Symposium on Gender, Displacement, and Islamic Philanthropy: Advancing Humanitarian Innovation
Date:September 8-9, 2025
Location: University of Birmingham (UoB), Edgbaston Campus, Birmingham, UK
Leading Partner: The UKRI-funded Making Aid Work for Displaced Women Project at the University of Birmingham, and the Muslim Philanthropy Initiative at Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy.
This symposium seeks to mobilize new voices and conceptual resources to build bridges between mainstream humanitarian and Islamic philanthropic approaches to women in displacement and humanitarian crises. We invite multi- and interdisciplinary papers from social scientists, humanitarian practitioners and Islamic legal scholars to expand the evidence base on how Islamic philanthropy responds to humanitarian crises and addresses the specific needs and rights of women. We look forward to your contributions and to advancing the discourse on gender, displacement, and Islamic philanthropy.
By connecting humanitarian, migration, and religious systems, the symposium provides a platform to exchange and discuss innovative conceptual and financing solutions to support displaced women through integrating different aid paradigms. In particular, the event aims to offer space for theological development and the integration of humanitarian law with Islamic law and ethics to advance displaced women’s protection in Muslim contexts. The presentations and papers from the Symposium will inform gender-sensitive Islamic philanthropy models and a faith-sensitive framework for displaced women’s protection.
The symposium will feature three tracks:
- Islamic philanthropic responses to women in humanitarian and forced migration contexts (exploring diverse actors, interventions and Islamic law and ethics).
- Women-led Islamic philanthropy and humanitarian actions in forced migration.
- Lessons learnt from real-life practical case studies of Islamic philanthropy assisting displaced women.
We welcome interdisciplinary proposals that bridge areas such as gender studies, forced migration, humanitarianism, religious studies, international relations, foreign and aid policies and more. Participants may draw on a range of disciplines such as sociology, anthropology, history, political science, international studies, international development, theology and philosophy, Islamic studies, social policy, business and psychology.
