Samer Rashwani studied Islamic Sciences at Damascus University (BA, 1997). In cooperation with a group of pan-Arabic young intellectuals, he laid the foundation for a new forum of critical Islamic thought (al-Multaka al-Fikri/Intellectual Forum for Innovation) in 1998. Rashwani moved to Egypt to complete his Qur'anic studies at the University of Cairo, receiving an MA in 2004 and a PhD in 2007 for his dissertation "Defending the Qur'an from the 3rd to the 5th century A.H. and its role in the development of Qur'anic Sciences". Rashwani has been a lecturer at the Faculty of Sharia (Universities of Damascus and Aleppo) since 2007. He has taught several courses in Hadith, Qur'anic studies and methodology.

As a EUME-fellow in Berlin Rashwani will investigate "The Textual Relevance of the Qur'anic Surah and its Impact on Semantic and Pragmatic Interpretation of the Qur'an". This project is anticipated to revise and redefine the traditional rules of interpreting the Qur'an. It is a continuation of a research venture Rashwani began with his MA thesis "The Methodology of Thematic Interpretation of Qur'an: a Critical Approach" published in Arabic in 2009 and authorized in the curriculum of Qur'anic postgraduate studies in the University of Damascus.