Join us for this special launch event for "Command and Creation: A Shi'i Cosmological Treatise", with author Dr Daryoush Mohammad Poor in lively conversation with Zohora Pirbhai at the Ismaili Centre Lisbon. ...
News story -- Dr Dagikhudo Dagiev is the author of the IIS's most recent book--and first Open Access title--Central Asian Ismailis. In this interview, he reveals how he hopes the book will open up new ground in the study of the Ismailis of Central Asia. What can readers expect from the book? The book is one of the first comprehensive studies of ...
News story -- Fariza Sheralieva is a second-year student on the Secondary Teacher Education Programme (STEP). Here she talks about learning what it means to be a teacher and discovering her full potential through the programme. Being part of the IIS family and STEP programme for the second year has helped me to discover myself not only as a teacher but as ...
Events -- 28th April 2022 -- Islamic History and Thought Lecture Series Register to attend this lecture. What is Soul and what is Soul's domain? In many respects these two ideas formed one of the starting points of debates and discussions in the classical and medieval periods of Islamic intellectual history, especially in the works authored by scholars affiliated with the Fāṭimid ...
News story -- On World Poetry Day, Dr Karim Javan, Research Associate, and Naureen Ali, Cataloguer and Adlib Officer in the IIS's Ismaili Special Collections Unit, discover poetry in the walls at the AKC, in the manuscripts housed at the IIS, and in today's Nawruz celebrations. Today marks World Poetry Day, introduced by UNESCO to celebrate linguistic diversity through poetic expression, honour ...
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. ...
News story -- Ismaili Festivals: Stories of Celebration by Dr Shiraz Kabani, the first title in the IIS's Living Ismaili Traditions series, has launched in recent weeks at a series of popular events. The first launch, hosted by the IIS and ITREB UK, took place at the Ismaili Centre, London, on February 10th and was streamed live by The Ismaili TV. It ...
News story -- To mark International Women's Day, we have created a list of five essential resources surrounding our recently published book An Anthology of Qur'anic Commentaries, Volume II: On Women, edited by Dr Karen Bauer and Dr Feras Hamza. The Book: On Women On Women comprises extensive introductory material, annotated translations of Qurʾanic commentaries spanning 12 centuries, interviews of contemporary Muslim ...
News story -- For International Women's Day, seven women from across the IIS spoke to us about the joys and challenges of their jobs, their paths to the Institute, and the women who inspired them along the way. Interviewees: Remi Adebiyi (Human Resources Advisor); Shola Ajilore (Project Manager, Department of Curriculum Studies); Rosa Barugh (Academic Support Programmes Manager, Department of Graduate Studies); ...
News story -- Rehana Hafeez is a second-year Secondary Teacher Education Programme (STEP) student. In a blog written for International Women's Day, she explores the ways in which STEP has allowed her to pursue her dream of becoming a teacher while being a mother, and her desire to "ignite the spark of motivation and confidence in young girls who want to pursue ...
News story -- To celebrate World Book Day, Naureen Ali, Cataloguer and Adlib Officer in the Ismaili Special Collections Unit, showcases some of the unique and beautiful manuscripts and printed material housed at the IIS. Featured below is a selection including manuscripts, a rare book and a bookmark, ranging from the 14th to the 20th century, which gives a taste of the ...
Events -- 25th March 2022 -- About the event: This event is the closing keynote address of the IIS-Cambridge workshop on the study of Islam at the end of empire. The workshop brings together scholars of Muslim thought in order to reassess and reconsider a critical moment in the making of modern Islam: the transition from orientalism to "Islamic Studies". It foregrounds ...
News story -- Mizhgona Okhonniyozova is a second-year Secondary Teacher Education Programme (STEP) student. Here she reflects on what's she's learned from her IIS experience and the reality of living her dream. "It's the possibility of having a dream come true that makes life interesting." The Alchemist, Paulo Coelho STEP is far beyond what I was expecting before starting the programme. For ...
News story -- The IIS is pleased to announce that applications for the Doctoral Scholarship are now open. The deadline for applications is 31 March 2022. The IIS awards Doctoral Scholarships each year to suitable candidates who are interested in pursuing research at PhD level on a topic related to any of the Institute's core research areas. The most relevant to the ...
News story -- Anum Hossain is a third-year student on the Graduate Programme in Islamic Studies and Humanities (GPISH). In our first Student Voices blog of 2022, she shares a poem inspired by hearing the stories of her diverse cohort, "Show Me Your Hometown". One of the aspects of the GPISH programme that I have truly loved is being able to interact ...
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. ...
Events -- 3rd February 2022 -- Islamic History and Thought Lecture Series Sign up to IIS academic news, publications and events alerts. Register to attend this lecture. The prophet has a major metaphysical function. This is a fundamental thesis of Avicenna's prophetology, and one of the main theses that will be explored in this lecture. The Metaphysics of the Kitāb al-Šifā' closes ...
News story -- Ismaili Festivals: Stories of Celebration by Dr Shiraz Kabani is the first title in the IIS's new Living Ismaili Traditions (LIT) series. The book is a unique and personal account of festivals and traditions from the author's own lived experience as an Ismaili. Here Dr Kabani--who heads the IIS's Department of Community Relations--reflects on the aims of the series, ...
News story -- "Wladimir Ivanow and Modern Ismaili Studies" is currently running at the Aga Khan Centre Gallery. In this personal piece, Russell Harris, who helped to plan the exhibition, reflects on the challenges and joys of bringing the scholar (1886-1970) and his work back to life. Planning an exhibition of images related to a book is tantamount to preparing a truncated ...
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 ...
News story -- Six oil paintings by the renowned Pakistani artist Ismail Gulgee (1926-2007), a gift from former governor Dr Mohamed M Keshavjee, have been hung on the 9th floor at the Aga Khan Centre (AKC) on both sides of the naturally lit passage outside the Garden of Light. Dr Keshavjee's gift of the six paintings has been made in memory of ...
News story -- On 11 November Professor Carmela Baffioni, IIS Senior Research Fellow, was appointed Membro Nazionale of the Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei in Class 1. "Philology and Linguistics" of the Moral, Historical and Philological Sciences. The Accademia dei Lincei (anglicised as "the Lincean Academy"), founded in 1603 by Federico Cesi, is the most ancient scientific academy in the world. It was ...
News story -- We are excited to announce that, as part of its long-term digital strategy, the IIS's Department of Curriculum Studies has started a phased roll-out of the IIS Digital Curriculum (IISDC) e-book platform. The IISDC aims to make the curriculum materials published by the IIS available as e-books to pre-school, Ta'lim and Secondary Teacher Education Programme (STEP) teachers, and to ...
IIS Update -- Find out more about the key initiatives and achievements of the IIS in 2020-21. The Institute has been publishing an annual IIS Update since 2000, to inform its supporters, affiliates and well-wishers of its programmes and activities. The IIS Update includes information about the Institute's recent and forthcoming projects, as well as news about its publications and staff. Download ...
News story -- The presentations, on 22 and 26November, were made in person at the AKC, after going online during the pandemic. Students on the Graduate Programme in Islamic Studies and Humanities (GPISH) conceptualise, design and conduct research on a range of interesting topics in locations around the world during the summer of their second year. It is now an annual tradition ...
Events -- 16th December 2021 -- Islamic History and Thought Lecture Series Sign up to IIS academic news, publications and events alerts. Register to attend this lecture. 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. Conversely, the ritual consequences of ...
News story -- Wladimir Ivanow and Modern Ismaili Studieswill open at the Aga Khan Centre Gallery on December 1. The exhibition follows the pioneering Russian scholar of Islam, Wladimir Ivanow (1886-1970), across the Muslim world. His life and work traced the contours of a transformative and decisive period in modern history - encompassing revolution and the struggle against European empires, as well ...
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 -- Fatimid Cosmopolitanism: History, Material Culture, Politics, and Religion will run online on 6-9December 2021. Here Russell Harris, editor in the IIS's Department of Academic Research and Publications, gives an insight into what attendees can expect. We have to thank the Fatimids! Not only did they rule over an empire that stretched across Ifrīqiya and beyond from 909-1171 CE, but ...
News story -- An Anthology of Qur'anic Commentaries, Vol. 2: On Women is a landmark new book on a topic of significant social relevance, which draws on a selection of Qur'anic verses and their interpretations. We sat down with its authors, Dr Karen Bauer and Dr Feras Hamza, to find out how the tradition of Qur'anic commentary viewed women in the Qur'an, ...
News story -- We are very pleased to announce the publication of a groundbreaking anthology that explores a critical and contentious theme: women in the Qur'an and Qur'anic interpretation. An Anthology of Qur'anic Commentaries, Volume 2: On Women, edited by Dr Karen Bauer and Dr Feras Hamza, represents a unique new resource for all scholars and students of the Qur'an and its ...
Events -- 6th December 2021 to 9th December 2021 -- Convenor: Dr Gregory Bilotto. Venue: Online via Zoom. Register to attend. Subscribe to the IIS monthly academic newsletter for conference alerts. Background Historical documentation and archaeological material have revealed that the Fatimids once presided over a diverse, multicultural state composed of Muslims, Christians, Jews and other religious traditions, as well as from ...
Events -- 8th November 2021 -- Join us for the launch of this long-awaited and highly anticipated volume "On Women", the second in An Anthology of Qur'anic Commentaries. Subscribe to monthly updates on academic research, news and publications from The Institute of Ismaili Studies. An Anthology of Qur'anic Commentaries, Volume II: On Women(Oxford University Press and The Institute of Ismaili Studies, November ...
Events -- 10th November 2021 -- Sign up to IIS academic news, publications and events alerts. Join us for this special launch event for Command & Creation: A Shi'i Cosmological Treatise, with author Daryoush Mohammad Poor in lively conversation with Toby Mayer, both Senior Research Associates at The Institute of Ismaili Studies. Among the considerable oeuvre of Muhammad al-Shahrastani (1086-1153), the prominent ...
Events -- 28th October 2021 -- Islamic History and Thought Lecture Series Sign up to IIS academic news, publications and events alerts. The ninth and tenth centuries CE are famous for the series of Ismāʿīlī revolts that broke out across rural areas in Iraq, Syria, North Africa, and elsewhere. Seldom acknowledged is that these revolts occurred around the same time as a ...
News story -- Anusha Hudda (USA) is a second-year student on the IIS's Secondary Teacher Education Programme (STEP). Here she shares her experience of living with her peers from around the world in Victoria Hall. STEP is a two-year programme where we earn a master's in Muslim Societies and Civilisations and a PGDip in Teaching and Reflective Practice from SOAS and UCL, ...
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 ...
Events -- 30th September 2021 -- Islamic History and Thought Lecture Series Sign up to IIS academic news, publications and events alerts. This paper focuses on the Alawi Bohra community in Vadodara, Gujarat, and their khizānat al-kutub, or treasury of books. As Shi'i Isma'ilis, the Alawi Bohras consider themselves heirs of the Fāṭimid Imamate (909-1171). Whereas other Isma'ili communities, such as the ...
Events -- 30th September 2021 -- Islamic History and Thought Lecture Series Sign up to IIS academic news, publications and events alerts. This paper focuses on the Alawi Bohra community in Vadodara, Gujarat, and their khizānat al-kutub, or treasury of books. As Shi'i Isma'ilis, the Alawi Bohras consider themselves heirs of the Fāṭimid Imamate (909-1171). Whereas other Isma'ili communities, such as the ...
