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Rabat – The second national conference “Comparative Theology: Concepts; Issues and Comparisons” will take place on March 10-11 at the convention center in Fez.
The two-day event is held by the Comparative Religions research group, which is affiliated to the Discourse, Creativity and Society: Perception and Implication research laboratory at the Faculty of Arts and Humanities of Sidi Mohamed Ben Abdellah University in Fez. The conference will focus on the science of comparative religions.
The event aims to promote and highlight the importance of dialogue between both civilizations and religions and to shed light on the historical and religious context of such dialogue..
The conference is also designed to showcase student research, providing students with the opportunity to present and receive feedback on research conducted for their PhD dissertations.
The two-day conference will include six panels that will discuss several issues, such as religious minorities, Jewish and Christian religious thought and methodological issues in comparative religious studies.
Mustafa Ettoualy, a PhD candidate at the University of Sidi Mohamed Ben Abdellah, is a conference presenter who will deliver his talk “The Multiculturalist Theory: Two Paradigms of the Clash of Civilizations.”
In an interview with Morocco World News, Ettoualy said, “The topic of my presentation is based on the clash of civilizations theory as articulated by the Egyptian author Sayyid Qutb and American political analyst Samuel Huntington.”
Ettoualy aims to clarify that multiculturalism stresses the importance of recognizing and maintaining different ethnic and cultural identities within the same framework.
“I aim to show how the existence of hegemonic cultures should be a factor for dialogue between civilizations and not vice versa,” Ettoualy said.
Said Gfaiti, PhD, is the event’s general coordinator and a professor of Hebrew studies and comparative religions at Sidi Mohamed Ben Abdellah University.
“In 2007, we created a master’s program in comparative religions because we noticed that there is an absence of religious science studies in Morocco that can help us consolidate our ties with other religions and cultures.”
The Comparative Religions research group also aims to sharpen the knowledge of student researchers by teaching them ancient languages so that they may be able to read the original references and religious texts.
“For example, we teach the Hebrew language in order to deepen the scientific background of student researchers concerning Judaism and Christianity,” Gfaiti said.
