Islamic Finance in Sorbonne

Abstract

Sorbonne University was created in 1253 as a Theology faculty, and as early as 1270, Aquinas was lecturing about Ibn Roshd’s philosophy. While the academic commitment to studying Muslim economic and moral philosophy may have fluctuated (especially during the early modern era) in line with the intellectual trends or the political agenda, there has been a steady interest over the last 40 years. During this late period, our research centres such as IRBIMMA (Research Institute for Byzantium, Islam and the Mediterranean during the Middle Ages) have hosted leading scholars in Islamic Studies. Not surprisingly, the perspective of developing Islamic Finance (IF) attracted much attention and sympathy with Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne: together with our research federation (the PRES héSam), we are pursuing a prudent agenda aimed at structuring research and professional continuing education. This chapter features an overview of our first educational experience, our joint research strategy and future plans.