Bahrain re-arrests human rights defender Naji Fateel two years after royal pardon

1. New Book: International Relations of the Middle East: Theories and Case Studies, 30 September 2026, Cambridge University Press. A sample chapter (Introduction) is available here: https://www.book2look.com/book/9781009617697           2. IMC 2027 CALL FOR PAPERS MAKING KNOWLEDGE: EDUCATION AND SOCIAL PRACTICE IN MEDIEVAL ISLAMIC AND JEWISH SOCIETIES

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1. Sensing Islam Engaging and Contesting the Senses in Muslim Religiosity S Stjernholm, Bloomsbury, 2026 https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/sensing-islam-9781350324176/             2. Mazda: ‘Persian Fiction in Translation Series’ https://www.mazdapublishers.com/series/bibliotheca-iranica-persian-fiction-in-translation         3. Brill: The Ruzbeh Library: Critical Editions of Modern Iranian Fiction https://brill.com/page/forthcoming_trl        

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What role does sound play in shaping religious life and belonging?

IIS hosts a book talk with Dr Stefan Williamson Fa on his new book, Sonic Relations. The hybrid event takes place on Tuesday 29 September at the Aga Khan Centre, London, and online. Drawing on research with Twelver Shiʿi communities in Turkey, the talk explores how sound shapes devotion.
Register at:
https://www.iis.ac.uk/events/sonic-relations-book-talk/

1. Assistant Professor (9 Months) of Modern Middle East History, Texas A&M University, College Station We seek a scholar whose research complements and enhances existing departmental strengths and broadens our intellectual and methodological diversity. Candidates should demonstrate a record of, or clear potential for, significant scholarly contributions. The position requires

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محاكماتٌ تحت التهديد وتطبيعٌ مع الكيان: ماذا يجري لمُعارضي التطبيع ورافضي عدوان إيران بالبحرين؟ ما علاقة الرئيس الإسرائيليّ وإشعاله الغضب.. أكثر من 80 بالمائة يُعارِضون التطبيع

1. CfP: seminar for ACLA, this year in Houston, TX, May 20-23, 2027 ACLA seminar, “The Best Companion: The Aesthetics of Book Love in Arabic Literature,” is now available on the ACLA website: https://www.acla.org/seminar/05c7d866-cd74-46a7-8813-1779a18fd04e The ACLA deadline for paper proposals is Sept 22, 2026.         2. Call

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Ismailis of China: history, culture and tradition
In China’s Xinjiang region, a small Ismaili community sustains its faith through ritual and story. IIS hosts a lecture on the Ismaili Tajiks of this community. The hybrid event takes place on Wednesday 16 September at the Aga Khan Centre, London, and online. Dr Amier Saidula will explore how rituals, oral traditions and vernacular knowledge sustain religious heritage and identity.
Register to attend

Annual Graduate Conference 2026
IIS will host its Annual Graduate Conference on Monday 28 September at the Aga Khan Centre in London and online. This year’s theme, “Muslim Lives in Transition: Continuity and Change in Contemporary Times”, explores how Muslim lives are shaped by both continuity and change.
Register now

Fatimid Sicily: History, Memory, and Legacy
How is the Islamic past imagined in contemporary Palermo, Sicily?
The Institute of Ismaili Studies (IIS) hosts a two-day conference on Fatimid rule in Sicily. The event runs Monday 19 and Tuesday 20 October at the Aga Khan Centre, London, and online. A parallel exhibition, Islamic Traces, follows Palermo residents of different faiths and none as they search for the city’s Islamic past. Through architecture, landscape, language and the arts, they bring their imagined pasts to life in the present.
Register to attend