Lecturer: Amyn B Sajoo Topic: Introductory Remarks to Contemporary Islams & Muslim (s) Lecture Series: Feminisms and Islams 1. The first question has to do with the title of the lecture series, 'Contemporary Islams and Muslims'. While one can easily understand the use of plural for Muslims, why have you chosen to use 'Islam' in the plural form? 2. To carry this ...
News story -- GPISH continues to attract applicants from Asia, Europe and North America. The group of 11 was selected from a pool of 145 candidates who applied this year. The new students bring to the programme a diversity of educational backgrounds including linguistics, political science, business administration, religious studies, philosophy and computer engineering. The Graduate Programme combines intellectual training with exposure ...
Publication: Nasir Khusraw, The Ruby of Badakhshan: A Portrait of the Persian Poet, Traveller and Philosopher Author:Dr Alice C HunsbergerQuestions addressed in the interview:1. What prompted you to write a book on Nasir Khusraw? What aspect of his life and writings interest you the most? 2. What were the circumstances which prompted Nasir Khusraw's journey to Cairo and conversion to the Ismaili ...
Publication: Justice and Remembrance: Introducing the Spirituality of Imam 'AliAuthor: Dr Reza Shah-KazemiIn this 28 min Interview, Dr Shah-Kazemi elaborates on Imam 'Ali's worldview and his ethical orientation towards justice. Dr Shah-Kazemi reflects that the notion of Justice in Imam Ali's worldview is immeasurably deepened by the spiritual precepts of the Islamic faith. The spirit underlying moral rules and ethical values is ...
News story -- We propose in this new series of lectures to engage with Muslim encounters with modernity - in the arts and culture, in political pluralism and human rights, in spirituality and the interpretation of scripture. There is a growing interest among scholars and policymakers in the idea of 'alternative modernities', and how this relates to multiple Islams - especially after ...
News story -- This talk argues that Islam provides a framework that enables its adherents to open pathways towards feminism. If we define feminism in terms of offering women choices and giving their choices respect, then we would be able to see that in their long struggle for liberation Iranian women have remained true to both their faith and the ideals of ...
News story -- The inaugural lecture on 'Feminisms and Islams' by Professor Haleh Afshar of the University of York was attended by more than 100 participants, including students, faculty and staff from the IIS and the ISMC, community leaders, independent scholars and other professionals. Professor Afshar, who is an advisor to the British government on public policy relating to Muslim women and ...
News story -- The STEP aims to develop an international community of qualified religious education teachers who will deliver the Institute's secondary curriculum throughout the worldwide Ismaili Muslim community. The programme is being piloted in six regions: Toronto and Vancouver, Canada; Mumbai, India; Karachi, Pakistan; Khorog, Tajikistan; and Houston, USA. The current pilot will run for two cycles: 2007-2009 and 2008-2010. Students ...
News story -- Gallery of images of Participants, Lecturers and Presenters The Summer Programme introduced participants to a multifaceted understanding of Islam and its Shi'a Ismaili Tariqah, locating it within the broader intellectual, historical, social and political context of human civilisations. The extensive readings and daily programming challenged participants to consider new perspectives on a range of issues from articulating identity to ...
News story -- Nasir Khusraw, the 10th century Isma'ili poet and thinker, belongs to a long tradition in Persia and elsewhere of expressing philosophical thought in poetry. His discourse has philosophical and didactic elements, with a strong spiritual and ethical purpose. He expressed his teachings using poetry as a tool to convey values in symbolic form, inviting people to be better human ...
News story -- Hosted by the Hungarian National Museum, the 13th International Congress of Turkish Art was held in Budapest, Hungary, from 3-8 September, 2007. Over 180 participants representing 22 countries gathered to hear the 124 abstracts selected for presentation. Sabrina A. Bandali, a third-year GPISH student, presented a paper entitled "Portraiture as Diplomatic Communication in the time of Mehmed II". The ...
News story -- Additional images from the Reunion The reunion commenced with a welcome address by Mr Shiraz Kabani, Head of Operations, Finance & Development, which was followed by an informal session where participants were invited to share memories and experiences of their student days at the IIS. The afternoon continued with the keynote address, delivered by Dr Aziz Esmail, IIS Governor, ...
News story -- Prince Rahim, Prince Hussain, Princess Khaliya, Members of the Board of Governors, Distinguished Guests: Good Afternoon. I am honoured to have been chosen to speak to you this afternoon and feel privileged to be speaking in the presence of so many leaders of our community. I have many fond memories of the past three years at The Institute of ...
News story -- This video consists of highlights from the graduation ceremony of the Class of 2007 at the Ismaili Centre in London on the afternoon of 10 September 2007. Prince Rahim Aga Khan was the Chief Guest and delivered the commencement address. In attendance were over 250 guests, including Prince Hussain Aga Khan, Princess Khaliya Aga Khan, governors, faculty, staff and ...
News story -- The conference, organised by Dr Samira Sheikh, was a gathering of over 80 delegates from around the world with a programme of 14 presentations illustrating a wide range of South Asian Muslim devotional expressions. Speakers explored links between devotional forms and reflected on the relationship between religious traditions and their lived expression. The conference highlighted the plurality in the ...
News story -- Bismillah-ir-Rahman-ir-Rahim Distinguished guests; governors, faculty, staff and students of The Institute of Ismaili Studies, families and very young children of the graduates; ladies and gentlemen, I am thrilled to join the graduation ceremony in honour of those completing the IIS Graduate Programme in Islamic Studies and Humanities. To you, to your families and to all those who have helped ...
News story -- The Institute attracts Ismaili students from around the globe, and this year's graduating class included students from Canada, Iran, Tajikistan, Pakistan and India. As early as the 1980's, the Institute had initiated programmes in collaboration with universities in Canada and the United Kingdom in which students obtained Master's degrees in Education and Islamic Studies. Since 1994, the Institute has ...
News story -- Among the keynote speakers at this year's event were Professor Tariq Ramadan, Professor Jorgen Nielson, and Tarek Mitri. Presentations were grouped into thematic panels such as 'Islam in a Globalising World', 'Politics and Identity', 'The Qur'an and today's World', and 'Interfaith Attitudes'. The conference provided a forum for participants to engage with questions such as: Can religion support political ...
News story -- With a variety of backgrounds and interests, eleven of the 2007 SyPP graduates are the recipients of national or international scholarships; others are beginning or returning to careers in Syria. Reema Istanbouli, Ghena Othman, Maha Yaziji, Jaydaa Wardeh and Nibras Al-Dibbiat were awarded IIS scholarships to study the Graduate Programme in Islamic Studies and Humanities at the IIS in ...
News story -- Zouhal (Graduate Programme in Islamic Studies and Humanities - GPISH - class of 2005) will research "The Treatment of Gender-Based Violence in the Justice System of Tajikistan" at the Department of Law, Sussex University. Her study will focus on law, ethics and gender issues in Central Asia. Rafiq's (GPISH class of 2006) doctoral studies will examine "Implications of the ...
News story -- All images in this article are copyright The Aga Khan Trust for Culture.Spirit & Life displays over 165 objects exemplifying the development and diversity of artistic traditions in the Muslim world, including portraits, textiles, manuscripts, ceramics, books of fables, tiles and musical instruments. Highlights of the exhibition include miniatures from the Persian epic Shahnama ('The Book of Kings'), manuscripts ...
News story -- The talk introduced the IIS and Encyclopaedia Islamica, an abridged translation of the Persian Encyclopaedia Da'irat al-Ma'arif-i Buzurg-i Islami. The first volume of the translation will be published in 2008 under the chief-editorship of Professor Wilferd Madelung and will encompass approximately 16 volumes. The conference was hosted by the Bosniac Institute in Sarajevo and run in conjunction with the ...
News story -- GPISH continues to attract a wide range of applicants from Asia, Europe and North America, who have completed their first degrees in a broad range of academic disciplines. This year's 12 candidates, who were selected from a pool of over 150 applicants, come from Canada, Tajikistan, Pakistan, Syria, USA, and France. Their academic backgrounds include Computer and Media Studies, ...
News story -- Trainers and Participants Two core courses, 'An Introduction to Qualitative Research' and 'An Introduction to Anthropology' werefacilitated by a team of scholars from the Institute including Akim Elnazarov, Dr Zulfikar Hirji and Dr Sarfaroz Niyozov. Supporting lectures on various topics were delivered by Dr Najam Abbas and Sultonbek Aksakolov, also members of the Central Asian Studies project, and by ...
News story -- African Cultural Heritage Sites and Landscapes This area links high-quality visual, contextual, and spatial documentation of African heritage sites. In partnership with the University of Cape Town, South Africa, Aluka is documenting a range of cultural and heritage sites across Africa. Thus far, Aluka has documented a number of sites, including the Grand Mosque in Djenné, the Djingerayber Mosque ...
News story -- Content Areas in Aluka Aluka is a not-for-profit organisation building a digital library about Africa in partnership with governments, libraries, museums, as well as cultural and scientific organisations around the world. As Aluka's Collections Development Manager, Mr Rajan is responsible for leading the content development of the digital library and for building partnerships and collaborations with a variety of ...
News story -- The Ismailis: Their History and Doctrines has since been reprinted five times in English and translated into Arabic (1994-1995), Persian (1996), Urdu (1997) and Tajiki (1999). The scholarly study of the history and doctrines of the Ismailis had until recently been based on the polemical and often distorted accounts of their detractors. Modern research, in the form of the ...
News story -- The Hamdani Collection has a fascinating provenance, attested by the many seals and signatures of Professor Hamdani's distinguished forebears. It represents one of the most significant collections of Ismaili writings in private hands and contains some 300 manuscripts and rare imprints in Arabic, Persian, Urdu, and Gujarati. Many scholars have drawn on its holdings in the preparation of editions ...
News story -- The earliest revelations of the Holy Qur'an to the Prophet Muhammad evoke powerful symbols of learning and knowledge. The value placed on knowledge in the Holy Qur'an became the foundation for the development of education in all its different expressions throughout Muslim history. Many major mosques, or Jami' as they were called, were also seats of higher learning, as ...
News story -- The Symposium was part of and associated with the "Splendori a Corte" (Splendours of the Court) exhibition. Professor Nanji's talk (see abstract) was in the session "Le Università: Incontro Dei Saperi" and focussed on exchange and dialogue at the level of 'universities and higher institutions of learning' during the medieval period and the commonality of subject matter and shared ...
News story -- Gallery of images of Participants Over the past two decades, in excess of 200 individuals have graduated from a range of human resource development initiatives of the IIS. These include: a Waezeen and Teacher Education Programme (1983-1994) the collaborative IIS-McGill programme (1983-1991) a post graduate diploma course in Curriculum Writing at the Institute of Education (1982-1983) the current Graduate ...
News story -- Gallery of Images of Participants The four day seminar was held at the Centro Ismaili in Lisbon and focused on significant developments in Muslim thought in the contemporary period. Professor Mohammed Arkoun, an IIS Governor and a Senior Visiting Fellow at the Institute, commenced the seminar with an introductory address, setting the context for the discussions during the seminar, ...
News story -- The programme aims to provide participants with proficiency in English and to further develop their conceptual knowledge and critical awareness. It targets individuals wishing to embark on graduate studies or enter managerial and leadership positions, providing training to assess problems, synthesize complex issues, and generate practical and intellectual solutions within their local context. The programme has two tracks: the ...
News story -- This monumental work provides a general survey of Ismaili history, the relevant primary sources for its different periods, and an overview of Ismaili studies. It presents an annotated listing of all published sources produced in medieval and early modern times, by Ismaili authors as well as other Muslims, on Ismaili history and doctrines. Ismaili Literature captures ongoing research in ...
News story -- The Giorgio Levi Della Vida Medal of the Gustave E. von Grunebaum Center for Near Eastern Studies is awarded every few years to an outstanding scholar whose work has significantly and lastingly advanced the study of Muslim civilisations. The award was inaugurated in 1967 and consists of a bronze medal and a prize. The recipient of the award also ...
News story -- Professor Nanji began by linking the architecture of Bath Abbey to the Romanesque tradition, which was influenced by features that had evolved in Muslim Spain. He described the fate of the building at the time of Henry VIII and referred to how the then conflict between Protestants and Catholics in Britain has subsequently been a lesson in dealing with ...
