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Department of Theology and Religious Studies

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Jon Hoover

Professor of Islamic Studies, Faculty of Arts

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Expertise Summary

My expertise is in Islamic Studies, and my areas of special interest include Islamic intellectual history, medieval Islamic theology and philosophy, the thought of Ibn Taymiyya and Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya, and Christian-Muslim theological interaction.

Before coming to Nottingham in 2010, I taught Islamic Studies at the Near East School of Theology in Beirut, and earlier on I studied Arabic in Cairo for several years. My qualifications include a PhD in Islamic Studies from the University of Birmingham, an MA in Theological Studies from the Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminary in Indiana, and a BS in Mechanical Engineering from Virginia Tech.

Teaching Summary

Below are the undergraduate modules that I typically teach; exact offerings vary from year to year. Further below is a listing of Islamic Studies videos produced by our Department.

Undergraduate Modules

Interpreting Islam (yearly Level 1). This module explores interpretations of Muslim religious practice, theological doctrine, spirituality, and social relations from the beginning of the Islamic tradition to the present.

Islamic Theology and Philosophy (typically alternate years for Levels 2 and 3). This module examines how Muslims have addressed fundamental theological and philosophical questions relating to their faith. These questions concern the foundations of religious knowledge and authority, God's unity and attributes, God's relationship to the world, divine determinism and human freedom, prophecy, and eschatology. Key figures will include the rationalist Mu'tazili and Ash'ari theologians, the philosophers Ibn Sina (Avicenna) and Ibn Rushd (Averroes), and the influential medieval intellectuals al-Ghazali, Ibn al-'Arabi, and Ibn Taymiyya. Selections from primary sources will be read in translation, and special attention will be given to the integration of late antique philosophical traditions into Islamic theology.

Muslims and Others: Ethics, Theology, and History (typically alternate years for Levels 2 and 3): This course examines ethical, theological, and historical aspects of Muslim interaction with non-Muslims. After assessing Qur'anic attitudes to religious others, the course will survey a spectrum of Muslim ethical approaches to social relations with non-Muslims, analyse theological exchanges with Christians and Jews, explore Muslim theologies of other religions and the eternal destiny of non-Muslims, and examine shifts in Muslim relations with Christians and Jews in response to modernity and the rise of western power. Students will also read the novel The Qadi and the Fortune Teller set in nineteenth century Lebanon as a case study in legal, political, and religious relations between Sunnis, Shi'is, Druze, Christians, and Jews.

Undergraduate dissertation supervision in Islamic Studies and Christian-Muslim relations.

Departmental Islamic Studies Videos

Ibn Taymiyya and Benefit (maslaha) series with Jon Hoover in English: 1) , 2) , 3) , 4) , 5) and in Arabic: 丕亘賳 鬲賷賲賷丞 賵丕賱賲氐賱丨丞: 佟) 佗) 伲) 伽) 佶)

Other videos with Jon Hoover:

With Holger Zellentin:

The Qur'an between Judaism and Christianity lecture series videos (2016)

With Ali-reza Bhojani:

With Harith Bin Ramli:

With Musharraf Hussain: Exploring the Qur'an series: . Basic Beliefs of Islam series: . Celebrations and practices:

With Shujahat Aslam:

Research Summary

My research focuses on medieval Islamic intellectual history with an eye to its uses in the present. I am especially interested in the discourses of theology (kalam), philosophy (falsafa), legal… read more

Selected Publications

  • HOOVER, J., 2020. . In: SHIHADEH, A. and THIELE, J., eds., Philosophical Theology in Islam:Later Ash'arism East and West Leiden: Brill. 195-230
  • HOOVER, J., 2019. London: Oneworld.
  • HOOVER, J., 2019. . In: ADAMSON, P., ed., Philosophy and Jurisprudence in the Islamic World Berlin: de Gruyter. 145鈥�168
  • HOOVER, J., 2018. . In: AL GHOUZ, A., ed., Islamic Philosophy from the 12th to the 14th Century Bonn University Press/V&R unipress. 469-491

PhD and MRes research supervision

I welcome research proposals for the , the MRes Religious Studies and the MRes Theology in the fields of Islamic theology and intellectual history, the thought and later reception of Ibn Taymiyya and Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya, Salafism, Christian-Muslim relations, and related textual, historical and theological studies. There is also a distance learning PhD option (Theology or Religious Studies).

To begin conversation about undertaking a research degree, please send me a full research proposal, a sample of previous academic work (published or unpublished, in English or Arabic), grade transcripts for degree courses taken at the university level (e.g. BA and MA), and indication how you plan to finance your studies. Also, please indicate whether you intend to study full-time or part-time and when you plan to start. If none of your prior degrees were in English, please provide proof of proficiency in English (e.g. 7.0 or more on the IELTS exam) or details of your plans to attain the required English proficiency. Guidance on writing a PhD research proposal is ; Research proposals for the MRes may be less extensive.

Formal application: to submit a formal application for a research degree, go to the page relevant to your desired degree programme (links above), read through the page, and click on 'Apply for this course' at the upper right side.

In the 'Personal Statement' section of the application, please note that we are looking for a substantial research proposal, not a long list of your personal interests and accomplishments.

Our department offers both a PhD in 'Theology' and a PhD in 'Religious Studies'. In the PhD application, choose the one that best suits your purposes; it does not have a bearing on your research supervision arrangements.

Further general guidance on the formal application is given .

Tuition fees: The normal PhD programme consists of three years of full-time study at full tuition fees or six years of part-time study at half tuition fees. The MRes consists of one year full-time at full fees or two years part-time at half fees. The full-time fees are given . Follow through to the fees for Postgraduate Research Courses, the School of Humanities, and Theology and Religious Studies. For part-time fees, divide the full-time fees in half.

International students should consult our International Office website and staff for further logistical and practical information on coming to Nottingham.

Current Research

My research focuses on medieval Islamic intellectual history with an eye to its uses in the present. I am especially interested in the discourses of theology (kalam), philosophy (falsafa), legal theory (usul al-fiqh), Qur'an commentary (tafsir), Sufism, and Christian-Muslim theological interaction.

My current project examines how Ibn Taymiyya' formulates his unique views of God's attributes in dialogue with his theological, philosophical, and socio-political context. This builds on preliminary work carried out under a 2013-14 Leverhulme Research Fellowship entitled 'God and space in the theology of Ibn Taymiyya', which brought to light, among other things, his argumentation against the incorporealist view of God prevalent in his day. Six publications arising from this strand of research are ''The Taw岣ツ玠s of Ibn Taymiyya' (), 'God Spatially Above and Spatially Extended: The Rationality of Ibn Taymiyya's Refutation of Fa岣玶 al-D墨n al-R膩z墨's A拧士ar墨 Incorporealism' (), 'Ibn Taymiyya's Use of Ibn Rushd to Refute the Incorporealism of Fakhr al-Din al-Razi' (), 'Theology as Translation' (), which analyzes and translates Ibn Taymiyya's legitimization of theology in his famous Averting the Conflict between Reason and Revealed Tradition (Dar' ta'arud al-'aql wa al'naql), 'Reason and the Proof Value of Revelation in Fakhr al-D墨n al-R膩z墨's late kal膩m works' (), and 'Early Maml奴k Ash士arism against Ibn Taymiyya on the Nonliteral Reinterpretation (ta示w墨l) of God's Attributes' (2020, , ).

I held a British Academy Mid-Career Fellowship for the calendar year 2018. Among other things, this included writing the volume on the Damascene scholar Ibn Taymiyya (d. 1328) for Oneworld Press's Makers of the Muslim World series published in 2019 [ ]. I elaborate and defend the theoretical perspective of the book in "Foundations of Ibn Taymiyya's Religious Utilitarianism" ( and ). Of related interest is "Ibn Taymiyya between Moderation and Radicalism" (2016, ).

My earlier work on Ibn Taymiyya focused on his best-of-all-possible-worlds theodicy and related matters. The monograph Ibn Taymiyya's Theodicy of Perpetual Optimism () examines Ibn Taymiyya's approach to God's justice and wise purpose in creating evil and situates this within his wider theological project. Two studies ( and 2010), Chapter Two of Ibn Taymiyya's Theodicy, and a book chapter () investigate Ibn Taymiyya's vision of God's dynamic essence and perpetual activity that was unusual if not unique in classical Islamic theology. Another four articles analyze Ibn Taymiyya's arguments for the final salvation of everyone, unbelievers included, and their extensive elaboration by his foremost student Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya (d. 1350) (, 2013, and 2015 ), along with their reception by the Yemeni theologian Ibn al-Wazir (d. 1436) (). I also have an article on Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya's theodicy that provides a translation of his text explaining why God created Iblis (Satan) (2010).

Other publications on Ibn Taymiyya and Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya include studies and surveys of their writings on Christianity (, and ), an analysis of Ibn Taymiyya's view on the Gospel's relation to the Torah (), a survey of scholarship on Ibn Taymiyya (), and a history of Hanbali theology that includes an overview of Ibn Taymiyya's theology (, ).

I also write on Christian-Muslim relations. Among other things, this includes a survey of Muslim attitudes towards Christian doctrines for The Routledge Handbook of Christian-Muslim Relations (2018), a festschrift for Professor David Thomas (2015), an analysis of the Muslim letter A Common Word (), and a comparison of the Christian and Muslim doctrines of God ().

A full list of my publications and research resources in Taymiyyan studies may be found on my . For PhD and MA research supervision, please click on the 'Research Supervision' tab above.

  • HOOVER, J., 2025. . In: TAMER, G., ed., Handbook of Qur鈥櫮乶ic Hermeneutics. Vol. 3. Qur鈥檃nic Hermeneutics from the 13th to the 19th Century de Gruyter. 121-138
  • HOOVER, J., 2025. The Taw岣ツ玠s of Ibn Taymiyya. In: AMIN, W. M., HUGES, A. W. and RIZVI, S. H., eds., Islamic Perspectives on God and (Other) Monotheism(s) AMI Press. 189-210
  • HOOVER, J., 2025. . In: HARVEY, R. and CHOWDHURY, S., eds., Analytic Islamic Epistemology: Critical Debates Edinburgh University Press. 66-79
  • HOOVER, J., 2024. . In: Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
  • HOOVER, J., 2022. . In: SCHM脺CKER, M., WILLIAMS, M. T. and FISCHER, F., eds., Temporality and Eternity: Nine Perspectives on God and Time Berlin: de Gruyter. 89-103
  • HOOVER, J., 2022. Entangled Religions. 13(2), 1-15
  • HOOVER, J, 2022. Arabica. 69, 626-674
  • HOOVER, J., 2020. . In: SHIHADEH, A. and THIELE, J., eds., Philosophical Theology in Islam:Later Ash'arism East and West Leiden: Brill. 195-230
  • HOOVER, J., 2019. What would Ibn Taymiyyah make of intertextual study of the Qur'an? The challenge of the isra'iliyyat. In: ZELLENTIN, H., ed., The Qur'an's Reformation of Judaism and Christianity: Return to the Origins London: Routledge. 25-30
  • HOOVER, J., 2019. Reason and the Proof Value of Revelation in Fakhr al-Din al-Razi鈥檚 late kalam works Ta'sis al-taqdis, Ma'alim usul al-din, and al-Arba'in fi usul al-din. In: EL KAISY-FRIEMUTH, M., HAJATPOUR, R. and ABDEL RAHEM, M., eds., Rationalit盲t in der Islamischen Theologie. Band I: Die klassische Periode Berlin: de Gruyter. 373-390
  • HOOVER, J., 2019. . In: ADAMSON, P., ed., Philosophy and Jurisprudence in the Islamic World Berlin: de Gruyter. 145鈥�168
  • HOOVER, J., 2019. London: Oneworld.
  • HOOVER, J., 2018. . In: THOMAS, D., ed., The Routledge Handbook of Christian-Muslim Relations London: Routledge. 168-175
  • HOOVER, J. and ABU GHAZALEH MAHAJNEH, M., 2018. The Muslim World. 108(1), 40-86
  • HOOVER, J., 2018. Reconciling Ibn Taymiyya's Legitimisation of Violence with His Vision of Universal Salvation. In: GLEAVE, R. and KRISTO-NAGY, I.T., eds., Violence in Islamic Thought from the Mongols to European Imperialism Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. 107-116
  • HOOVER, J., 2018. . In: AL GHOUZ, A., ed., Islamic Philosophy from the 12th to the 14th Century Bonn University Press/V&R unipress. 469-491
  • HOOVER, J., 2018. Jerusalem Studies in Arabic and Islam. 45, 389-395
  • HOOVER, J., 2016. . In: LANGE, C, ed., Locating Hell in Islamic Traditions Brill. 208-237
  • HOOVER, J., 2016. . In: SCHMIDTKE, S., ed., The Oxford Handbook of Islamic Theology Oxford University Press. 625-646
  • HOOVER, J., 2016. . In: KENDALL, E. and KHAN, A., eds., Reclaiming Islamic Tradition: Modern Interpretations of the Classical Heritage Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. 177-203
  • HOOVER, J., 2016. . In: CROUCH, C.L., DEINES, R. and WREFORD, M, eds., Why Does the Bible Matter? The Significance of the Bible for Contemporary Life Centre for Bible, Ethics & Theology at the 糖心原创 and the Bible Society. 80-87
  • PRATT, D., HOOVER, J., DAVIES, J. and CHESWORTH, J., eds., 2015. The Character of Christian-Muslim Encounter: Essays in Honour of David Thomas Leiden: Brill.
  • HOOVER, J., 2015. . In: BACON, H., DOSSETT, W. and KNOWLES, S., eds., Alternative Salvations: Engaging the Sacred and the Secular London: Bloomsbury. 160-171
  • HOOVER, J., 2015. Theological Review of the Near East School of Theology. 36, 162-170
  • HOOVER, J., 2014. . In: KING, R. and TAN, S., eds., (un)Common Sounds: Songs of Peace and Reconciliation among Muslims and Christians Eugene, OR: Cascade Books. 51-70
  • HOOVER, J., 2013. Against Islamic Universalism: 鈥楢l墨 al-Harb墨鈥檚 1990 Attempt to Prove that Ibn Taymiyya and Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya Affirm the Eternity of Hell-Fire. In: KRAWIETZ, B. and TAMER, G., eds., Islamic Theology, Philosophy and Law: Debating Ibn Taymiyya and Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya Berlin: de Gruyter. 377-399
  • HOOVER, J., 2012. Oxford Bibliographies Online.
  • HOOVER, J., 2012. . In: THOMAS, D. and MALLET, A., eds., Christian-Muslim Relations: A Bibliographical History. Vol. 4 (1200-1350) Leiden: Brill. 824-878
  • HOOVER, J., 2012. . In: THOMAS, D. and MALLET, A., eds., Christian-Muslim Relations: A Bibliographical History. Vol. 4 (1200-1350) Leiden: Brill. 989-1002
  • HOOVER, J., 2010. The Lord's Prayer: A Mennonite View. In: BRYANT, M.D., KENNEL HARRISON, S. and REIMER, A.J., eds., On Spirituality: Essays from the third Shi'i Muslim Mennonite Christian Dialogue Kitchener, ON: Pandora Press. 99-114
  • HOOVER, J., 2010. The Muslim World. 100(4), 476-489
  • HOOVER, J., 2010. God鈥檚 wise purposes in creating Ibl墨s: Ibn Qayyim al-臑awziyyah鈥檚 theodicy of God鈥檚 names and attributes. In: BORI, C. and HOLTZMAN, L., eds., A scholar in the shadow: essays in the legal and theological thought of Ibn Qayyim al-臑awziyyah Istituto per l鈥橭riente C.A. Nallino. 113-134
  • HOOVER, J., 2010. Theological Review (Near East School of Theology). 30(1), 113-120
  • HOOVER, J., 2010. God Acts by His Will and Power: Ibn Taymiyya鈥檚 Theology of a Personal God in his Treatise on the Voluntary Attributes. In: RAPOPORT, Y. and AHMED, S., eds., Ibn Taymiyya and His Times Karachi: Oxford University Press. 55-77
  • HOOVER, J., 2009. The Muslim World. 99(1), 181-201
  • HOOVER, J., 2009. Theological Review (Near East School of Theology). 30(1), 50-77
  • HOOVER, J., 2009. The Conrad Grebel Review. 27(1), 57-82. Corrected version.
  • HOOVER, J., ed., 2008. Hiwar al-haqiqa min ajl al-hayat ma鈥榓n / Dialogue of Truth for Life Together. Beirut: NEST Publications.
  • HOOVER, J., 2007. Leiden: Brill.
  • HOOVER, J., 2007. Theological Review (Near East School of Theology). 28(1), 47-69
  • HOOVER, J., 2006. Theological Review (Near East School of Theology). 27(2), 53-75
  • HOOVER, J., 2006. Theological Review (Near East School of Theology). 27(1), 34-46
  • HOOVER, J., 2006. An Anabaptist Perspective on Conversing with Muslims. In: KRABILL, J., SAWATSKY, W. and VAN ENGEN, C., eds., Evangelical, Ecumenical, and Anabaptist Missiologies in Conversation: Essays in Honor of Wilbert R. Shenk. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Press. 120-129, 287-288
  • HOOVER, J., 2004. Journal of Islamic Studies. 15(3), 287-329
  • HOOVER, J., 2003. The Conrad Grebel Review. 21(3), 81-96

Department of Theology and Religious Studies

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