Between May 30 and June 2, 2025, during the 4th International Conference on Critical Muslim Studies, our Sociology PhD student Bilal Salaam delivered a presentation titled “De-Zionization and Radical Islamophilia: Towards Muslim Sovereignty.” In his presentation, he examined the genealogical and archaeological structure of discourses on Zionist terrorism and opened a discussion on their influence in shaping Islamic identity and sovereignty.
Drawing on the methodological approaches of scholars such as Talal Asad, Ali Shariati, Thomas Kuhn, and Michel Foucault, Bilal offered a critical framework targeting Zionist epistemes. Within this framework, he advocated a Bachelardian epistemological rupture, emphasizing the necessity of a radical break from existing knowledge systems. He argued that such a rupture would pave the way for the emergence of Islamophilic knowledge domains, thus enabling the ethical reconstruction of both Muslim and non-Muslim consciousness.
In the continuation of his presentation, he stated that a conscious rupture with Zionist epistemic structures is not merely a political or ideological stance, but also an ontological necessity. He emphasized that this approach—which involves the re-centralization of subjects excluded from the Zionist center—offers an alternative order of knowledge.
Bilal also argued that a legitimate divine sovereignty proposes a valid alternative to colonization, one that operates through a critical pedagogy centered on liberation from alienation, self-awareness, truth committees, re-education, and institutional dissolution.
He concluded his presentation by highlighting that this process moves from passive acceptance toward active reclamation and a vision of spiritual justice.
We congratulate our PhD student Bilal Salaam and wish him continued success in his academic endeavors.
