8th International Conference on World Religions (8th ICWR-25)
25th - 26th October 2025
Organized by
The School of Religion & Philosophy
Minhaj University Lahore
Theme: Building Resilient Societies: Preventing Extremism at its Roots
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CALL FOR PAPERS
On 12th February 2025, the Federal Cabinet of Pakistan approved a policy statement on “Interfaith Harmony” and a strategy on “Religious Tolerance”. Both initiatives are very timely and much needed, considering the diversity of different religious communities, the need for their active participation in society and various incidents motivated by religious hatred and extremism that we have witnessed in the recent past. The Government of Pakistan’s initiatives inspire us to make these documents the theme for this year’s conference and to discuss and determine various implementation steps through thorough discussions with stakeholders and academics.
The introduction to the policy refers to the “root causes of growing extremism in society” (p. 3). This conference will focus on two aspects of the issue of religious extremism. Firstly, it will examine the root causes of religious extremism. Secondly, it will seek practical ways and means to implement this new policy statement on interfaith harmony by suggesting concrete ways to prevent religious extremism.
SUB-THEMES
The sub-themes and panel discussions will center around the “Policy on Interfaith Harmony” and the “Strategy of Religious Tolerance.” Research papers are invited on the following sub-themes:
1. Community Engagement for Promoting Religious Tolerance
2. Legislative Measures and implementation of laws to curb hate speech (on print, electronic and
social media) and discrimination.
3. Combating extremism by promoting religious pluralism
4. Spirituality as a resource to counter religious extremism
5. The role of educational institutions in reducing extremism and promoting religious tolerance.
6. Revising Curricula to address extremism and promote respect for all religions
7. Tackling extremism with the assistance of AI
8. Misinterpretation of religious texts and religious extremism
9. Manipulating religious sentiments for political agendas
10. Role of Law enforcement agencies in countering extremism
Considering the Policy and the Strategy, the panel discussions will focus on the implementation aspect of religious tolerance and interfaith harmony with the help of seasoned academicians and practitioners from around the globe.
The Panel discussions will discuss implementation measures for Combating Hate Speech, Promoting Interfaith Dialogue, Combating Intolerance, protecting Minority Rights and Religious Sites, and Countering Negative Propaganda.
LANGUAGE
Authors are encouraged to submit their manuscripts in English and Urdu in MS Word format only.
PUBLICATION
Selected papers will be published in the Following:
• South Asian Journal of Religions and Philosophy – (HEC Approved)
• Book of Conference Proceedings (summarized version)
IMPORTANT DATES
Last date for submission of abstracts 20-Jul-2025
Acceptance of abstracts 25-Jul-2025
Last date for submission of full papers 07-Sep-2025
Acceptance of full papers 14-Sep-2025
Early Bird Deadline 01-Oct-2025
Last date for registration of presenters 15-Oct-2025
Conference dates: 25-26 Oct-2025
Note: Late submissions shall NOT be entitled to avail early bird discount.
REGISTRATION FEE
1. Presenters from Abroad (Early Bird) USD 200 ; (Normal) USD250
2. Local Presenter (Early Bird) PKR 4,000 ; (Normal) PKR 5,000
3. Non-presenter Participants (Early Bird) PKR 2,500 ; (Normal) PKR 3,000
Note: Group discounts are available for non-presenter participants
Contact Us
For Further Details:
+92 331 0476892
Website: www.mul.edu.pk
Email: conferences@mul.edu.pk
REGISTRATION AND SUBMISSION
Please ensure your submission strictly meets the 8th ICWR-25 guidelines for accepting scholarly papers. Submit your abstracts and full papers online.
Participant/Presenter Registration
• If you have not registered with ConfBay before, click Register and follow the instructions shown on the screen.
• If you have registered with ConfBay in a previous conference, you may use the same ID and Password to Log In.
Online Paper Submission
• After logging in, you will be able to submit your paper through the Online Submission System.
• Click on the "My Submission" menu and follow the instructions shown on the screen.
• You will receive a notification email if your submission was successful
Organizer
School of Religion and Philosophy
Minhaj University Lahore,
Punjab, Pakistan
