The "Dominican Institute", founded in 2008, is concerned with the history of Christian-Islamic dialogue. Involvement with Islam began very early in the Dominican Order.

Raymund of Peñafort founded the first Arabic language school for members of the Order preparing for missionary work.

The Dominicans founded priories in Byzantium (later renamed Istanbul), Cairo, Teheran, Baghdad and many other cities.

History shows us that, time and again, there were periods of confrontation as well as periods of understanding. In this context, we have to take into account the fact that the interests of political power from both sides, depending on the circumstances, either encouraged or hindered the process of dialogue.

Theology and religion are inseparably interlaced with history and with the society of the times. There is no such thing as theology as such. It is not possible to filter out a historical extract, but rather each era has its own hermeneutical key to understanding texts and ideas. The tension between normative texts and the necessary interpretation of them remains insoluble.

The "Dominican Institute" attempts to trace this process of confrontation and understanding.