
- Fahimah Ulfat — Crises and Critique in Interreligious Educational Processes: Self-Critical Perspectives on the Historical and Current Relationships Between Jews and Muslims
- Shankar Nair — From Self-Blame to Sultan-Critique: Repentance in Sarmad Kashani (d. 1661), a Jewish Mystic in Muslim/Hindu South Asia
- Introduction: Asher Biemann
- Welcome: Rabbi Schlomo Elieser Hofmeister
- Keynote Lecturer: Ufuk Topkara — Crisis and Self-Critique: A Current Assessment from a Muslim Perspective
- İrem Kumsal Kuru — Teilnehmerbetreuung & Registrierung
- Shama Ajoubi — Kommunikation, Web & Raumkoordination
- Mehmet Alper Kalafat — Technik, Web & Raumkoordination