Bio
Dr. Makram Abbas is a university professor at the Ecole Normale Supérieure de France and currently he is the Director of the French Research Centre of the Arabian Peninsula (CEFREPA). His research is concerned with the fields of political thought in Islam such as royal literature and the writings of philosophers (such as Ibn Rushd and Al-Farabi) on the issue of utopia in addition to issues of war and peace and their relationship to politics in Arab civilization. Among his books are Islam and Politics in the Middle Ages (2009) and the French translation of Al Mawardi’s book Facilitating Consideration and Accelerating Victory within the Morals of the King and the Politics of Kingship, as well as Political Philosophy and the Arts of Government in Islam.
Royal Literature and the Path of Modern Arab Political Thought
The lecture is concerned with introducing royal literature, by showing its origin and development as a specific pattern of Islamic thought rooted in Arab culture and extending for centuries. The lecturer will also discuss these political writings and their relationship to ethics and religion and discuss the works devoted to these topics, such as those suggested by Muhammad Abed Al-Jabri in his writings on politics and ethics in Islam. Finally, the lecture will shed light on the ramifications of these works and their spheres of influence, as well as their relationship to political modernity in the contemporary Arab world.
