Project Noon

Do the Upanishads and the Qur’an share a common philosophical and mystical vision, as the Mughal prince Dara Shukoh (1615–1659) famously declared? Or is it that the two vast oceans of Hindu and Muslim traditions cannot be further apart and ‘never the twain shall meet’? Are Hindus and Muslims destined to live forever in great mutual ignorance of each other’s traditions and worldviews?

Dr. Ankur Barua, Senior Lecturer in Hindu Studies at the Faculty of Divinity, University of Cambridge, will probe such questions and more in a comprehensive 10-part weekend lecture series to be delivered online during August 2023.

Keeping in mind primarily Muslim intellectual and faith-based frameworks, Dr Barua will take us through a tour of diverse tapestries of Hindu philosophical, cultural, and socio-historical landscapes, occasionally decoding and translating Indic idioms for an Abrahamic audience.

The sessions also feature scholars such as:

• Prof. SherAli Tareen, Associate Professor of Religious Studies at Franklin and Marshall College, USA.
• Prof. Muhammad U. Faruque, Inayat and Ishrat Malik Assistant Professor, University of Cincinnati, USA.
• Prof. Abdur Raheem Kidwai, Professor and Director at K.A. Nizami Center for Quranic Studies, Aligarh Muslim University, India.

Co-hosted by Dr. Saad Ismail, Editor, Project Noon.

The lectures are open to anyone interested, and do not presuppose any prior acquaintance with Hindu socio-religious traditions.

Dates and schedule:

Lecture	Dates in August	Respondents/ Discussants	Presentations by Dr. Ankur Barua
1	5th, Saturday	Dr. Saad Ismail	An introduction to (a) a methodology of critical sympathy in the study of religion; (b) the sociocultural and the socioreligious meanings of the word “Hindu”; (c) Vedic ritual imaginations of the world as a sacrificial order (yajña, dharma); and (d) the motif of self-knowledge (jñāna, vidyā) in the Upaniṣads.
2	6th, Sunday	Dr. Saad Ismail
3	12th, Saturday	Prof. Muhammad Umar Faruque
4	13th, Sunday	Shoaib, Venkat	An introduction to the central themes of the Bhagavad-gītā.
5	19th, Saturday	Hina Khalid	An introduction to Vedāntic notions of the human self (jīva, ātman) and its relation to the divine reality (brahman, īśvara).
6	20th, Sunday	Prof. A.R. Kidwai, Songs by Khurram Siddiqui
7	21st, Monday	Chandini Jaswal	An introduction to the divine feminine (devī, śakti), and an exploration of the locations of Hindu spirituality on everyday landscapes structured by distinctions of caste (varṇa, jāti) and gender (strī-dharma).
8	26th, Saturday	Sumaira Nawaz
9	27th, Sunday	Dr. Rahat Abrar, Adil Wani	An introduction to the multiple styles of post-1757 Hindu modernity which have sought to rework premodern scriptural texts and practices in active engagement with the idea of the West.
10	28th, Monday	Vaibhav, Bilal, Bharatwaj Iyer
11	29th, Tuesday	Prof. Irfanullah Farooqi	Prof. SherAli Tareen on Indian Muslim translations of Hinduism.

The lectures will form a coherent series, so that participants are strongly encouraged to attend all sessions. Late registration will be accepted at the organisers’ discretion.

Each lecture will be followed by a respondent who will have the opportunity to offer their reflections on the session for 10-15 mins. Thereafter, there will be an open Q and A. The respondent may be Muslim or non-Muslim, scholar or non-scholar, but someone who can demonstrate an interest and aptitude for the field of Hindu-Muslim dialogue.

If you would like to be a respondent in the August sessions, fill out this form here.