Encyclopaedia Articles -- Download PDF version of article (38 KB)KeyWordsDawr al-satr, Fatimid, Mubarakiyya, Mahdi, Taqiyya, Qarmati, Da'i, Zahir, Batin, Hafizi Ismaili, Tayyibi Ismaili, Nizari Ismaili, Hasan-i Sabbah, Alamut, Aga KhanTable of ContentsEarly Ismaili HistoryFatimid Period until 487 AH/1094 CEMusta'il IsmailisNizari Ismailis Early Ismaili History In 148 AH/765 CE, on the death of Imam Ja'far al-Sadiq, whohad consolidated Imami Shi'ism, the majority of ...
Encyclopaedia Articles -- Dezkuh (or Sahdez), a medieval mountain fortress situated in central Persia on the summit of Mount Soffa, about 8 km south of Isfahan. No information is available on the construction date of this strategically situated fortress, which guarded the routes to Isfahan, but, like some other ruins in the same region, it may have been built as early as ...
Encyclopaedia Articles -- In its modern and scientific form, dating to the 1930s, Ismaili studies represent one of the newest fields of Islamic studies. Before this time, the Ismailis were almost exclusively studied and evaluated on the basis of evidence collected, or often fabricated, by their detractors. As a result, they were persistently misrepresented with a variety of myths and legends circulating ...
Encyclopaedia Articles -- Download PDF version of article A learned theologian, poet, stylist and an accomplished diplomat, Shah Tahir Husayni was also the most famous Imam of the Muhammad-Shahi branch of Nizari Ismailism. He was born in the final decades of the 9th AH/ 15th CE century in the village of Khund, near Qazwin in northern Persia, where his forefathers known locally ...
Encyclopaedia Articles -- A popularisation of the Sanskrit word jnan, which is generally defined as 'contemplative or reflective knowledge.' Among Ismailis originating in the Indian subcontinent, the word refers to the part of their tradition whose authorship is attributed to those who converted and preached beginning in the eleventh century. The languages in which the ginans exist reflect the areas from which ...
Lifelong Learning Articles -- KeywordsCanada, immigrants, media, minorities, multi-culturalism, pluralism, private sphere, public sphere, religion, human rights, secularism.Download PDF version of article (51.5 KB) Table of ContentsChurch and StateDebates on AccommodationNeed for Careful ExaminationRights in the Public and Private Spheres Church and State Political developments over the last few centuries have favoured the separation of church and state. Whereas such leanings towards ...
Lifelong Learning Articles -- Download PDF version of article (41 KB) Bismillahir rahmanir rahim Excellencies Ladies and Gentlemen I am grateful for the opportunity to speak about philanthropy in Islam, and introduce the Aga Khan Development Network. Islam is a perpetual endeavour towards an equitable order, premised on submission to One God of all-encompassing benevolence who has gifted the human person the ...
Lifelong Learning Articles -- The results illustrate a number of continuities and changes in teachers' practices across the Soviet and post-Soviet periods. At one level, Sino and Nigin's professional lives remain much the same as they were in the Soviet period. They retain their commitment to teach and serve in their long-held cultural values and ethical principles. Their practices remain predominantly teacher-centred ...
Lifelong Learning Articles -- Keywords Aga Khan III, Sultan Mahomed Shah, humanism, humanist, Islam, leadership, imam, Ismailism, Ismaili, contemporary, modernity, character, biography, emancipation, women, education. Download PDF version of article (167 KB) Table of contentsIntroductionThe Social Status of WomenEducational ReformSocial and Political GovernanceAddressing Racial InequalitiesStriving For a Peaceful World OrderCulture and SpiritualityPersonal Faith and Philosophy of ReligionConclusion Introduction Sir Sultan Mahomed Shah, ...
Reading Lists -- Ahmed, Leila. Women and Gender in Islam: Historical Roots of a Modern Debate. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1992. Akhtar, Shabbir. The Qur'an and the Secular Mind: A Philosophy of Islam. London: Routledge, 2007. Asad, Talal. The Idea of an Anthropology of Islam. Georgetown University Center for Contemporary Arab Studies, Washington DC, 1986. Bunt, Gary R. Virtually Islamic: ...
Academic Article -- Keywords Alamut, al-Ghazali, Assassin legends, community, Crusaders, da'is, da'wa, Fatimids, hashishiyya, heresiography, historiography, history, Islamic Studies, Ismaili, Ismailis, Ismailism, Ismaili studies, Marco Polo, Nizaris, Orientalism, scholarship.Download PDF version of article (291 KB)Table of contents IntroductionThe Fatimid PeriodThe Nizari / Musta'li DivisionThe Anti-Ismaili CampaignHeterodoxy and Heresyal-GhazaliHashishiyyaAssassin LegendsOrientalismModern Ismaili StudiesContemporary Research and Scholarship Introduction A major Shi'i Muslim community, the Ismailis ...
Academic Article -- Download PDF version of article (88 KB)Key words al-Mu'ayyad fi'l-Din Shirazi, creation,ta'wil,Qa'im-i qiyamat, Sabbath, cycles of prophecy,Natiq,Asas, adhan, haqiqat, Universal Intellect, Universal Soul, Ramadan, wasi,hadd, tawhid, laylat al-qadr,qibla, rak'at, Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus, Muhammad, Jami' al-hikmatayn, Wajh-i Din, Gushayish wa Rahayish, Nasir Khusraw. Table of Contents:The Sabbath and Ta'wilCelestial and Earthly Ranks Lord of the Resurrection The SabbathandTa'wil ...
Academic Article -- This paper was delivered at the Congress of the American Oriental Society in Santa Barbara in March 1974. In it, Wilferd Madelung presents his exhaustive research into the origins and sources of a monumental document that was considered lost to history; the Kitab al-idah, Qadi al-Nu'man's first legal work - a vast collection of legal traditions transmitted from the ...
Encyclopaedia Articles -- Download PDF version of article (29 KB)Key words: Kitab al-Manazir, imamcaliph al-Hakim, Renaissance, science, art, mathematics, astronomy, mechanics, physics, intromission, extromission, Ptolemy, Aristotle, Risala fi'l-makan, Treatise on Light, Optics, conception of place (topos), analytical geometry, law of motion. Ibn al-Haytham The polymath Abu Ali al-Hasan ibn al-Haytham (ca.965-1041 CE), known in Latin as Alhazen, was born in Basra, Iraq. ...
Encyclopaedia Articles -- Hasan Sabbah, prominent Isma'ili da'iand founder of the medieval Nizari Isma'ili state (b. Qum, mid-440s AH/1050s CE, d. Alamut. 518 AH/1124 CE). Little information is available on the early life of Hasan Sabbah, who was referred to as Sayyidna (our master) by his contemporary Nizari lsmailis. The colourful story, according to which Hasan, Nizam al-Mulk, and 'Umar Khayyam had ...
Encyclopaedia Articles -- Key words: Ikhwan al-Safa', Rasa'il, Isma'ilis, Jesus, Christians, The Gospels, Muslim-Christian relations. Download full version of this article with diacritics in PDF format (141KB). The pen-name Ikhwan al-Safa' ('Brethren of Purity') was used by the otherwise anonymous authors of the compendium of 52 treatises on various disciplines entitled Rasa'il ikhwan al-safa' wa-khullan al-wafa' ('Epistles of the brethren of purity ...
Encyclopaedia Articles -- Download PDF version of article (159 KB) Free Will in Ismaili Shi'ism Free will versus predestination was an important theological debate, with political implications, in Muslim society dating back to Omayyad times. The Ismailis adopted an intermediate position in thes debate and eventually accommodated the relevant issues within their theological doctrines. At one extreme, a variety of Islamic movements ...
Encyclopaedia Articles -- The Nizari or more properly the Nizari Isma'ili Muslims, like other Shi'i communities, acknowledge 'Ali as imam after the Prophet. The Nizari Ismailis have continued to give allegiance to imams descended from Imam 'Ali, on the basis of the principle of designation (nass) by the imam of the time. As of 2002, His Highness the Aga Khan, Shah Karim ...
Lifelong Learning Articles -- Download full version of the article in PDF format (376 KB) ...
Lifelong Learning Articles -- Download PDF version of article (46 KB)The Quran is a compilation of utterances by the Prophet Muhammad which all Muslims hold to be divinely inspired. The Quran is thus understood in Islam as a revelation from God (Allah). Muslim intellectuals spent a great deal of effort, in subsequent history, to understand and elucidate these ideas. The precise way ...
Lifelong Learning Articles -- Key Words Central Asia, Tajikistan, Badakhshan, Panj River, Pamir Mountains, Tajik Ismaili, Ismaili, spread of Islam, Ismaili da'wa, diversity, Imam, Samanids, Abu Ali ibn Sina, Al-Biruni, Firdousi, Fatimids, Al-Mustansir bi-Allah, Nasir Khusraw, Ali ibn Asad, Sufi Tariqahs, imam, pir, khalifa, jamat, Soviet Union, stability, Aga Khan Development Network Download PDF version of article (45 KB) Table of contents ...
Lifelong Learning Articles -- Download PDF version of article Key words: Qur'an, Arabic, Maktab or kuttab, masjid, majlis, jami', Bayt al Hikma, Rasail Ikhwan al-Safa, Diwan, knowledge, hikma, al-Azhar, Nasir-i Khusraw, Fatimids, Nizamiyya, Nizam al-Mulk, Saljuq, embroidery, weaving, carpet-making, calligraphy, Ibn Sina, Aristotle, Euclid, Ptolemy, Safavids,ribat, khanqa, zawiya, jamatkhana, pesantren, Ibn Khaldun, Aligarh. Table of Contents:Education in the Early Period Emerging Models ...
IIS Update -- 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. ...
Academic Article -- Key words: Muslim, Jews, Christians, Interfaith relations, Qur'an, Byzantine, Monotheism, Sira, Ummayad, Ahl al-Kitab, Dhimmi, Ottoman, Sunna, Umma, Constitution of Medina, history, al Azhar, Bayt al-Hikma, Safavid, Vatican, Roman Catholic Church, Aramaic, Coptic Download PDF version of the article Table of ContentsIntroductionMuslims, Jews, and Christians: Relations and InteractionsThe Foundational PeriodThe Early Centuries of Muslim HistoryThe Medieval PeriodThe Modern PeriodThe ...
Academic Article -- Download PDF version of the article (116 KB) Key words Ibn al-Haytham, Aristotle, Epistemology, Mathematics, Physics, Geometrical conception Mathematics / Physics Epistemological reflections on foundational scientific principles become pivotal in the reformative development of specific branches of the sciences. The methodological adjustments that accompany such critical circumstances in the unfolding of scientific knowledge necessitate a reclassification of established concepts ...
Academic Article -- Key words:Sufism, Sufis, Mysticism, Mystics, spiritual authority, taqiyya, South India, religious pluralism, religious integration, patronage. Download PDF version of article (126 KB)Table of contentsIntroductionIsmaili Pirs and Hindu rulersSufis in Different Hindu Kingdoms Rajasthan's shared spacesMarwarShekawatiAmber - JaipurConclusionNotes Introduction In varying countries and contexts, scholars have studied the historical links that have existed between political power, primarily embodied in kingship, ...
Encyclopaedia Articles -- Download PDF version of article (29 KB)Located in Cairo, Al-Azhar is one of the earliest Jami' (mosque/ university) complexes in the Muslim world. It was founded by the Fatimid Ismaili dynasty; the dynasty's Caliph, Imam Mu'izz li-Din Allah, established Cairo as his capital in 969-973 CE. The complex is so named in memory of the title al-Zahra ('the luminous'), ...
Encyclopaedia Articles -- Download the PDF of the article Table of Contents:Hasan and Husayn in the Prophet's householdDuring the Caliphate of 'Ali b. Abi TalibRelations between Banu Ummaya and Banu HashamAscension of Yazid b. Mu'awiya to the CaliphateThe Shia uprising against Yazid b. Mu'awiyaYazid's orders to deter Husayn and his supportersWithdrawal of the Kufan ShiaThe Event of KarbalaEncounter between Husayn and Yazid's ...
Encyclopaedia Articles -- Download PDF version of article (118 KB) Ismailism belongs to the Shi'a branch of Islam, and, in common with various Muslim interpretive communities, has been concerned with developing a philosophical discourse to elucidate foundational Qur'anic and Islamic beliefs and principles. Labelling Ismaili Philosophy It would, however, be misleading to label Ismaili and other Muslim philosophical stances, as has been ...
Encyclopaedia Articles -- Download PDF version of article (32 KB)Key words:Esoteric, Basra, Baghdad, compendium, mathematics, music, logic, astronomy, physical sciences, natural sciences, soul, ethics, revelation, spirituality, philosophy, Ikhwan, Shi'a, Ismaili, Fatimid, Qur'an, Abrahamic monotheism, Torah, Canonical Gospels, ancient Indian and Persian classics, Pythagoras, Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Plotinus, Euclid, Ptolemy, syncretism, history of ideas in Islam, Muslim civilisation.Ikhwan al-Safa' Ikhwan al-Safa' (the Brethren ...
Lifelong Learning Articles -- Download PDF version of article (86 KB) "A work of art is an expressive and communicative medium of feelings and thought." Pierre Francastel, 1950.[1] What is the role of art and architecture in society? How can one learn more about history through art and architecture? These apparently simple questions encapsulate a series of complex responses that could easily ...
Lifelong Learning Articles -- KeywordsShi'i, Nizari Ismaili, Ismailism, Ismaili Studies, Sunni, Assassin legends, Black legend, Old Man of the Mountain, Marco Polo, orientalist scholarship, manuscripts.Download PDF version of article (37 KB)Table of contentsThe Origins of the MythsThe Black LegendThe Assassin LegendsMisinformed Scholarship A New Era in Ismaili StudiesThe Role of the Institute of Ismaili StudiesThe Origins of the MythsIn the course of ...
Lifelong Learning Articles -- Key Words Ismaili Studies, Islamic Studies, Ismailiyya, Ismailis, Heresiography, Assassins, Assassin Legends, Shi'i Studies, Historiography, History, Nizaris. Download PDF version of article (150 KB) The Beginning of Anti-Ismaili Sentiments As the most revolutionary wing of Shi'ism with a religio-political agenda that aimed to uproot the 'Abbasids and restore the caliphate to a line of 'Alid Imams, the Shi'i ...
Lifelong Learning Articles -- Download full version of the article in PDF format Key Words Qur'an, Prophet Muhammad, Recitation, Revelation, Muslim History, Gabriel THE QUR'AN AS REVELATION In the Qur'an, a pious Muslim hears God's voice guiding and encouraging, consoling and reproaching, promising the righteous mercy and eternal bliss, while threatening the wicked with wrath and eternal torment. For Muslims, the Qur'an ...
IIS Update -- The Institute has been publishing an annual IIS Update since 2000, to inform its supporters, affiliates and well-wishers of its programmes and activities over the previous year. Also included in the Update is information about the Institute's recent and forthcoming publications as well as news about its faculty and staff. ...
Academic Article -- Abstract: The founding of the Fatimid caliphate across the southern Mediterranean, and then in Egypt, Syria and the Hijaz at the turn of the fourth AH / tenth CE century, necessitated its negotiation with the ashraf, those who claimed lineal descent from the Prophet Muhammad, and who by this time had gained significant influence as a social class based ...
Academic Article -- Download PDF version of article.pdfKey Words: Ta'wil, Qur'an, Isma'ili, tafsir, hermeneutics, al-Kirmani, al-Sijistani, Mu'tazilite, ays, lays,tawhid, al-khalq, cosmology, Neoplatonic thought, Rahat al-Aql, First Intellect, taqdis, kathrah,and tafawut. Table of ContentsUnderstanding Transcendence: The Tools of InterpretationArticulating Transcendence: God Beyond Being and Non-being Manifesting Transcendence: Creation and Knowledge He originates creation; then refashions it - for Him an easy task. His ...
