IIS Update - Edition 13
IIS Update -- ...
Institute of Ismaili Studies (IIS)
Governance and Pluralism under the Fatimids (909-996 CE)
Academic Article -- Dr Shainool Jiwa This is an edited version of an article originally published in The Shi'i World: Pathways in Tradition and Modernity. I.B. Taurus, London, 2015, pp 111-130. The medieval Mediterranean littoral was a region inhabited by people of diverse ethnic backgrounds and religious persuasions. This was evident in 10th century Egypt, the mainstay of Fatimid domains, a land ...
A Destructive Vacuum: The Marginalisation of Local Knowledge and the Reassertion of Local Identities
Academic Article -- Keywords Higher education, globalisation, local knowledge, private and public goods, education about Islam ArticleRecent decades have seen many countries undergo politico-economic change brought about by the state's ostensible retreat and the market's gradual expansion. These changes are promoted by their advocates as an overdue reduction in the power of the state and its satellite bureaucracies, and consistent with assumptions ...
Avicenna on Matter, The Disobedience of Matter and Evil: Reconciling Metaphysical Stances and Qur'anic Perspective
Academic Article -- This is an edited version of an article originally published in Transcendent Philosophy: An International Journal of Comparative Philosophy and Mysticism, Vol. 12, Dec 2011, pp. 147-168. The journal is a publication of London Academy of Iranian Studies.Download the article in PDFA Survey of Avicenna's View of Matter and It's Role in the Emanative Order Avicenna generally believed in ...
"Diversity in Islam: Communities of Interpretation"
Academic Article -- Key words:Prophet Muhammad, Sunni, Shi'a, Khawarij, Zaydi, Imami, Ithna 'Ashariyya, Nizari Ismaili, Mu'tazila, Qarmati, Ibadi, People of the book (ahl al-kitab), ahl al-bayt, Shi'at 'Ali, Abu Bakr, 'Uthman, 'Umar, 'Ali ibn 'Abi Talib, Mu'awiya, Ja'far al-Sadiq, Muhammad al-Baqir, Siffin, Karbala, mahdi, mawali, battle of al-Mukhtar, Murjia, caliph, Imam, sufism, tariqa, da'wa, da'i, ghulat, taqiyya, sunna, hadith, ulama, umma, sects, ...
Zaydiyya
Encyclopaedia Articles -- Download the article in PDF format Zaydiyya is a branch of the Shi'a arising out of the abortive revolt of Zayd b. 'Ali b. al-Husayn in Kufa in 122 AH / 740 CE. During the preparations for the revolt, a part of the Kufan Shi'a withdrew their support from Zayd in protest against his refusal to condemn unconditionally the ...
Concepts of Time
Encyclopaedia Articles -- Download PDF version of the articleClassical concepts of time confronted philosophers with perplexing paradoxes. Some wondered whether time altogether was nonexistent, whereas others doubted the reality of its divisibility into parts by arguing that the past ceased to be, the future does not yet exist, and the present as a moment/now that is without magnitude (i.e., like a mathematical ...
Feda'i Khorosani
Encyclopaedia Articles -- Download PDF version of article (113 KB) Introduction and Early Life Muhammad b. Zayn al-'Abidin b. Karabala'i Dawud (b. ca. 1266/1850; d. 1342/1923), foremost Persian Nizari Ismaili author and poet of modern times, who is referred to as Haji Akhund in the Persian Nizari community. Feda'i was born in Dezbad/Dizbad or Dezbad-i Bala (Razmara, Farhang IX, p. 180), an ...
Dawr
Encyclopaedia Articles -- Dawr(Ar. and Pers.), period, era, or cycle of history, a term used by Isma'ilis in connection with their conceptions of time and the religious history of mankind. The early Isma'ilis conceived of time (zaman) as a progression of cycles or eras, dawrs (Ar. pl. adwar), with a beginning and an end. On the basis of their eclectic temporal vision, ...
Social Legislation in Surat al-Ahzab
Lifelong Learning Articles -- Surat 33 al-Ahzab of the Qur'an, it is known, is composed of pronouncements and legislation in the time around the Battle of the Trench and the Siege of Medina in Du'l-Qa'da of the year 627 CE. The legislation, containing the designation of Muhammad as the Seal of the Prophets (khatam al-nabiyyin) obviously had a major bearing on the ...
The Ismaili Alternative Dispute Resolution Training Programmes and the Potential for New Directions in Mediation
Lifelong Learning Articles -- Download PDF version of article Table of contentsThe Ismaili MuslimsThe Concept of Negotiated Settlement in Islam - 'Sulh'Modern Infrastructure of the CommunityConciliation and Arbitration BoardsTraining Programmes in MediationLearnings from the Training ProgrammesThe Concept of RelationalityGreater Use of MEDARBThe Need for Institutionalisation and Sustainability of Training ProgrammesA Constant Work in ProgressThe Challenges That Lie Ahead: New DirectionsConclusion My topic ...
Approaches to the Qur'an
Lifelong Learning Articles -- Abstract In order to understand the Qur'an, this scripture has to be looked at in the context in which it was revealed, as well as the purpose it serves and how it is interpreted by different sects of Muslims. This is what this article does; the author starts by looking briefly at the life of Prophet Muhammad to ...
Religion and Globalisation: Perspectives for the New Millennium
Lifelong Learning Articles -- Download PDF version of article (30 KB) Table of contentsThe Role of Religion in GlobalisationCommon ValuesSocial ResponsibilityThe Letter of Imam 'Ali to Malik al-AshtarArticulating Social JusticeEthics, Values and the SacredThe Role of Religion in GlobalisationThe document circulated by the North-South Centre of the Council of Europe explains the purpose of this meeting. To put it succinctly, this purpose ...
Reading ListsMuslim Contributions to Science
Reading Lists -- Burnett, C. Scientific Weather Forecasting in the Middle Ages: The Writings of Al-Kindi. London, 2000 Burnett, C., Hogendijk, J. P., Plofker, K., and Yano, M. (eds.), Studies in the History of the Exact Sciences in Honour of David Pingree. Leiden: Brill, 2004 Dallal, A. An Islamic Response to Greek Astronomy. Leiden: Brill, 1995 Dhanani, A. The Physical Theory of ...
Video: Secondary Teacher Education Programme (STEP)
The Secondary Teacher Education Programme (STEP) is a course of study for practicing and prospective teachers. STEP's mission is to address the need for professional secondary education teachers by training exceptional graduates into teachers and mentors who can help to shape and inspire future generations and teach The Institute of Ismaili Studies' Secondary Curriculum to Ismaili students worldwide. The master's level teacher ...
The Conversation between Moses and God (Munajat Musa) in the Epistles of the Pure Brethren (Rasa'il Ikhwan al-Safa')
Academic Article -- This is an edited version of an article that originally appeared in Al-Kitab: La Sacralité du Texte Dans Le Monde de l'Islam. Actes du Symposium International Tenu à Leuven et Louvain-la-Neuve du 29 Mai au 1 Juin 2002, ed. Daniel De Smet, Godefroyde Callataÿ, and JanVan Reeth, published by Acta Orientalia Belgica, Subsidia III, 2004, pp. 371-87. In the ...
Between Metaphor and Context: The Nature of the Fatimid Ismaili Discourse on Justice and Injustice
Academic Article -- Keywords Justice, Fatimid, Injustice, Metaphor, Context, Imamat, Sunni, Shi'i, writing, thought, expression, Muslims, Islam, Ismaili Studies, Shi'i Studies, Islamic Studies, Law, Legal Studies, 'adl, philosophy, history, literature, fiqh, shari'a, social order, Qur'an, sunna, walaya, mahdi, haqa'iq. Download PDF version of article (102 kb) Table of ContentsIntroductionThe Paradigm of Imama and the Concept of a Just OrderThe Establishment of the ...
The 'Islamic' in Islamic Education: Assessing the Discourse
Academic Article -- Download PDF version of the article(79 KB)Key words: Muslims, Islam, Education, Mongol, Sharia, modernity, Abdolkarim Soroush, diversity, Islamic education, Qur'an, Christianity. Table of Contents:Introduction Arguments for an Islamic Approach Conception of Islam in 'Islamic'Education From Theory to Practice: Implementing Islamic Education The Way Forward Introduction If one were to comb through the extant works from the first few centuries ...
Creation in Time in Islamic Thought with Special Reference to Al-Ghazali
Academic Article -- Download PDF version of the article (96 KB) Key words: Hadith, qadim, Islamic theology, Qur'an,wujud, essential contingency, temporal contingency, Zad al-musafirin, divine will (iradah), al-Ghazali,kalam, mujid, Ash'arite.The vast disparity between eternal and temporal prompted a number of questions which traditional Muslim thinkers pursued with great interest over centuries. It is not possible to explore the topic in any exhaustive ...
Ismaili Communities - South Asia
Encyclopaedia Articles -- Download PDF version of article (121 KB) An important Shi'i Muslim community, the Ismailis as an entity emerged in 765 from a disagreement over the successor to the sixth imam, Ja'far al-Sadiq. The Ismailis chose Isma'il and then traced the imamat through Isma'il's son Muhammad and the latter's progeny. The bulk of other Shi'i, however, eventually recognised 12 imams, ...
Hamid al-Din al-Kirmani
Encyclopaedia Articles -- Download PDF version of article (112 KB) Biographical Details Hamid al-Din al-Kirmani, a prominent Ismaili da'i or missionary and one of the most learned Ismaili theologians and philosophers of the Fatimid period. As in the case of other prominent missionaries who observed strict secrecy in their activities in the midst of hostile milieus, few biographical details are available on ...
Fatimids
Encyclopaedia Articles -- Download PDF version of this article (68 KB) A major Isma'ili Shi'ite dynasty, the Fatimids founded their own caliphate, in rivalry with the 'Abbasids, and ruled over different parts of the Islamic world, from North Africa and Sicily to Palestine and Syria. Established in 297/909 in Tunisia, the seat of the Fatimids was later transferred to Egypt in 362/973. ...
'Ayn al-Qudat Al-Hamadani
Encyclopaedia Articles -- Download PDF version of this article 'Ayn al-Qudat Al-Hamadani, Abu 'l-Ma'ali 'Abdallah [or Muhammad] b. Abi Bakr Muhammad b. [Abi 'l-Hasan] 'Ali b. al-Hasan b. 'Ali al-Mayanaji [or al-Miyanaji] was an influential Sufi and important author of original works on mystical theology and spiritual practice in both Arabic and Persian; famous as a Sufi martyr. He was publicly executed ...
Whose Memory? Re-thinking Orientalist and Occidental Conceptualisations of 'Islamic Art'.
Lifelong Learning Articles -- The New York Metropolitan Museum of Art's expanded 'Islamic galleries' carries spectacular displays of calligraphy, miniatures, glassware, rock crystal, woodwork, metal artefacts and jewellery from various periods. However, following many decades of viewing such exhibitions, and especially in anticipation of the opening of the Aga Khan Museumin Toronto, one ponders on the choices made by curators and the ...
Kalila wa Dimna
Lifelong Learning Articles -- Download PDF version of article (29 KB)Key words:Pancatantra, Sanskrit, Burzuya, Khusraw Anushirwan, Karirak ud Damanak, Shahnama, Ibn al-Mugaffa', Humayun-nama, Iyar-i Danish, Pahlavi, Samarkand.There once lived a lion who terrorized the animals of the jungle by hunting them,until one day they agreed to supply him daily with an animal as long as he stopped his cruelty. The animals continued ...
Arbitration and Mediation in the Shi'a Imami Ismaili Muslim Community
Lifelong Learning Articles -- Download PDF version of article (156 KB) Madam President, Members of the Steering Committee, Ladies and Gentlemen, I would like to place on record that I consider it a great honour to be present in Buenos Aires today as a guest of the World Mediation Forum, and for this I would like to express my warm gratitude to ...
The Quest for Excellence: Towards a Cultural Renaissance?
Lifelong Learning Articles -- Keywords culture, heritage, diversity, globalisation, migration, tradition, values, pluralism, creativity, religion, cultural production, artist, Ismailis, community, jamats, interaction. Download PDF version of article (190 KB) Table of contentsIntroductionThe Roots of Ismaili Cultural DiversityPutting Culture on the AgendaWhat is Culture?Culture and ReligionOne Ismaili Culture or Many?Ismaili Art and Artists in the 21st CenturyA Culture of ExcellenceReferences Introduction"In seeking to ...
Reading ListsCivil Society in a Muslim Context
Reading Lists -- Abou El Fadl, Khaled et al. The Place of Tolerance in Islam. Boston, MA: Beacon Press, 2002.Chandhoke, Neera. The Conceits of Civil Society. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2003.Eberley, Don. The Rise of Global Civil Society: Building Communities and Nations from the Bottom Up. San Francisco: Encounter Books, 2008. Edwards, Michael. Civil Society. London: Polity, 2004. Gellner, Ernest. Conditions of ...
InterviewAngels and Revelations of the Future in the birth, life and death of the Prophet Muhammad
Interview -- This lecture by Dr Stephen Burge explores aspects of the supernatural in Prophet Mohammed's life, using material found in the biographies of the Prophet and in the hadith Literature. Dr Burge argues that the presence of angels and the supernatural form an important spiritual element within the narratives of the events in the Prophet's life. He illustrates this using examples ...
Divine Law / Divine Command: The Ground of Ethics in the Western Tradition-Muslim Perspectives
Academic Article -- A common assumption about the ethical roots of the pre-modern western tradition is that they derive primarily from biblical norms as well as the ethical traditions of classical antiquity. Such a view, however, neglects the important role and connection with Islam, which in its formative period, engaged with the intellectual and cultural resources of antiquity and acted as a ...
'Ali ibn Abi Talib
Academic Article -- Download PDF version of article (32 KB)'Ali ibn Abi Talib (599-661 CE) was the first cousin and son-in-law of the Prophet Muhammad; the fourth of the four Rightly Guided Caliphs (al-khulafa' al-rashidun); and the first of the Imams deemed by all Shi'i Muslims to be appointed by divine mandate. The word Shi'i itself is derived from the term shi'at' ...
Loving Compassion in Islam and Buddhism: Rahma and Karuna
Academic Article -- IntroductionRahma; A Quality of BeingOneness and CompassionRahma as CreatorConclusion Key words: comparative study, rahma, Buddhism, Islam, compassion, metta, maitri-karuna, loving compassion, Qur'an, tawhid, al-Ghazali, Divine Mercy, Hadith Introduction Compassion, even on the human plane, is not just a sentiment, it is an existential quality. This existential quality presupposes a concrete sense of participation in the suffering of others, as ...
Present-Day Islam Between its Tradition and Globalisation
Academic Article -- KeywordsIslamic studies, Qur'anic studies, orthodoxy, Islamist, fundamentalism, capitalism, jihad, McWorld, Political Islam, radicalism, religion, tradition, modernity, postmodernity, globalisation, democracy, local, global, science, technology, epistemology, Religious Studies, Social Sciences, anthropology, sociology, history, philosophy, meaning, power, reason, belief, ideology, Islamic Revolution, contemporary Islam.Download PDF version of article (341 KB)Introduction'The devil hides in the details ' The title of this essay announces ...
Salamiyya
Encyclopaedia Articles -- Download PDF version of article Key words Hamat, Hims, Abbasids, imam, da'wa, Hashimid, Ismaili, Qarmati, Fatimid, Isma'il b. Muhammad, makam al-imam, Bedouin. Salamiyya, a town in central Syria in the district of Orontes (Nahr al-'Asi), about 25 miles south-east of Hamat and 35 miles north-east of Hims (for the town's exact situation, see Kiepert's map in M. von Oppenheim, ...
Assassin
Encyclopaedia Articles -- Assassin is a name that was applied originally by the Crusader circles in the Near East and other medieval Europeans to the NizariIsmailis of Syria. From the opening decade of the twelfth century, the Crusaders had numerous encounters with the Syrian Nizaris, who reached the peak of their power under the leadership of Rashid al-Din Sinan (d. 1193 CE), ...
Vladmir Alekseevich Ivanow
Encyclopaedia Articles -- Download PDF version of this article. Table of contentsEarly life of Ivanow A Shift in Research Ivanow meets Aga Khan III Pioneering Steps in Ismaili Studies Early life of Ivanow Vladimir Alekseevich Ivanow, (b. St. Petersburg, Russia, 3 November 1886, d. Tehran, 19 June 1970; variously spelt Ivanov and Wladimir), was a Russian orientalist and leading pioneer in modern ...
Nasir Khusraw
Encyclopaedia Articles -- Life In striking contrast to other Ismaili writers of the time (s.v., Hamid ai-din al Kirmani; Abu Ya'qub al-Sijistani), a good deal of information exists on Khusraw's life, most written by his own hand, some by a (hostile) contemporary, some by later historians, and some apocryphal. He has been included in every major literary or historical survey produced since ...
Ethics in Action: The Role of Waqf in Early Muslim Society
Lifelong Learning Articles -- Download PDF version of this article The Qur'anic ethics of care and generosity are woven deep into the fabric of Muslim civilisations. Embodied in the daily life of Prophet Muhammad, this ethical spirit emanated from the belief that Allah had entrusted responsibility and obligations to mankind as a whole and to the community of believers in particular. "I ...
