News story -- Imam-Caliph al-Mu'izz's rule was among the most eventful periods in Fatimid history and has left indelible imprints on subsequent centuries. While being an accomplished statesman and administrator, Imam-Caliph al-Mu'izz was also an avid scholar and a generous patron of learning. During his reign, the Fatimid Empire extended from present-day Morocco in the west to Syria and Yemen in the ...
News story -- Having the three sister organisations in the same building will provide opportunities for greater synergy and collaboration between them, while retaining their distinct identities. The new facility affords each entity bespoke office, meeting, conference and teaching space, with a new library taking shape for students, academics and other users. The building's proximity to The British Library, the University College ...
News story -- Dr Nejad seeks a deeper understanding of the Ashura ritual and its spatial dimensions, by explaining the evolution of rituals throughout Shi'i history as dependent on socio-political changes. In his paper, he shows how society and space interact with each other through rituals. The Ashura ritual on the 10th day of Muharram is a tradition amongst most Shi'i communities ...
News story -- The central theme of Dr. Sajoo's presentation was the role of maslaha or the 'public interest' in Muslim ethical reasoning, and how this has shaped particular choices in biomedicine, past and present. Five key narratives were offered to illustrate how maslaha allowed departures from traditional legal rules in order to serve a larger public interest. These involved decisions on ...
News story -- Professor Salvatore began by discussing the idea of a public space in which communication - in the form of reportage, comment, debate and discussion - is a key aspect of the emergence of Modernity. These spaces included newspapers, journals, coffee houses and other public forums, from which came the key notion of 'public opinion'. He drew attention to the ...
News story -- Other speakers in the last seminar included Professor Rajeev Bhargava, Senior Fellow and Director of the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies; Louis Greenspan, Professor Emeritus of Religious Studies at McMaster University in Ontario and Professor Abdou Filali-Ansary, Director of AKU-ISMC.In his talk, Professor Nanji provided an example of a group of scholars in tenth century Basra who, ...
News story -- Exploring poets in the Muslim milieu, Raficq Abdulla looked at a variety of poetic expressions and juxtaposed the ethos of poetry against the rapid pace and alienations of modern life. In poetry's capacity to generate emotion, to have a surplus of meaning and to invoke an identifiable experience, he saw poetic expressions as close to the sacred in human ...
News story -- Drawing upon his book The Other in the Light of the One, Dr Shah-Kazemi presented a mystical viewpoint on the matter. With references to Sufi commentaries on the Quran, he spoke about the verses that can contribute to a positive evaluation of the other faith-communities and lead to a meaningful dialogue between believers of different faiths. He also explained ...
News story -- This talk dealt with phenomenology of visual perception, and the question concerning the visibility of space. In his presentation, Dr El-Bizri explored the fundamental aspects of the optical and geometrical research of the Arab polymath, Alhazen (al-Hasan Ibn al-Haytham; d. ca. 1041 CE). A particular emphasis was placed on the principal elements of Alhazen's revolutionising reform of the classical ...
News story -- Over the course of three days, scholars from AKTC, AKU-ISMC and the American University in Cairo shared with the alumni their perspectives on historic and modern Cairo. In addition, there were several opportunities for the alumni to experience the city itself. In his opening remarks welcoming the alumni and speakers, Mr Shiraz Kabani, Head of Operations, Finance and Development, ...
News story -- Dr Badakhchani's paper was on the "Notion of paradise in the Ismaili works of Nasir al-Din Tusi". Tusi was a prominent philosopher and astronomer (d. 672AH /1271 CE), to whom over 150 books and treatises on a variety of subjects have been attributed. During his association with the Ismailis (lasting approximately 30 years), he composed a number of books ...
News story -- The book on Sufi Hermeneutics by Dr Annabel Keeler, the third publication in the Institute's Qur'anic Studies series, examines the Sufi approach to Qur'anic interpretation as exemplified in a twelfth-century Persian tafsir, Rashid al-Din Maybudi's Kashf al-asrar (Unveiling of Mysteries) - arguably one of the most important Qur'anic commentaries in the Persian language. Dr Reza Shah-Kazemi's book on Imam ...
News story -- The twelve students, who embarked on their studies at the Institute in August 2005, completed their Masters Degrees in a wide variety of fields at universities such as Oxford, Cambridge, London School of Economics and Political Science, University College London and University of Columbia. Dr Alnoor Dhanani, Head of the Department of Graduate Studies, welcomed the gathering. Speaking about ...
News story -- Sultonbek Axsakolov (GPISH class of 2002) will join the Department of History at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London, to work on Russian and Soviet studies on the Ismailis. Amier Saidulla (GPISH class of 2003) will study the religious practices of the Tajik Ismailis in Xinjiang province of China. He will join the Department ...
News story -- Dr. Karen Bauer, who has recently joined the Qur'anic Studies Unit at the IIS from Princeton University, presented a paper on the panel "New Approaches to Tafsir" organised by Dr. Walid Saheh, with Dr. Andrew Rippin responding. Dr. Bauer's paper was titled "How does customary practice affect Qur'anic interpretation? The case of household roles". It focused on texts in ...
News story -- The new arrival consists of 39 students from five countries - Canada, India, Pakistan, USA and Tajikistan. Selected from a pool of 260 applicants, the group spans a diverse range of academic and professional backgrounds. During their two year programme, the students will be undertaking courses at the Institute of Education, University of London, and the IIS. The successful ...
Publication: 'Muslim Ethics: Emerging Vistas' Author: Dr Amyn B. Sajoo Questions addressed:The cover of the book features an image depicting Noah's Ark - and it is remarkably evocative. Could you share your perspective on the choice and how it relates to the text? Why have you chosen 'Muslim ethics' as the subject of this book? What makes 'Muslim' ethics unique and different ...
News story -- The GPISH course attracts a large number of applications every year from many talented individuals globally. It is designed to train individuals to play a leading role in academic and community life. As such, it acts both as a preparatory ground for a research degree and a stepping stone to a variety of career opportunities; past graduates have carved ...
News story -- Former recipients of the PhD Scholarships have shared interests in the study of Islam and Muslim societies, within the disciplines of Philosophy, Education, Anthropology, Art and Law. This year Abdulmamad Iloliev completed his doctoral studies from The University of Cambridge with a thesis entitled Poetic Expression of Pamiri Isma'ilism: The Life and Thought of Mubarak-i Wakhani, A Nineteenth Century ...
News story -- The Illustrated History is the first IIS publication to be written for a non-specialist audience and is one of five publications released in commemoration of the Golden Jubilee. Co-authored by Dr Farhad Daftary and Professor Zulfikar Hirji, The Illustrated History contains over 400 illustrations, including images of manuscripts, artefacts and monuments, community documents as well as important historical and ...
News story -- Ghazali remains a controversial figure almost a millennium after his death, not least for his unjust attacks on Ismaili teaching and doctrine. He is admired by many, Sunni and Shi'i alike, but disliked by almost as many others. In Saudi Arabia, for instance, his books are banned. This book 'Ghazali: The Revival of Islam' was written as part of ...
Lecturer: Dr Mohamed Keshavjee Topic: 'Bridging Legal Modernity and Tradition: Alternative Dispute Resolution in Muslim Contexts'Abstract: From the outset, a non-adversarial approach to dispute resolution has been favoured in Muslim tradition - drawing inspiration from the Quran and the example of the Prophet Muhammad. While the Shari'a was to crystallise into fiqh - positive law set forth by various schools of law ...
News story -- Dr Qutbuddin noted that modern scholarship has acknowledged the unprecedented benevolent attitude of the Fatimids in the 10th and 11th centuries towards their subjects. While the original sources are mostly silent about the motives of the Fatimid rulers for adopting this policy, the most common explanation given by modern scholars is that of political expediency, because the Fatimids were ...
News story -- Professor Dawut, whose research focuses on the folklore and local Muslim rituals of Uyghurs in Xinjiang, received her Ph.D. from Beijing Normal University in 1998. Her publications include Mazar Worship Among the Uyghur (Xinjiang University Press, 2001) and Introduction to Uyghur Mazar (Xinjiang People's Press, 2001). She has been a Visiting Scholar at Pennsylvania University's Center for Folklore and ...
This is an interview with Dr Ismail Serageldin, which took place at The Institute of Ismaili Studies following his lecture on 'Modernisation and Cultural Identity in Islam' in March 2008.Questions addressed in the interview:1. How do you see the Library of Alexandria as influencing the Muslim identity in the age of the Internet? 2. What is your sense of freedom of expression ...
News story -- In his keynote address, Professor Nanji stated: "This is a particularly significant time for a discipline like Gujarat Studies to emerge. If one looks just at the range of papers we have, Gujarat Studies is no longer located in one space in the Subcontinent; one doesn't study Gujarat Studies simply because it relates only to Gujarat, and that is ...
News story -- Photo Courtesy of Amaan PardhanWhile in Granada, the students spent a day at the Alhambra Palace, built in the 13th and 14th centuries by the Sultans of the Nasrid dynasty, the last Muslim rulers of al-Andalus. Among the highlights of the students' visit to the walled city were the Generalife gardens, the muqarnas decorations at the Nasrid Palace, and ...
This is an interview with Dr Amira Bennison, which took place at The Institute of Ismaili Studies following her talk on 'The Umma in the City: Cordoba, Isfahan & Marrakesh in February 2008. Questions addressed in the interview: 1. How accurate are the traditional Western accounts of the stereotypical Muslim city? 2. What do Cordoba, Isfahan and Marrakesh have that is significant ...
News story -- The distinctive feature of Prof. Tavakoli's presentation was that it drew entirely on the lived history of ordinary Iranians. In particular, the changing social attitude towards health from the mid-nineteenth century - notably in matters of public sanitation, hygiene and infection - were cast as driving forces in the practical making of the modern. Two features of this change ...
News story -- Head of Graduate Studies at the IIS, Dr Alnoor Dhanani, welcomed the students, staff and guests who attended the programme. This was followed by a talk from Dr Laila Halani, Course Director of GPISH. Drawing on her present role and her experiences as an alumna and a PhD Scholarship recipient, Dr Halani outlined the different areas that students can ...
News story -- A wide range of speakers, including faculty from the IIS, the Institute for the Study of Muslim Civilisations (AKU-ISMC) and other international academic institutions, travelled to Cambridge to deliver sessions focused on topics as diverse as knowledge societies, perspectives on the Holy Qur'an, Imamah as a model of authority and leadership in Islam, the diversity of worship and practice ...
News story -- The trip aimed at crystallising some ideas to chart out a future course of action to strengthen the collaboration based on shared intellectual interests. Professor Rybakov, who is also the Rector of Oriental University Moscow, expressed a need to have a framework of partnership by listing the steps for widening the research Russian Orientalists have conducted on the Ismailis ...
Lecturer: Prof Sami Zubaida Topic: 'Everyday modernity in the Arab world' Abstract: Modernity in many parts of the Arab world and Turkey dates back to the nineteenth century. It is not merely cultural, but also buttressed by far reaching socio-economic transformations of capitalism and the world market. It involved urbanisation and individualisation of labour and of lifestyle for many sectors. Another process ...
News story -- The aim of this component of the programme is to offer students direct experience of the lived context of the theories they are exposed to during the Graduate Programme. Students are encouraged to make connections between historical and contemporary issues during this time and to understand the social context of knowledge. It is also an opportunity for a hands-on ...
News story -- Not many original Ismaili texts were available to modern scholars until the middle of the twentieth century. Consequently, the Ismailis were mostly studied on the basis of the materials that were either collected from or fabricated by their detractors. The Ismailis, like many other minorities, were often described as an 'unorthodox' sect vis-a-vis the mainstream 'orthodox' majority. However, beginning ...
News story -- Thirty four alumni who are part of this Chapter Group attended the sessions on Saturday 5th April. Nacim Pak-Shiraz (Class of 2002), President of the Chapter Group, formally opened the meeting by welcoming the alumni and recounting the initiatives and activities undertaken by the Chapter Group over the last year. These included the Meet and Greet event held in ...
Lecturer: Raficq Abdulla Topic: Rumi to Adonis: The Conference of the Birds' Abstract: Where does poetry get you? What is the role of poetry and is it different in different cultures? Does poetry count in the contemporary world? Raficq Abdulla searches for the heart of poetry by reading into the claims poetry has on us from West to East. The English poet, ...
