Call for Papers: Queer Theologies Beyond Binaries: Reimagining Islamic Possibilities
Date: 23-24 March, 2026
Venue: Universität Bonn, Impulse-Center („Ermekeil-Villa," Adenauerallee 131)
Keynote: Prof. Linn Tonstad, Yale University; Prof. Juliane Hammer, UNC Chapel Hill; Prof. Dr. Mira Sievers, Universität Hamburg
Christian queer theologians such as Marcella Althaus-Reid and Linn Marie Tonstad have exposed how sexuality destabilizes inherited theological systems of power, embodiment, and transcendence. Yet these debates have largely remained confined to Christian frameworks such as the Trinity and Incarnation. Catherine Keller’s poststructuralist apophatic theopoetics—on the other hand—offers a more expansive model for thinking beyond confessional boundaries. By focusing on entanglement, fluidity, and the via negativa, her theology parallels Islamic apophatic and mystical ideas, leading us to ask: How might a queer theology based in Islamic perspectives appear, and what disruptions would it cause?
This workshop explores the “queer (im)possibilities” within Islamic theology: spaces where heteronormative structures seem immovable yet may be re-read, resisted, or reimagined. Rather than replicating existing Western paradigms, we invite contributions that address queer lived realities in Islamic contexts in conversation with comparative, feminist, and poststructuralist approaches.
We particularly welcome proposals that rethink Islamic theology through the destabilizing lenses of embodiment, desire, and relationality. Rather than treating “queer” as an identity marker or moral issue, contributions should use it as a critical method to question theological grammars of gender, power, and purity.
Possible themes include:
● Queer hermeneutics of Qur’anic exegesis, kalām, or Sufi literature
● Theopoetics and apophatic language as sites of theological fluidity and resistance
● (Dis-)Embodiment (human and divine), desire, and gender in Islamic mystical thought
● Queer lived realities, affect, and piety in Muslim communities (offline and digital)
● The intersection of queer aesthetics, ritual practices, and artistic expressions of faith, including resistance
● Comparative or decolonial engagements between Islamic and Christian queer theologies
● Tensions between “indecent theology,” respectability, and normativity
Submission details: Please submit a 250-300 word abstract with title, name, affiliation, and a short bio (100 words) of the author(s) to Kendra Fiddler at kfiddler@uni-bonn.de by 15th Dec. 2025; notifications will be sent within two weeks of the deadline. Presentations should be 15–20 minutes, followed by discussion. Selected papers will be considered for a special issue/edited volume on Queer Islamic Theology and comparative methods.