Islamic Theology

Degree: Master of Arts in Islamic Theology
Mode of Study: Full-time
Duration: 1 year
Start date: September, February
Language of instruction: English
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Islamic Theology is a new master’s programme offered by the Leiden Institute of Religious Studies. This one-year master’s programme focuses on the study of contemporary Islam. The focus is predominantly theological, but a variety of interdisciplinary approaches will be adopted, reflecting the legal, ethical, political, historical and sociological backgrounds of the staff members.

The information about this programme is available in the following languages:

The Leiden Islamic Theology programme places strong emphasis on the study of contemporary Islam, focusing particularly on Islam in the European context, as well as the study of the primary sources of Islam. This focus is achieved by the empirical study of Islam in the European context, studying the trends in contemporary Islamic-theological research, and of current developments in religious jurisprudence relating to the position of Islam as a minority religion in the West; students also write a master’s thesis focusing on Islam in contemporary Europe.

NB: For those interested in the study of historical and current forms of Islam and the comparative study of Muslim society, see the MA in Islamic Studies .

Prof. Berger

“The image of Islam in the contemporary Western world has become grossly distorted.”

“I have noticed that there is a keen interest in the Muslim world for issues of Islam in the contemporary Western world. The cartoons in Denmark, banning of the headscarf in public places in France, anti-Muslim films in the Netherlands, Islamic schools, and discrimination based on religion – these have all made the headlines in the Muslim world.

In my opinion, however, the image of Islam in the contemporary Western world has become grossly distorted. I often find myself explaining that one needs to first understand the context of Western societies in order to get a view of what role Islam is playing.

And vice versa, of course, for the dialectic between ‘Islam’ and the ‘West’ has effects both ways: Muslims react to how they feel treated by the societies they live in, and their fellow citizens and societies react to the changes and threats they perceive are being created by Muslims.

This interaction is what we study in our master’s programme, which combines a unique set of topics and approaches that deal with these issues. The angles we take are theological, empirical, political, legal and anthropological. For both students and professors this is an academic and intellectual challenge.

We therefore aim at the top level of ambitious (inter)national students who have a good command of English and preferably also Arabic.”