Courses – ISRME

Study Program Listings

At present all of our programs are offered tuition-free. New program listings will appear below, but if you want timely announcements of new study programs, join our mailing list. Times and days of Zoom class sessions will be determined by the instructor, often in consultation with enrolled students.

If you have already applied for admission to a study program and your circumstances have changed, please submit this brief withdrawal form. By letting us know you will make room for students on our waiting list. Thank you!

Islamic Philosophy: A Methodological Introduction

A structured introduction to Islamic philosophy (al-falsafa al-islāmiyya / al-ḥikma), through its foundational methodological questions

Mehmet Fatih Arslan

Wednesdays, Jan 7-Feb 4
This program is fully enrolled.
Registration is closed

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Qur’an & Bible Reading Group

Online discussion group to read and gain a deeper knowledge of key related portions of the Qur'an and the Bible. This is a selective, limited enrollment program

Clay Morrison

Registration is closed
Last offered in November 2025

program details

Religious Minorities & the Ottoman Empire

Examines the complex experiences of religious minorities within the Ottoman Empire from its inception through its territorial expansion.

Vanessa de Obaldia

Tuesdays, Feb 24-Mar 31

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Mysticism in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam

A brief introduction to key mystical writings from the monotheistic traditions.

Clay Morrison

This program was offered in March 2025. Registration is closed

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unscheduled

Atonement in Biblical and Qur’anic Perspective

Surveys conceptions of atonement within the book of Leviticus, the book of Hebrews, and the Qur'an in order to explore how Judaism, Christianity and Islam each developed their own understandings of this pivotal idea. Matthew Bennett.

This course is currently unscheduled. Let us know your scheduling preferences.

course details

unscheduled

Perceiving God in Christianity and Islam

Examines the scriptural and historical development of Christian Trinitarian belief and Islamic conceptions of tawhid, and explores the doctrinal and social implications of divergent Christian and Muslim perceptions of God. Mike Kuhn.

This course is currently unscheduled. Let us know your scheduling preferences.

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Eastern Christianity & Islam

Explores the responses of Eastern Christians to the emergence of Islam, and the mutual impact and interaction of these traditions.

This program was offered in April 2024. Indicate your interest in a future offering

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Sages and Saints: Medieval Muslim and Christian Thinkers in Dialogue

Engages Christian & Muslim thinkers of the 12th to 15th Centuries, including al-Ghazali, Aquinas, Ibn al-‘Arabi, Catherine of Sienna, Ibn Taymiyya, Gregory Palamas, and others.

Daniel Brown.

Registration is closed
Last offered in August 2025

program details

Autumn

The Qur’an: an Introduction in the Context of Christian-Muslim Encounter

Introduces the Qur’an in its original context, classical and contemporary Islamic approaches to Qur’anic interpretation, and non-Muslim scholarship on the Qur’an. David Marshall.

This course is currently unscheduled. Let us know your scheduling preferences.

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Muhammad in Christian Perspective

Surveys the challenges of talking about Muhammad in the context of Christian-Muslim engagement and explores what is at stake in these conversations.

Daniel Brown.

This program was offered in September 2024. Apply to indicate your interest in a future offering.

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Major Themes of Islamic Theology

Discussion of major themes in Kalam (Islamic theology) including God’s nature and attributes, creation, revelation, divine sovereignty, human freedom, and human destiny

Mehmet Fatih Arslan

This program was offered in April 2025. Indicate your interest in a future offering..

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Reading the New Testament alongside the Qur’an

How does reading the New Testament alongside the Qur’an impact what we notice and the questions we ask as we read?

George Bristow

This program was offered in January 2025. Indicate your interest in a future offering

program details

History of Christian Muslim Relations

Examines Muslim-Christian relations from the inception of Islam to the present day, including case studies, events, and key figures who shaped the relations between Christians and Muslims. Charles Ramsey.

This course is currently unscheduled. Let us know your future scheduling preferences.

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Religious Experience in Christianity and Islam

Surveys key touchpoints in the experience of Christians and Muslims, including conversion, prayer, worship & salat, dreams, angels, demons, as well as ecstatic and mystical experiences.

Daniel Brown

This program was offered in January 2024. Indicate your interest in a future offering.

course details

unscheduled

Prophets and Prophecy in Biblical and Qur’anic Perspective

Explores Christian and Muslim understandings of prophets and prophecy by comparing the Bible’s prophetic narratives and writings with the Qur’an’s “prophet story” pattern. George Bristow.

This course was offered in 2022. Are you interested in taking it in the future? Let us know your scheduling preferences.

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Qur’an & Bible: Comparative Approaches

A free, 4-week online course that explores striking similarities and puzzling differences between the Bible and the Qur'an. Daniel Brown.

This course was offered in April 2023. Are you interested in taking it in the future? Let us know your scheduling preferences.

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Islam and the Challenges of Modernity

A free, 4-week course exploring themes in Muslim responses to modernity, including religious authority, scriptural interpretation, the state, human rights, the status of women, religious pluralism, and Islam in the West. David Marshall

This course was offered in November 2023. Are you interested in taking it in the future? Let us know your scheduling preferences.

course details

Jesus in Islamic Perspective

Considers the identity and role of Jesus from various Muslim perspectives and evaluates the place of Jesus in Muslim-Christian interaction.

Clay Morrison

This program has ended.

Indicate your interest in a future offering of this course

program details

The Emergence of Islam

Explores critical questions raised by the emergence of Islam, focusing especially on the puzzling relationship between early Muslim belief and the Jewish and Christian contexts of the Near East. Daniel Brown.

This course was offered in September 2023. Are you interested in taking it in the future? Let us know your scheduling preferences.

course details

Academic Program

History & Distinctives

The Institute for the Study of Religion in the Middle East (ISRME) has a specific academic focus, Middle Eastern religions and their interaction, and is shaped by a Christian ethos. As confessing Christians, we want other Christians to better understand the relationship between Christianity and Islam so that they can engage Muslims constructively and with integrity. At the same time we seek to model such constructive engagement by warmly welcoming Muslim students and academic colleagues into conversation, listening to and learning from one another in a spirit of humility, and extending confessional and intellectual hospitality. Our program in Christian-Muslim Relations is guided by these core values of the ISRME.

The Institute’s academic program differs from many Christian-hosted programs on Islam, where Christians teach other Christians. Instead we aim to foster an environment in which we learn through engagement. We think that both Muslim and Christian students will benefit from studying together, learning from real-life opportunities to articulate their faith and hear one another. At the same time our program differs from many university-based programs on Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations because it is guided by a Christian ethos and because it engages squarely with the theological and ethical questions that Christians and Muslims care most about.

Admission & Eligibility

All ISRME study programs assume ability to do Master’s level academic work. At present all courses are taught in English, and non-native English speakers may be asked to provide evidence of facility in academic English. A bachelor’s degree or equivalent is ordinarily required to enroll in a course. Upper level undergraduates or students with relevant life experience will also be considered. We welcome Muslim students, Christian students, or students of any faith.

Curriculum

Our curriculum is built to reflect the strengths and experience of our faculty. Instructors are invited to teach on the topics in Christian-Muslim relations that they find most compelling and important. The curriculum is organized in three tiers: (1) Core courses cover the topics and disciplines we think anyone concerned about Christian-Muslim engagement should study. These form the heart of the ISRME program; (2) Specialized programs focus on topics or specific contexts that reflect the particular experience or expertise of the instructor; (3) Research seminars and guided research courses are designed to serve students pursuing a research degree.

Course delivery

Initially, to make the best use of our global network of faculty, all courses are offered online. In future we hope to introduce on-site intensive courses. Most of our programs involve real-time instruction over zoom.

Our programs usually last four weeks, though occasionally we run programs of six or eight weeks. The number of real-time sessions each week for any course is at the discretion of the instructor, and scheduling may also be adjusted to the needs of students.

Faculty

Members of the ISRME faculty network live and work around the world. All have doctorates in fields related to Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations, or are currently pursuing doctorates, and we welcome both Christian and Muslim scholars to teach in our programs. In addition to academic expertise, all of our instructors have long experience putting into practice what they teach, and deep knowledge of particular contexts of Christian-Muslim interaction, including Europe, North America, Egypt, North Africa, Turkey, and South Asia.

We regularly invite scholars from around the world to visit our courses to discuss their own research and to expose our participants to the best scholarship being pursued in the field. These have included both senior scholars and younger scholars engaged in cutting edge research. Guests to our programs have included Gabriel Reynolds, Notre Dame; Michael Penn, Stanford; Bert Jacobs, UC Louvain; Mona Siddiqui, Edinburgh; James K. A. Smith, Calvin University; Elif Tokay, Istanbul University; Harold Netland, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School; and Anna Moreland, Villanova University.

Credit

We may be able to offer Master’s level credit depending on a student’s particular circumstances and needs. Students who wish to receive academic credit for one of our programs should indicate this on their application, or write to info@isrme.org. We will try to work with you to determine the best option to meet your needs.

Tuition & Fees

At present we offer all of our programs tuition-free to non-credit participants. Fees for participants who wish to receive credit may vary according to their particular circumstances and needs, and will often depend on the policies of the degree granting institution where they are enrolled.

Academic Program

History & Distinctives

Admission & Eligibility

Curriculum

Course delivery

Faculty

Credit

Tuition & Fees