MBZUH’s International Conference in Italy Concludes with Forward-Looking Recommendations on Religious Dialogue and AI
Mohamed bin Zayed University for Humanities convened leading scholars from across the globe to discuss shared humanity, with recommendations spanning academic collaboration, ethical AI frameworks and interfaith understanding.
The First International Conference on Religious Studies, organised by Mohamed bin Zayed University for Humanities in the Italian city of Padua, drew to a close with a comprehensive set of recommendations addressing some of contemporary society’s most pressing challenges.
Held on 2nd and 3rd October under the theme “Religion and Shared Humanity: Contemporary Approaches in Theology and Religious Studies”, the conference brought together distinguished academics, theologians and thinkers from 15 nations to explore the intersection of faith, philosophy and modern knowledge.
The seven principal recommendations emerging from the gathering reflect an ambitious vision for advancing interfaith scholarship. These include the establishment of a religious common ground project, expansion of academic exchange and collaborative publication initiatives, and the development of pathways for translating specialised research into broader intellectual discourse. The conference also called for establishing a recurring annual event with rotating academic themes, alongside the creation of ethical frameworks for artificial intelligence grounded in shared human values.
Additional recommendations emphasised the university sector’s role in serving society by connecting scholarly research to pressing contemporary challenges, and the publication of outstanding conference papers in an international peer-reviewed journal indexed in Scopus.
The opening session featured addresses from Dr. Omar Habtour Al Darei, Chairman of the General Authority of Islamic Affairs, Endowments and Zakat and Chairman of the MBZUH Board of Trustees, alongside senior academics from the University of Padua and University of Eastern Piedmont. Notable participants included Professor Mohammad Ahmad Musallam Al Khalaileh, Minister of Awqaf, Islamic Affairs and Holy Places of Jordan, and Professor Nazir Ayyad, Grand Mufti of Egypt.
The conference programme encompassed seven substantive academic sessions spanning philosophy, theology, social sciences, religious diversity and textual interpretation. A total of 34 rigorously selected research papers, chosen from more than 700 proposals, were presented across these sessions.
Dr. Al Darei underscored the centrality of universities in fostering cultural understanding and deepening dialogue between traditions, emphasising that the scholarly study of religion carries tangible human impact through stereotype correction and trust-building. He called for extending this knowledge into society, establishing respect for difference as an embedded cultural principle.
The conference affirmed that shared values across religions serve to preserve human dignity whilst honouring genuine difference, positioning peace as emerging from mutual recognition of human worth as a collective responsibility.
Source: WAM