Part of Recognizing Religion(s): The Cultural Dynamics of Religious Encounters and Interactions in Historical Perspective

Esmat Elhalaby discusses historical changes in the presentation of Hinduism within Arabic letters. From the classical remarks on Hindu beliefs and practices by al-Biruni, Elhalaby moves to discuss the translation of the Mahabharata prepared by al-Bustani and the role that the emerging categories of world religions and world literature played in al-Bustani’s framing of the epic for a Muslim readership. 

Zvi Ben-Dor Benite discusses the way Islam and Muslims in China have been portrayed over the centuries, ranging from presentations emphasizing their supposed foreignness to those seeking to emphasize Muslims integration within Chinese culture. Also discussed is the way early Jesuit encounters with Confucianism served to determine subsequent accounts of Chinese (ir)religion. 

Speakers
Zvi Ben-Dor Benite, Professor of History, NYU 
Esmat Elhalaby, President’s Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of History, UC Davis

Moderated by
Taneli Kukkonen, Professor of Philosophy, NYUAD

In collaboration with the Institute for Religion and Critical Inquiry at Australian Catholic University, the ERC-project European Qur'an: Islamic Scripture in European Culture and Religion at the University of Copenhagen (EuQu), NYUAD Institute