News story -- Four scholars from the Qur'anic Studies Unit at the IIS, Drs Nuha Al-Sha'ar, Karen Bauer, Stephen Burge and Asma Hilali, presented papers at the 223rd American Oriental Society meeting. This year's meeting was held in Portland, USA, between 15 and 18 March 2013, and was attended by over 150 academics from across the globe. Dr Nuha Al-Sha'ar presented a ...
News story -- Mr Daniel Beben of Indiana University, USA, and Mr Matthew Melvin-Koushki of Oxford Universtiy, UK, were the first two speakers in the IIS' 2013 Lecture Series. Mr Daniel Beben of Indiana University, USA, delivered a lecture at the IIS on 15th January, entitled Jami' al-salasil and the Place of Nasir-i Khusraw in the Central Asian Sufi Tradition. Mr Beben ...
News story -- The Institute of the Ismaili Studies (IIS) is pleased to announce the publication of the Chinese translation of Dr Daftary's A Short History of the Ismailis: Traditions of a Muslim Community. This Chinese edition is translated by Amier Saidula, and published by Weber Publishing International LTD in Taipei, Taiwan. Amier Saidula, a graduate of the Institute's Graduate Programme in ...
News story -- Faheem Hussain, a student from the class of 2012 of the IIS Secondary Teacher Education Programme (STEP), presented a paper, entitled Textbooks, Power and Society at the History of Education Society's Annual Conference on Rulers, Rebels & Reformers, hosted by the University of Winchester in Exeter, UK in December 2012. The themes presented at the conference included the teaching ...
News story -- Alumni from across Europe met in Istanbul for their annual meeting on 7-10 December 2012. The meeting brought together 19 alumni to explore "Ethics in the Modern World". Speakers at the meeting included Dr Hadi Adanali (Senior Advisor to the Prime Minister of Turkey), Prof Ihsan Fazlioglu (Istanbul Medeniyet University), Dr Laljuba Mirzohasanov (Khorog State University), and Mrs Zahide ...
News story -- The Institute of Ismaili Studies (IIS) is pleased to announce the award of the first Mohammed Arkoun Doctoral Scholarship to Yaser Mirdamadi, who will pursue his doctoral studies at the College of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Edinburgh. He was selected from amongst 40 applicants from 11 countries. Mr Mirdamadi's research will focus on 'Revelation as Poetics'. He ...
News story -- This publication follows on from other catalogues of manuscripts in the Institute's collection such as theCatalogue of Arabic Manuscripts Vol. 1 and Vol. 2 by Adam Gacek, Ismaili and Other Arabic Manuscripts and Arabic Ismaili Manuscripts: The Zahid 'Ali Collection, both by Delia Cortese. Professor de Blois, who publishes widely on Semitic and Persian languages as well as on ...
News story -- The Institute of Ismaili Studies (IIS) is pleased to announce the publication of An Anthology of Philosophy in Persia, Vol. 4: From the School of Illumination to Philosophical Mysticism. This book,edited by Professor Seyyed Hossein Nasrand Dr Mehdi Aminrazavi, is the latest in this five-volume publication series and coversthe rich but one of the least-known periods of philosophical life ...
News story -- The IIS is pleased to announce the publication of The Vernacular Qur'an: Translation and the Rise of Persian Exegesis, written by Travis Zadeh. This publication is the seventh volume in the Qur'anic Studies Series, and presents varied views held by early Muslim theologians and jurists on the translation of the Qur'an. TheVernacular Qur'an dispels the myth that early Muslims ...
News story -- The Institute of Ismaili Studies is pleased to announce the publication of a critical edition and English translation of al-Qadi al-Nu'man's Minhaj al-fara'id. This book, edited and translated by Professor Agostino Cilardo, has been published under the title,The Early History of Ismaili Jurisprudence: Law under the Fatimids. This book is the eighteenth in the Institute's Ismaili Texts and Translations ...
Publication:Between Reason and Revelation: Twin Wisdoms ReconciledEditor & Translator:Professor Eric Ormsby "Between Reason and Revelation: Twin Wisdoms Reconciled" is the first English translation of Kitab-iJami' al-Hikmatayn, the final known work of Nasir-i Khusraw, a great eleventh-century Ismaili thinker, poet and Fatimid emissary. Written in the year 1070 CE, during his exile in Badakhshan, the work is presented as a learned commentary on ...
News story -- Dr Sayyad Jalal Badakhchani, Research Associate at the IIS, has recently been awarded the certificate of honour by the Heritage Foundation and the National Library of Iran for his contributions to reintroducing the extant Persian text of Qa'imiyat, a collection of poems from the Alamut period of Ismaili history. Dr Badakhchani's latest publication, a Persian edition of the Diwan-i ...
News story -- The Central Asian Studies Unit held a seminar at the IIS, entitled 'Russia and Ismaili Muslims: Over a Century of Learning', on 5 November, 2012. The seminar explored the contribution of Russian scholarship to Ismaili studies and commemorated the centenary of His Highness Sir Sultan Mahomed Shah Aga Khan III's visit to Russia. The seminar brought together scholars from ...
News story -- The European Chapter Group (ECG) of the IIS Alumni Association met for its annual meeting in Paris, France, in May. The theme selected by the Chapter Group for its meeting was Literature and Art: Expressions andImpact, which explored how art and literature can serve as an important channel to a deeper understanding of societies. The meeting began with opening ...
News story -- The IIS is pleased to announce the publication of The Spirit of Tolerance in Islam by Reza Shah-Kazemi. In the book, the author demonstrates, using predominantly western historical sources, that religious tolerance was in fact the historical norm which characterised the relationship between Muslims and non-Muslims, and that intolerance was a clear deviation from this norm. He further argues ...
News story -- February 2014 News Story: IIS Publishes the Ninth Volume in the Qur'anic Studies Series Encyclopaedia Article: Bab by Dr Farhad Daftary Spotlight: The Safar-Nama Of Nasir Khusraw; A New Interactive Gallery January 2014 New IIS Multimedia Interactive Gallery: The Safar-Nama Of Nasir Khusraw News Story: IIS Website launches multimedia project based on the Safar-nama Forthcoming Events:The Emergence of Islam ...
News story -- The Institute of Ismaili Studies is pleased to announce the publication of Pearls of Persia: The Philosophical Poetry of Nasir-i Khusrawedited by Dr Alice C. Hunsberger. This volume combines articles from a range of contributors on different aspects of Nasir-i Khusraw's philosophical poetry, including its rhythm, self-reference, structure and speech. Dr Hunsberger currently lectures on Islam and Sufism at ...
News story -- The Institute of Ismaili Studies is pleased to announce the publication of a critical edition and summary English translation of the Yamani third da'i al-mutlaq, Hatim b. Ibrahim al-Hamidi's Tuhfat al-qulub wa-furjat al-makrub. This book, edited by Professor Abbas Hamdani, has been published under the title, The Precious Gift of the Hearts and Good Cheer for Those in Distress: ...
News story -- A fourth volume in the bilingual Epistles of the Brethren of Purity (Rasa'il Ikhwan al-Safa') series, a joint venture between the IIS and Oxford University Press(OUP) is now available. In this fresh translation of the fifth epistle, On Music, Professor of Musicology of the Middle East at SOAS, Owen Wright contextualises the theory of music and explains the technical ...
News story -- The Institute of Ismaili Studies (IIS) hosted a panel presentation at the 2012 Middle Eastern Studies Association of North America (MESA) conference held in Denver, Colorado, USA from 17th-20th November 2012. The panel entitled, Social Aspects of the Fatimid Experience, built on last year's panel, Fatimid Studies, as part of the Institute's ongoing work in the field of Shi'i ...
News story -- Alumni from across North America met in Chicago for their annual meeting on 24-26 August on the topic of "Faith and Social Change." This year's meeting attracted a record number of participants, bringing together over 50 alumni from Canada and the United States. Speakers at the meeting included the Honourable Mobina Jaffer (Senate of Canada), Dr. Amyn Sajoo (Simon ...
News story -- The IIS is pleased to announce the publication of Itti'az al-hunafa' bi-akhbar al-a'imma al-Fatimiyyin al-khulafa' (Lessons for the Seekers of Truth on the History of the Fatimid Imams and Caliphs) by the great Mamluk-era historian Taqi al-Din al-Maqrizi (d.1442 CE). The Itti'az is perhaps the most important single primary source for the history of the Fatimids. Although the Fatimids ...
News story -- Dr Jalal Badakhchani, Research Associate in the Institute's Department of Academic Research and Publications presented a paper at the 'International Conference on the Scientific and Philosophical Heritage of Nasir al-Din Tusi' organised by Iran's Written Heritage Research Institute in collaboration with UNESCO, Iran National Library, Tehran University's Department of Research on History of Science and many other academic and ...
News story -- Twelve students marked the completion of their studies at The Institute of Ismaili Studies at a graduation ceremony for the Graduate Programme in Islamic Studies and Humanities class of 2012. Over 150 guests, including the Institute's Board of Governors, Ismaili community leadership and donors to the IIS, joined the students and their families in celebrating their achievement at the ...
News story -- Dr Karen Bauer, Research Associate in the Qur'anic Studies Unit at the IIS, presented at the Seventh Biennial Conference on The Qur'an: Text, Society & Culture held at SOAS. Dr Bauer's paper, entitled Women's Testimony and the Re-Interpretability of the Qur'an, investigated a specific verse of the Qur'an, 2:282. According to Dr Bauer, this verse seems, at first glance, ...
News story -- The IIS is pleased to announce the publication of Sufi Master and Qur'an Scholar: Abu'l-Qasim al-Qushayri and the Lata'if al-isharatby Martin Nguyen. This volume, the eighth in the Qur'anic Studies Series, examinesthe Qur'anic commentary (tafsir) entitled, Lata'if al-isharat (Subtleties of the Subtleties), written by Abu'l-Qasim al-Qushayri, a scholar from Nishapur (Khorasan) who lived in the 11thCentury CE. Sufi Master ...
News story -- The Institute of Ismaili Studies is pleased to announce that it has awarded the 2012 Doctoral Scholarship to Zulfiqar Khimani from Pakistan. Zulfiqar is currently pursuing his PhD in the Department of Sociology at the University of Cambridge. Following an interdisciplinary approach, he plans to investigate the phenomenon of transnationalism (the networks and affiliations connecting communities across borders) within ...
News story -- The new Graduate Programme in Islamic Studies and Humanities (GPISH) and Secondary Teacher Education Programme (STEP) students have arrived at the IIS and are beginning their studies. This September, students from across the globe have come to gain postgraduate degrees while learning from some of the leading scholars in Ismaili and Shi'i studies. Nine students from seven different countries ...
News story -- The ninth Summer Programme on Islam was held at the University of Cambridgefrom 13 - 20 August 2011. Thirty-nine participants from 14 countries (Canada, India, Mozambique, Pakistan, Portugal, South Africa, Switzerland, Syria, Tajikistan, Tanzania, United Arab Emirates, Uganda, United Kingdom and the United States) participated in the eight-day programme. The Programme's faculty comprised accomplished scholars from the IIS as ...
News story -- The IIS hosted launch events for its new publication, A Modern History of the Ismailis: Continuity and Change in a Muslim Community edited by Dr Farhad Daftary in London and Toronto. The book is the first of its kind, presenting research on the modern history of the Ismailis. Organised in four sections, the first entitled Nizari Ismailis: Syria, Central ...
News story -- The Qur'anic Studies Unit of the IIS co-sponsored a conference entitled Autour du Coran de Gwalior: polysémie d'un manuscrit à peintures (The Gwalior Qur'an Manuscript: The Polysemy of an Illuminated Codex) which took place at the Bibliothèque Nationale de France and the Institut national d'histoire de l'art (INHA) in Paris. The manuscript at the centre of the conference is ...
News story -- The IIS is pleased to welcome 48 new students on its Graduate Programme in Islamic Studies and Humanities (GPISH) and its Secondary Teacher Education Programme (STEP). The students, who joined these postgraduate programmes represent the diversity of Ismaili communities in both background and origin, coming from Canada, France, India, Iran, Pakistan, Syria, Tajikistan, Tanzania, UAE and the USA. STEP ...
News story -- The IIS, in collaboration with I.B.Tauris is pleased to announce the publication of a new English translation of the last known work of 11th-century poet and philosopher Nasir-i Khusraw. "The things of this world are so many questions without answers," wrote Nasir-i Khusraw deciding to give the book the title Jami' al-Hikmatayn, or "the joining of the two wisdoms" ...
News story -- The Qur'anic Studies Unit hosted an occasional lecture at the IIS by Prof. Mohammed Rustom of Carleton University based in Ottawa, Canada. The lecture, entitled Mulla Sadra on the Link Between Scripture and Idolatry, explored the creative manner in which the seventeenth-century Muslim philosopher-mystic Mulla Sadra Shirazi (d.1640 CE) tackles the problem of idolatry. Prof. Rustom pointed out that, ...
News story -- The IIS is pleased to announce the publication of A Companion to Muslim Cultures, edited by Dr Amyn B. Sajoo. The third in the Muslim Heritage Series, this volume embarks on a journey that celebrates the many ways in which Muslims live and understand their faith. At the heart of A Companion to Muslim Cultures is the idea that ...
News story -- The IIS' Central Asian Studies Unit (CASU) organised a lecture, entitled The State of Science and Scholarship in Central Asia: Challenges and Possibilities,delivered by Dr. Duishon Shamatov, Senior Research Fellow at the University of Central Asia (UCA). In his introductory remarks, Mr. Hakim Elnazarov, Coordinator of CASU, highlighted the importance of understanding various dimensions of educational reforms and the ...
News story -- Dr Alessandro Cancian, Research Associate in the Institute's Qur'anic Studies Unit, presented a paper at the 5th Biennial Convention of the Association for the Study of Persianate Societies held at the Maulana Azad University, Hyderabad, India. In his paper, entitled Mystical Exegesis in Modern Iran: The Case of the Gunabadi Order and RidaʿAli-Shah's Commentary on Three Qur'anic Stories, Dr ...
News story -- Over sixty alumni from Hong Kong, India, Kenya, Pakistan, Singapore, Syria, Tajikistan and Tanzania convened in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia for the annual meeting of the Asian Chapter Group of the Alumni Association. The theme for the meeting was The Significance of Qur'anic Teachings in the 21st Century. The meeting commenced with an address by the Chapter President, Minaz Master ...
News story -- The Institute's Qur'anic Studies Unit hosted an occasional lecture by Dr Nuria Martínez de Castilla of the Complutense University of Madrid. The lecture, entitled Surviving the Fall of Granada: The Qur'an among Muslims in 16th Century Spain, focused on the methods used by Muslims in the Iberian peninsula to keep their cultural traditions alive. Providing some background, Dr Martínez ...
News story -- The IIS is pleased to announce the publication of A Code of Conduct: A Treatise on the Etiquette of the Fatimid Ismaili Mission. Fifteenth in the Institute's Ismaili Texts and Translations Series, it is a critical edition and translation of the Fatimid author Ahmad b. Ibrahim al-Naysaburi's Risala al-mujaza al-kafiya fi adab al-duʿat (A Brief and Concise Treatise on ...
