Building Respect, Seeking Truth
History of Muslim-Christian Dialogue 2
​​
Course leaders: Dr. Martin Whittingham, Dr Motaz al-Thaher
​
Next opportunity: Tuesdays September 9th - November 25th 2025
​​
This 3 credit hour course will have classes at 8:00am-10:00am Central time. Students will be expected to spend 4-6 hours per week in private study and group study. The out-of-class work will be at least as important as the in-class work. Each student will be expected to make a class presentation. Students taking this course for credit will also be required to take a short-answer quiz and to write a 4,000 word essay.
​​
The course cost is $400, reduced to $150 for majority world students.
​
Students who wish to obtain CMCS Houston credit for this course are usually required to do the first four modules of our 'Research and Writing for Muslim & Christian Studies​' prior to the start of the course. This course may be begun at any time - students are advised to begin as soon as possible.
​
CMCS Houston has some full and half-scholarships available. To apply for a scholarship, email a letter of application together with your c.v. and contact details of two referees to office@cmcshouston.org
​
This course follows History of Muslim-Christian Dialogue 1, but it can be taken by itself provided that students do set pre-reading. It continues the method of exploring the history of Christians and Muslims writing about each other and discussing with each other, through focused study of selected primary sources from different periods and locations. There will also be lectures from specialist research scholars.
​
The course is particularly suitable for graduate students with an academic interest in Muslim-Christian relations, and for final year undergraduate students majoring in history, or in the study of Islam or of Christianity.
Specialist Guest Speakers will include:
-
Dr. Mohammed Gamal Abdelnour
-
Professor Peter Riddell
-
Dr. Ida Glaser
​
Dialogue is not only verbal.
These are images from our unit on the Jesuit visits to the Mughal emperors in the 16th century
This is a rich course with amazing content, rich resources and great teachers.
Tahmina Maryam, Bangladesh
You will find this one of the best courses for building respect and seeking truth in today’s world.
Naseer John, Pakistan
History of Muslim-Christian Dialogue (2)
NB Individuals named will be studied alongside the wider context of their time and place
​
SEPTEMBER 9th
Topic 1: Course Introduction, plus The Mamluk period, and Najm al-dīn al-Ṭūfī
16th
Topic 2: Ottomans (1): Gregory Palamas, Anselm Turmeda and the afterlife of his work
23rd
Topic 3: Ottomans (2): Links with the European Reformation, and Martin Luther on Islam
30th
Topic 4: The Jesuits and the Mughal Empire
​
OCTOBER 7th
Topic 5: Persia: Augustinians and Carmelites in Isfahan, and Shia responses to the writings and Persian Bible translation of Henry Martyn
14th
Topic 6: 19th century India : Christian-Muslim Exchanges and Polemics, and Karl Gottlieb Pfander and Rahmat Ullah Kairanawi
21st - BREAK
28th
Topic 7: 19th Century Reformers: Sayyid Ahmad Khan and Muhammad ‘Abduh (guest lecturer Dr Mohammed Gamal Abdelnour)
​
NOVEMBER 4th
Topic 8: The Malay-Indonesian World (guest lecturer Professor Peter Riddell)
11th
Topic 9: The Sokoto Caliphate in West Africa
18th
Topic 10: 20th century
25th
Topic 11: a) 21st Century Developments
b) Looking Back and Looking Forward: Reflections and Learning Points
The Muslim-Christian Dialogue discourse which I studied during the online course will help us craft a new course for our seminarians on Muslim-Christian Dialogue, to promote tolerance among the would be ministers.
Simbarashe Munamati, Murray Theological College, Zimbabwe
Don’t do it unless you enjoy the subject being offered and can be sincerely and fully engaged and devoted. . . . . I’m a self-proclaimed nerd and loved every second of discussion, lecture, presentation, and reading.
Usmon Shaikh, University of Houston
The course is very practical and relevant for the contemporary situation. It opens a window where students can express their opinions - not polemically but in a peaceful environment. Students may have different opinions, but respect towards each other is carefully maintained.
Sujit Sarker, ICL, Bangladesh
I think, this course will serve as a mile stone for those students who are interested in the history of Muslim-Christian Dialogue.
Urfa John, Forman Christian College, Pakistan