The prophet has a major metaphysical function. This is a fundamental thesis of Avicenna's prophetology, and one of the main theses that is explored in this lecture. Find out more about this lecture. This recorded online event is part of the Islamic History and Thought Lecture Series. ...
The practice of remote ziyāra, whereby a devotee visits an imām's tomb not through physical pilgrimage but by reciting a pilgrimage litany, appears in the earliest Twelver literature on ziyāra. Find out more about this lecture. This recorded online event is part of the Islamic History and Thought Lecture Series. ...
News story -- The Ismaili Special Collections Unit (ISCU) has launched an online catalogue of special collections housed at the IIS. Featuring information on a significant number of items, including photographs, artefacts, coins and medals, rare books, manuscripts, archival items and periodicals, the catalogue will enable a wide range of audiences, including researchers and students, to explore heritage materials relating to Ismaili ...
In October 2020, Karen Bauer and Feras Hamza interviewed the renowned feminist amina wadud about verses 4.34 (on spousal relations), 4.1 (on the creation of humankind) and 24.31 (on the veil). An edited version of this interview has now been published in An Anthology of Qur'anic Commentaries Vol. 2: On Women (Oxford University Press, 2021). ...
This paper focuses on the Alawi Bohra community in Vadodara, Gujarat, and their khizānat al-kutub, or treasury of books. Find out more about this lecture. This recorded online event is part of the Islamic History and Thought Lecture Series. ...
News story -- We have made exciting additions to our special collections in the form of a photo album from Soviet Tajikistan and three rare coins, including a (Nizari) copper coin possibly struck at Alamut. The development and study of primary sources that illuminate the heritage of Ismaili communities in different parts of the world has been an integral part of the ...
This lecture looks at how the authors of literary sources of history constructed their narratives of scholarly apostasy in line with their own sectarian and political affiliations. Find out more about this lecture. This recorded online event is part of the Islamic History and Thought Lecture Series. ...
In this video, Dr Farhad Daftary speaks about how this book builds on decades of research, and represents an important contribution to the Ismaili community. Dr Farhad Daftary, Co-Director of The Institute of Ismaili Studies and, since 1992, Head of the Department of Academic Research and Publications is a leading authority on Shi'i studies, and particularly its Ismaili tradition. In this ...
To understand the formation of Twelver Shiʿism, we must understand the ways in which the authority of the traditional four agents and other community leaders was contested. Find out more about this lecture. This recorded online event is part of the Islamic History and Thought Lecture Series. ...
Watch Dr Wissam Halawi (University of Lausanne) speak about the origins and later history of Druzism, which in its early development, parted from mainstream Fatimid doctrine. Find out more about this lecture. This recorded online event is part of the Islamic History and Thought Lecture Series. ...
Watch Dr Mathieu Terrier (CNRS, Paris) present three case studies that illustrate the evolution of Imami Qur'anic exegesis in the early modern and modern eras in the first event of the IIS's Islamic History and Thought Lecture Series. Find out more about upcoming events in the Islamic History and Thought Lecture Series. ...
Film showcasing the Aga Khan Library and its collections for History Day 2020. Film showcasing the Aga Khan Library and its collections for History Day 2020. ...
Listen to author Dr Stephen Burge in conversation with Dr Shainool Jiwa, Senior Research Fellow at IIS, in this book launch event which took place in October 2020 at the Ismaili Centre, London. Find out more about The Prophet Muhammad: Islam and the Divine Message, and the wider World of Islam series. ...
Watch this video Lecture by Dr Valerie Gonzalez to learn about the diverse creative forces that led to the formation of a unique Mughal pictorial language. The Mughal dynasty is renowned for its great architecture and patronage of the arts. Perhaps more than any other Islamic dynasty, the Mughals made their passion for the arts and its aesthetic principles, a central ...
In this interview, Dr Amyn Sajoo elaborates on how the aftermath of September 11, 2001 made understanding 'what Islam is about and what Muslims believe' a vital concern across all frontiers. A Companion to the Muslim World is an attractive venture by distinguished scholars to contribute toward this urgent process of comprehension. What is the extraordinary text that is the Holy ...
In this short message delivered for the launch of the Persian Edition of 'A History of Shi'i Islam', in Tehran, Iran, Dr Farhad Daftary elaborates on his dedicated efforts to clarifying misconceptions about Shi'i Islam, particularly in the West. Download the Persian transcript with English translation here. In his detailed study of Shi'i Islam, spanning over decades, Dr Daftary observes that ...
Watch this video to learn more about IIS' work and its impact promoting scholarship and learning about Muslim cultures and societies. The Institute of Ismaili Studies (IIS) was established, in 1977, as a higher education institution to promote scholarship and learning about Muslim cultures and societies. The Institute's research, publications and educational programmes aim to contribute to the academic study of ...
Watch the insightful presentations by Dr Daniel Beben and Dr Daryoush M. Poor on the remarkable life and career of the 46th hereditary Ismaili Imam - Hasan Ali Shah - during a book launch event on 1 May at the Aga Khan Centre. Part of the Ismaili Texts and Translations Series, the book was published in honour of His Highness the ...
In this lecture, Professor Safi delves deeper into the essence of the spiritual path with a story from Rumi's Masnavi to demonstrate how the mystics conveyed their teachings of the Divine. On 26 March, Professor Omid Safi, Director of Duke University's Islamic Studies Centre, took audiences through a mystical journey in his talk entitled, RadicalLove: Teachings from the Islamic Mystical Tradition ...
Watch this video to follow the eventful life Journey of Aga Khan I through maps of his travels, locations of his stays in Persia and the Subcontinent and his interactions with the the political powers of his time. Part of the Ismaili Texts and Translations Series, the The First Aga Khan - Memoirs of the 46th Ismaili Imam is the first ...
Who was the first Aga Khan? Learn about the life of Hasan Ali Shah, the 46th Imam of the Nizari Ismailis and the first Ismaili Imam to bear the title of Aga Khan, from his memoirs Ibrat Afza. The First Aga Khan: Memoirs of the 46th Ismaili Imam offers a new Persian edition and the first English translation of the Ibrat-afza, ...
Travelling through more than fourteen-hundred years of the history of Islam, from formative era to its place in the modern world, the book explores the many social and cultural landscapes of Arabia, the Mediterranean, the Middle East, North Africa, sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, Central Asia, China, the Americas and Europe where Islam was adopted and took root. Islam: An Illustrated Journey ...
This short video introduces one of the oldest manuscripts of the Qur'an, the Sana'a Palimpsest, dating back to the 1st-2nd century AH / 7th century CE. This short video introduces one of the oldest manuscripts of the Qur'an, the Sana'a Palimpsest, dating back to the 1st-2nd century AH / 7th century CE. The manuscript was discovered in Yemen, during the 1972 ...
Watch the keynote address on The Confluence of Mysticism and Messianism in Islamic Theosophy (Irfan) in the 15th-17th centuries, delivered by Prof. Gerhard B Gerhard Böwering on 3 October, 2018 at the Aga Khan Centre. ...
Watch the keynote address on The Shi'i Milieu of Post-Mongol Iran delivered by Dr Farhad Daftary on 3 October, 2018 at the Aga Khan Centre. ...
In this 21 min. interview, Professor Ali Asani examines the place of the ginans, Ismaili devotional literature of South Asia, within the larger literary and religious traditions of the Subcontinent. In addition, Profesor Asani also examines the Khojki script in which the ginans were transcribed, once they were committed to writing.
This lecture by Dr Omar Ali-de- Unzaga gives a glimpse into the multitude of interpretations of the Qur'an that exist. Dr Ali-de-Unzaga points out that while each interpretation may invariably claim to be the true one to the exclusion of others, it is remarkable that many of these interpretations have been in coexistence for more than a thousand years. At the ...
This video presents highlights from the lectures delivered on the occasion of IIS' 40th anniversary under the themes of heritage, knowledge, people and the future. ...
The IIS holds one of the most significant repositories in the world of materials related to Ismaili communities, comprising nearly 3,000 manuscripts in Arabic, Persian and Indic languages. In addition, IIS also holds several hundred volumes of rare books, periodicals and journals, off-prints, and important coins from the Fatimid and Alamut periods of Ismaili history. ...
The 22 minute video interview with Dr Reza Shah-Kazemi on his book, "Spiritual Quest: Reflections on Qur'anic prayer according to the teachings of Imam Ali" features his aspirations for writing the book. In his interview, Dr Shah-Kazemi shares his reflections on how the teachings of Imam Ali could inspire an intellectual and rationale engagement with the Qu'ran, leading to a fuller ...
Nasir-i Khusraw was a renowned poet, philosopher, and Ismaili missionary of the eleventh CE century. Among his many accomplishments, he is credited for having introduced the people of the mountainous Central Asian province of Badakhshan to the Ismaili Muslim tradition and is still widely revered among the Ismaili communities of Central Asia. However, there is also another aspect to the legacy ...
This 22 min video features a brief introduction to the competing Muslim powers on either side of the western Mediterranean in the 10th century CE: The Shiʿi Ismaili caliphate of the Fatimids (r. AH 297-567/909-1171 CE) and the Sunni Maliki caliphate of the Umayyads of al-Andalus, also known as the 'Umayyads of Spain' (r. AH 317-422/929-1031 CE). In AH 297/909 the ...
This 30 min interview with Dr Toby Mayer elaborates on the 'Poem on the Soul' (Qasidat al-nafs), traditionally attributed to Ibn Sina (d. 1037 CE), the great Persian Philosopher and master of Aristotelian thought in the Muslim world, known in Europe as Avicenna. In his commentary, Dr Mayer shares his thoughts on how the Qasida expresses metaphorically the need for a ...
This ... min lecture by Dr Stephen Burge explores aspects of the supernatural in Prophet Mohammed's life, using material found in the biographies of the Prophet and in the hadith Literature. Dr Burge argues that the presence of angels and the supernatural form an important spiritual element within the narratives of the events in the Prophet's life. He illustrates this using ...
