Encyclopaedia Articles -- Ismaili historiography has been closely related to the very nature of the Ismaili mission, or da'wa,and the changing fortunes of the Ismailis during the various phases of their history. The Ismailis were usually persecuted by their numerous detractors, necessitating the observance of taqiyyaby them. The Ismaili da'is,who were at the same time the scholars and authors of their community, ...
Encyclopaedia Articles -- Download PDF version of article (105 KB) Nasir al-Din Tusi, Muhammad b. Muhammad b. Hasan, by far the most celebrated scholar of the 7th/13th century Islamic lands was born in Tus, in 597/1201 and died in Baghdad on 18 Dhu'l Hijja 672/25 June, 1274. Thomas Aquinas and Roger Bacon were his contemporaries in the West. Very little is known ...
Encyclopaedia Articles -- Download PDF version of article (32 KB)Key words: Optika, Ptolemy, vision, Hunayn ibn Ishaq, al-Kindi, Euclid, Ibn al- Haytham, astronomy, Islamic civilization, Avicenna, Nasir al-Din Tusi, intromission, Kitab al-manazir (The Optics), meteorology. Optics, as a scientific discipline that explores the nature and comportment of vision and light, finds its earliest methodic roots in Euclid's elementary treatise, the Optika (ca.300 ...
Lifelong Learning Articles -- It sparkles like a brilliant jewel, shining whiter than the fresh snow that blankets its wintry landscape. The Delegation of the IsmailiImamat, Ottawa's newest landmark, is a graceful marriage of East and West. Situated on a prime section of Sussex Drive with the Saudi embassy on one side and the Department of Foreign Affairs on the other, the ...
Lifelong Learning Articles -- KeywordsArt, Barbara Brend, British East India Company, George Marcais, Islamic, miniature, Mohamed Arkoun, Mughal, Muslim, Oleg Grabar, Ottomans, Qajar, Robert HillenbrandDownload PDF version of the article (32 KB)Table of ContentsIntroductionDoes Islamic Art Exist?A Way Out?The End of Islamic Art?What is Islamic?ConclusionIntroduction In the mid-1700s, a new artistic movement began in India. British East India Company officers brought their ...
Lifelong Learning Articles -- Keywords Ibn al-Haytham, Alhazen, optics, ophthalmology, phenomenology, beauty, science, philosophy, metaphysics. Download PDF version of article (210 KB) Table of contentsIntroduction - Azim NanjiIbn al-Haytham and his OpticsThe Influence of the Kitab al-ManazirObservable BeautyIbn al-Haytham's 'Phenomenology'Phenomenology and PerceptionIntroduction A Qatari stamp celebrating Ibn al-Haytham.What accounts for the complexity of our world, our environment and ourselves, and for our ...
Lifelong Learning Articles -- Opening page of Nasir Khusraw's Divan (The Institute of Ismaili Studies Library, MS 903). Keywords Nasir Khusraw, Safarnama, Iranian Studies, Islamic Studies, Ismaili Studies, Shi'i Studies, Central Asia, philosophy, Yumgan, Badakhshan, Khurasan, da'wa, literature, poetry, travelogue, Fatimids. Download PDF version of article (222 KB) Table of ContentsIntroductionThe Early YearsThe Journey of a LifeYears of ExileThe Content of His ...
Reading Lists -- 1. General Works Amir-Moezzi, Mohammad. The Divine Guide in Early Shi'ism,tr. D. Streight. Albany, NY: SUNY Press, 1994; originally published as Le guide divin dans le Shi'isme original. Aux sources de l'ésotérisme en Islam. Paris, 1992. Arjomand, Said Amir. The Shadow of God and the Hidden Imam: Religion, Political Order and Societal Change in Shi'ite Iran from the Beginning ...
Academic Article -- Keywords Modernity, Islam, Historicity, Fundamentalism, Tradition, Identity, History, Religion, the Abrahamic Faiths, the universal and the particular Download PDF version of article (36 KB) Table of ContentsSome Fundamental Questions of our timesIslam: Fact and IdeaHistory vs. SystemModernity: Prospects and PredicamentsThe Need of the HourThe Power of AspirationAbrahamic Commonalities Some Fundamental Questions of our times It is now more than ...
Academic Article -- Download PDF version of article (55 KB)Key words: Ismailis, Syria, Fatimids,Shi'a, Salamiyya, da'wa,da'i, Cairo, al-Azhar, Dar al-'Ilm, Alamut, Saljuq, Crusaders, Nizari, Aleppo, Damascus, Jabal Bahra, Rashid al-Din Sinan, Kahf, Mamluks, Baybars, Mongols, Abbasid, Hospitallers, Salah al-Din, holy war. Table of Contents:A Wide-Spread Network with Shifting Power Bases The Ismailis in Medieval Syria The Ismaili Strongholds in Syria and Iran ...
Academic Article -- Download PDF In John Wansbrough's work, Qur'anic Studies: Sources and Methods of Scriptural Interpretation, several theses are put forth regarding the material known as asbab al-nuzul, 'occasions of revelation'. The overall view of Wansbrough is one which is derived (critically) from al-Suyuti,[1] which is that the asbab material has its primary reference point in works devoted to deriving law ...
Encyclopaedia Articles -- Download PDF version of article (32 KB)Key words: Sufi, hagiographer, Nishapur, Mongol, Mawlana Rumi, mathnawi, Diwan, Mantiq al-Tayr, Khusraw-Nama, Gul-u-Hurmuz, Mukhtar Nama, Ilahi-Nama, KhusrawNama, Asrar-Nama, Maqamat al-Tuyur, Musibat-Nama, Tadhkirat al-Awliya, al-Hallaj, Simurgh, fikrat, mystical journey, soul, resurrection, death. A celebrated Persian poet and Sufi hagiographer, 'Attar lived during the second half of the twelfth century CE and the first ...
Encyclopaedia Articles -- Download PDF version of articleFew biographical details are available on Abu Ishaq Ibrahim Quhistani, a prominent Nizari Ismailiauthor and missionary (da'i), who flourished in the second half of the 9th AH / 15th CE century and died not too long after 904 AH/1498 CE. He was born in the district of Mu'minabad, to the east of Birjand, in Quhistan, ...
Encyclopaedia Articles -- A Persian word. Place where the meal cloth is spread. Term for Sufi meetinghouse. Al-Maqrizi (d. 1461) wrote that khanaqahs first appeared in the tenth century and these buildings were 'exclusively dedicated to the worship of God almighty,' although other reports refer to their existence as early as the ninth century. Some of the earliest recorded khanaqahs in Persia ...
Encyclopaedia Articles -- Download PDF version of this article (32 KB) Abu Ja'far Muhammad b. 'Ali was one of the most learned Muslims of his age. He played a pivotal role in the history of early Islam as an authority on the exegesis of the Qur'an, the Traditions of the Prophet (Hadith), and on all matters relating to the rites, rituals, and ...
Encyclopaedia Articles -- Download PDF version of articleKahak is a village located about 35 km northeast of Anjudan and northwest of Mahallat in central Iran, with the ruins of a fairly large caravanserai. Kahak was an important locality in the late medieval period for the Qasemshahi NizariIsmaili community in Iran, but now it is a small and isolated village with a Twelver ...
Lifelong Learning Articles -- KeywordsMediation, Family, Institutional Structures, Nass, Shahada, Imamat, Aga Khan III, Aga Khan IV, Ismaili Constitution, Global Ismaili Community, Conciliation and Arbitration Boards, Alternative Dispute Resolution, ADR, Muslihun, Sulh, Amanat, Khianat, Sharia, Maqasid al-Sharia, EthicsDownload PDF version of the article (100 KB)Table of ContentsAlternative Dispute Resolution and Islam Sulh (negotiated settlement) in Muslim contextsSome best practices that have developedPracticeIslam, ...
Lifelong Learning Articles -- Download PDF version of article (30 KB) "Sometimes I read that Islam is in conflict with democracy. Yet I must tell you that as a Muslim, I am a democrat, not because of Greek or French thought, but primarily because of principles that go back 1400 years, directly after the death of Prophet Mohammad (peace be upon him). ...
Lifelong Learning Articles -- This is an adapted and edited version of an article first published in The Ismaili USA in March, 2004 From its modest beginnings in the late 1970s, The Institute of Ismaili Studies (IIS) has developed into a vibrant centre of learning, addressing not only the needs of the international Ismaili community, but also contributing to and participating in ...
Lifelong Learning Articles -- Download PDF version of article (224 KB)Keywords Encounter, heritage, culture, religion, Islam, pluralism, diversity, architecture, tradition, prejudice, Qur'an, identity, family, status, transition, ethics, education, Islamic Studies, Europe, Canada, USA, America, Muslims, education, marriage, women, space, normative, values, assimilation, multiculturalism, law, civil society, faith, culture. Table of contentsIntroductionIncreasing the Muslim 'Presence' in North AmericaNotions of PluralismPopular PrejudicesAssessing the Muslim ...
Reading Lists -- a. Religion & Modernity Al-Azmeh, Aziz. Islams and Modernities. London: Verso, 1993. Armstrong, Karen. The Battle for God. New York: Knopf, 2000. Arkoun, Mohammed. The Unthought in Contemporary Islamic Thought. London and Beirut:Saqi Books, 2002. ____. Rethinking Islam: Common Questions, Uncommon Answers, tr. Robert D. Lee. London: Harper Collins, 1994. Asad, Talal. Formations of the Secular: Christianity, Islam, Modernity. ...
Academic Article -- Download PDF version of article (32 KB)Key words:Neoplatonism, Syriac, Plotinus, Plato, Republic, Phaedo, Symposium, Aristotelian, Stoic, neo-Pythagorean, Enneads, Nous (intellect), methaphysics, Platonists, creatio ex nihilo, the World Soul, Laws, Sophist, Timaeus, history of ideas in Islam, al-Madina al-Fadila (The Virtuous City), Corpus Platonicum, Tandhib al-akhlaq (The Cultivation of Morals), Ibn Miskawayh, Liber de Causis (Kitab al-Khayr al-Mahd), al-Kindi, Ikhwan ...
Academic Article -- Key words Fatimid empire, Diversity, Governance, Imam-caliph al-Mu'izz, Imam-caliph al-Aziz, Egypt, Cairo, Egyptian Christianity,Towards a Shi'i Mediterranean Empire, Arts of the City Victorious Download full version of the article in PDF format (304KB) History The raison d'être of the Ismaili Fatimid caliphate (909-1171 CE) was the establishment of a state where all its subjects, regardless of their religious affiliations ...
Academic Article -- Keywords Fatimids, Egypt, Shi'i Studies, Ismaili Studies, Pluralism, Tolerance, Interfaith Relations, Jews, Christians, Egypt, imam-caliphs, ahl al-kitab, ahl al-dhimma, people of the book, people of the covenant of protection, al-Mu'izz li-Din Allah, al-'Aziz bi'llah, Judaism, Christianity. Download PDF version of article (184 KB)Table of ContentsIntroductionBackgroundThe Ahl al-kitab during the Reign of the Imam-Caliph al-Mu'izzThe Imam-Caliph al 'Aziz and the ...
Encyclopaedia Articles -- Download PDF version of article (32 KB)Key words Ka'ba, Mecca, bayt Allah (House of God), masjid al haram (sacred mosque), Prophet Muhammad,Islam, haram, pilgrimage (hajj), umra (minor pilgrimmage), pilgrim, worship, Black Stone (al hajar al aswad), tawaf, Well of Zamzam, Abraham (Ibrahim), Hagar, Ismail (Ishmael), Abrahamic tradition, maqam, qibla.The Ka'baThe structure and its immediate precincts in Mecca that also ...
Encyclopaedia Articles -- Download PDF version of article (105 KB) Research Institution A research institution founded on 16 February 1946 in Bombay, India under the patronage of the third Aga Khan, Sultan Muhammad Shah (1294-1376/1877-1957), the 48th imam of the Nizari lsmailis. Its primary objective, according to the charter, has been 'the promotion of independent and critical study of all matters connected ...
Encyclopaedia Articles -- Download PDF version of article Table of contentsOrigins and Early History The Schism of 286 AH/899 CE and the Carmatian revoltsLater History of the Carmatian Movement (Arabic: Qaramita and singular: Qarmati), the name given to the adherents of a branch of the Ismailis during the 3rd AH/9th century CE. Originally, the term was evidently applied primarily to those Ismailis ...
Encyclopaedia Articles -- Although many of these castles in Persia were taken and demolished by the Mongols, the ruins still give an impression of their immense power. As far as we know, there are no other Ismaili monuments still extant with the exception of isolated remains of pottery kilns, for instance at Andij in Alamut. It should be remembered that Ismaili castles, ...
Encyclopaedia Articles -- Download PDF version of article (112 KB) Sijistani and Philosophy Abu Ya'qub al-Sijistani was first and foremost a member of the Ismaili underground mission - the da'wa, as it is known in Arabic - that operated in the Iranian province of Khurasan and Sijistan during the tenth century. His activities and the works he wrote must be seen in ...
Lifelong Learning Articles -- Download the PDF version of this article.pdfThe Shrine of Shaykh Safi al-Din Ishaq at Ardabil in Azarbaijan province was founded by the leader of a mystical, or Sufi, order who died in 1334 CE. Following his death, his tomb and his teachings attracted numerous followers. An ever-expanding complex of buildings was constructed to serve these devotees. In addition ...
Lifelong Learning Articles -- Download PDF version of article (40 KB)The efforts of the IIS Library in the context of recent and mediaeval historyThe past two decades have brought about the looting and destruction of libraries, extending from Baghdad to Mazhar-e Sharif and Kabul to Sarajevo. But such events are not limited to the modern period. History is replete with them, and ...
Lifelong Learning Articles -- Key Words Intellect, religion, secularisation, philosophy, Enlightenment, religious studies, philosophy, symbolism, faith, science, intellectual history, history, Christianity, Catholicism, Islam, Isaac Newton, Galileo, Copernicus, Meister Eckhart. Download PDF version of article (155 KB) This is an edited version of an article that appeared in The Ismaili UK No. 45, pp. 52-54, 2002.The relationship between intellect and religion has been ...
Lifelong Learning Articles -- Key Words Tajikistan, Badakhshan, Khorog, ethnomusicology, poetry, music, song, Ismailis, Ismaili Studies, Islamic Studies, madah, madahkhani, instruments, Pamir, Soviet Studies, performance, devotion, tradition, religion, Religious traditions Download PDF version of article (182 KB) Ey dil ba dunya dust-i zist afsus dunya raftani-st Pursand ba ghayr az dust kist afsus dunya raftani-stOh my heart, you are the friend of ...
Reading Lists -- 1. Early Islam Berkey, Jonathan P. The Formation of Islam: Religion and Society in the Near East 600-1800. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003. Bowersock, Glen W. Peter Brown and Oleg Grabar, ed. Late Antiquity: A Guide to the Postclassical world. Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1999, esp. Hugh Kennedy, 'Islam', pp. 219-237. Crone, Patricia. Medieval Islamic ...
Academic Article -- Download PDF of article (124 KB)Key wordsQur'anic commentary, exegesis, binary, hermeneutical keys, Shafi'ism, Ash'arism, al-ta'wil, Nizari, Nasir al-Din al-Tusi.Dr Muhammad 'Ali Azarshab's editio princeps of Shahrastani's Qur'an commentary retrieves a strange jewel of Muslim intellectual history from near oblivion. In the sections of the work which analyse Qur'anic arcana (asrar), the modern reader finds a fully elaborated system to ...
Academic Article -- Keywords Da'wa in Yemen, Da'wa in Maghrib, Fatimid caliphate, al-Mahdi Download PDF version of article (273 KB) Table of contents IntroductionThe SourcesIsmaili WritingsNon-Ismaili WritingsThe YemenThe MaghribThe Genesis of the Ismaili da'wa in the YemenThe Genesis and Dissemination of the Ismaili da'wa Activity in the MaghribAl-Madhi's Change of Proposed DestinationSome Possible Factors Influencing al-Mahdi's Change of Plan External Factors 'Abbasid ...
Academic Article -- Download PDF version of article (89 KB)Key words:Bhakti, batini, da'i 'Abd Allah, ginans, Imam-Caliph al-Mustansir bi'llah, Kalki, India, Ismailis, Ismaili Khojas, Jats, Nizari Ismailis, Nur Muhammad Shah, Pir Shams, Puranas, Rajputs, Satgur Nur, Satpanthi, Siddharaja, South Asia, Sufi, Vaishnavism.Table of Contents:An Overview of Religious Developments in Medieval South Asia Ismaili History in Northern and Western India Ginans and Other ...
