Postdoctoral Research Fellow Position in Arabic and Islamic Studies / History of Islamic Law (M/F)

Job Description

Missions

This position is part of the project DispRel – Dispenser: Flexibility in the Religious Normativities of European Societies (Middle Ages–20th Century) (ANR-24-CE27-1721), funded by the French National Research Agency (ANR) for the period 2025–2028.

The ANR DispRel project aims to study one of the most fundamental techniques of exception developed within Judaism, Islam, and Christianity. A dispensation is an exemption granted by a religious authority allowing a believer, under certain circumstances, not to comply with the rules of their religion (e.g. exemption from fasting, permission to marry despite a legal impediment, or derogation from a liturgical obligation). The project is structured around three research axes:

Axis 1: An investigation of legal and theological discourses on dispensation in the three religious traditions, and their possible interconnections, based on a corpus of manuscripts and printed texts up to the nineteenth century (PIs: Jean-Pascal Gay and Charles de Miramon).
Axis 2: A study of three pontifical congregations responsible, since the late Middle Ages, for granting dispensations (the Apostolic Penitentiary, the Dataria, and the Holy Office), with the aim of modelling how dispensation functioned in the Christian, and later Catholic, world (PIs: Arnaud Fossier, Jean-Pascal Gay, and Aïcha Limbada).
Axis 3: A comparative analysis of Islamic legal case collections and rabbinic responsa, primarily in the Mediterranean world between the eleventh and nineteenth centuries (PIs: Judith Kogel and Ismail Warscheid).

The ANR DispRel project brings together a consortium of partner institutions:

Host institution: Université Bourgogne Europe, Laboratoire Interdisciplinaire de Recherches “Sociétés, Sensibilités, Soin” (LIR3S, UMR 7366 CNRS–UBE)
Other partners: École française de Rome (EFR); Institut de recherche et d'histoire des textes (IRHT, CNRS UPR 841); Institut d'histoire du droit (IHD, CNRS UMR 7184); Institut RSCS – Religions, Spiritualities, Cultures, Societies (UCLouvain)

This call concerns Axis 3, and the successful postdoctoral researcher will carry out:

independent research on Mālikī fatwa collections from the Islamic West (11th–19th centuries), accounting for three quarters of their working time;
as well as research administration tasks, accounting for one quarter of their working time.

Activity

During the course of the contract, the postdoctoral researcher will work on dispensations in Islamic law, with a focus on Mālikī fatwa collections from the Muslim West (al-Andalus and the Maghreb) between the eleventh and nineteenth centuries. Fatwa collections provide an excellent vantage point for analyzing how dispensations were conceptualized and put into practice in Islamic societies.

By examining key terms such as ʿazīma (binding religious norm), rukhṣa (dispensation), mashaqqa (undue hardship), and ḥīla (legal stratagem), the postdoctoral researcher will investigate how Muslim jurists defined dispensations, as well as the extent to which ordinary believers were aware of the possibility of being temporarily or permanently exempted from fulfilling certain obligations.

The project will also involve analyzing the broader political, social, economic, and intellectual contexts in which dispensations were discussed by jurists and claimed by individuals, and assessing whether access to dispensations was conditioned by gender, personal circumstances, and socio-economic status.

Your Profil

Skills

Required Degree

The successful candidate must hold a PhD in Islamic Studies or in another humanities discipline relevant to the research project. The PhD must have been awarded between January 1, 2024, and April 1, 2026.

Research Skills
Ability to work with legal sources in Arabic
Ability to read and interpret Arabic manuscript scripts
Excellent command of historical and philological methodologies
Excellent knowledge of the intellectual history of the Muslim West, particularly the development of law and theology
Interpersonal Skills
Ability to work as part of a team and to report on research activities
Ability to work independently and make decisions
Language Skills
Excellent command of Classical Arabic and of the terminology of the Islamic religious sciences
Strong command of English; knowledge of Spanish would be an asset

APPLICATION PROCEDURE

Applications must be including:

A cover letter outlining a research project related to the ANR DispRel research theme (maximum 3 pages)
An academic CV

Applications will be reviewed by the selection committee. Where appropriate, additional documents may be requested from shortlisted candidates (e.g. PhD examination report, writing sample such as a dissertation chapter or a published article).
If necessary, interviews will be conducted via videoconference during the month of June 2026.

Your Work Environment

The successful candidate will be provided with a fully equipped workspace at the Arabic Section of the IRHT (Institut de recherche et d'histoire des textes), located on the Campus Condorcet (Aubervilliers), as part of the ANR-funded DispRel project.

The postdoctoral researcher will be supervised by the project's scientific coordinator, Arnaud Fossier (Associate Professor with habilitation, Université Bourgogne Europe), and by the IRHT partner's scientific lead, Ismail Warscheid (Associate Research Professor, CNRS).

By the end of the contract, the postdoctoral researcher is expected to have submitted two research articles to international peer-reviewed journals.

Compensation and benefits

Compensation

€3,131 to €4,216 gross per month, depending on experience

Annual leave and RTT

44 jours

Remote Working practice and compensation

Pratique et indemnisation du TT

Transport

Prise en charge à 75% du coût et forfait mobilité durable jusqu’à 300€

About the offer

About the CNRS

The CNRS is a major player in fundamental research on a global scale. The CNRS is the only French organization active in all scientific fields. Its unique position as a multi-specialist allows it to bring together different disciplines to address the most important challenges of the contemporary world, in connection with the actors of change.

CNRS

The research professions