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 ...

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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 ...

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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 ...

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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 ...

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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 ...

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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, ...

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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 ...

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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 ...

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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 ...

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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 ...

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News story -- On the occasion of the book launch, the President of the Ismaili National Council for India, Mr. Nizamuddin Ajani, and the book's publisher, Mr. Hemant Thakkar made speeches. The Chairman of ITREB India, Mr. Bakhtawar Dharani, the CEO of ITREB India, Mr. Hussain Jasani, ITREB Secretary, Mr. Imtiaz Momin, and the editor of The Ismaili (India), Dr. N.M. Irani ...

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News story -- Amman, Jordan - 4th - 6th July, 2005 Bismillahir-Rahmanir-Rahim I am happy that we have been invited to participate in the International Islamic Conference being held in Amman, from the 4th to the 6th of July, 2005, under the auspices of the Hashemite Kingdom. In light of the purpose of the Conference, I find it appropriate to reiterate, in ...

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News story -- A specialist on the Ikhwan al-Safa' and a Professor of History of Muslim Philosophy at the Università degli Studi di Napoli "L'Orientale" in Naples, Italy, Professor Baffioni spoke about the content of several epistles of the Ikhwan al-Safa' (The Brethren of Purity, ca. 10th century Iraq), a collective of scholars and thinkers who produced a compendium of knowledge of ...

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News story -- Dr. Abbas' talk explored the impact of socio-economic transition on education and careers of the youth of isolated mountainous regions. In particular, he looked closely at recent challenges faced by Tajikistan's Pamiri youth who are completing their education and entering the labour market, making comparisons with the challenges their parents had faced. The aim of the talk was to ...

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News story -- The Syrian Preparatory Programme is jointly funded and managed by the IIS' Department of Graduate Studies and Ismaili community institutions in Syria. It prepares students by improving their English reading and writing skills to a level suitable for academic study at English-medium higher education institutions. The curriculum, designed by the Department of Graduate Studies, is taught by the British ...

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News story -- The program was conducted at the French Institute (Institut Français du Proche-Orient - IFPO) in Damascus, and was developed in collaboration with the GPISH Arabic Coordinator, Ms Lucy Collard. A range of different modules were offered to students, all delivered in Arabic, including: Arabic Grammar and Conversation, Muslim Civilisations, Ismaili History, Arabic Literature and Mystical Poetry. The immersion programme ...

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News story -- Scholars and guests who attended the book launches organised by the Institute at the Ismaili Centre in London heard the authors speak about the research that underpins these publications. Professor Abdullah Saeed, editor of Approaches to the Qur'an in Contemporary Indonesia (Oxford University Press, 2005), noted that Indonesia is the world's most populous Muslim country and yet much of ...

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News story -- To facilitate the acquisition of skills and experience, as well as to provide career-enhancement opportunities, the IIS devised an internship programme in 2006 which funds appropriately designed internships in partner institutions, in particular agencies of the Aga Khan Development Network and, in some cases, other development-related institutions. For the fresh graduates, this enables them to get work-experience and perhaps ...

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News story -- Written during one of the most exciting periods in Sufism's history and based on the only surviving text of the famous Hanbali mystic, 'Abd Allah al-Ansari (d.481/1089 CE), the Kashf al-Asrar of Rashid al-Din Maybudi (fl. 1126 CE) is counted among the most popular Persian tafsirs and its importance, both for an understanding of the development of Sufi hermeneutics ...

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News story -- Al-Qadi al-Nu'man entered the service of the first Fatimid Caliph-Imam al-Mahdi billah (r. 297-322 AH/ 909-934 CE) in Ifriqiya (present-day Tunisia and eastern Algeria). He served the first four Fatimid Caliph-Imams in various capacities for almost fifty years until his death. An addition to being an important exponent of Fatimid jurisprudence, al-Nu'man produced historical and bibliographical works directed at ...

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News story -- Al-Qadi al-Nu'man entered the service of the first Fatimid Caliph-Imam al-Mahdi billah (r. 297-322 AH/ 909-934 CE) in Ifriqiya (present-day Tunisia and eastern Algeria), and served the first four Fatimid Caliph-Imams in various capacities for almost fifty years until his death. He reached the height of his career during the reign of the Caliph-Imam al-Mu'izz li-din Allah (r. 341-365 ...

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News story -- By analysing original sources, the author explores the wisdom of Imam 'Ali which has been described as an intellectual treasure locked in the Arabic language. "One of the things I tried to do in this book", said Dr Shah-Kazemi, "is to make some of the jewels of this treasury of spiritual wisdom accessible to those who cannot read Arabic. ...

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