I was pleased to serve as the editor of two academic symposia at the Omani Cultural Club, both of which resulted in books published as part of the Club’s 2026 publication series. These volumes are part of the Club’s ongoing initiative to document selected academic symposia in book form.
The first symposium, “The State of Philosophical Studies in Oman and Their Future,” featured three contributions: Dr. Saud Al-Zadjali presented “The State of Philosophy in the Sultanate of Oman: Historical and Critical Perspectives”; Dr. Zakariya Al-Mahrami discussed “Omani Kalām and the Presence of Philosophy”; and Mr. Ali Al-Rawahi examined “The Marginalization of Philosophy and the Historical Gap in Oman.”
The second symposium, “Religious Thought and the Concepts of Ethics, Historicity, and Public Affairs between the Absolute and the Relative,” brought together three distinguished scholars. Dr. Haidar Hobbollah of Lebanon presented “Ethical Ijtihād in the Derivation of Islamic Law: An Analysis of the Relationship between Revealed Text and Moral Reason”; Dr. Masoud Ben Ahmed Saidi of Tunisia delivered “Religious Texts through the Lens of Historicity and Historicism: Rethinking the Criterion for Distinguishing the Absolute from the Relative”; and Mr. Mohammed Yahya Azzan of Yemen discussed “Religious Texts between Permanence and Change in the State and Governance: Secularism and the Religious State as Case Studies.”
I also contributed the introductory essays to both volumes. The first is entitled “A Horizontal and Inquisitive Reading of the Presence of Philosophical Studies in Oman over the Past Two Decades,” while the second is “Religious Texts and the Humanization of Interpretation.”
Both books will soon be available through the Omani Cultural Club and in selected local bookstores.
