Archive for May, 2017

Bahrain Dissolves Wa’ad, Last Major Opposition Society – Americans for Democracy & Human Rights in Bahrain

31 May 2017 – A Bahraini court today approved the dissolution of Wa’ad (also known as the National Democratic Action Society), the country’s largest secular, leftist opposition group. Wa’ad was the last major opposition group officially operating in Bahrain following the July 2016 dissolution of Al-Wefaq National Islamic Society. Americans …

In wake of Trump visit, Saudi-led Sunni bloc already splintering

Author: Bruce Riedel The Saudi-orchestrated bloc of Sunni Muslim states celebrated at US President Donald Trump’s visit to Riyadh is splintering less than two weeks after the summit. There is growing unease with the summit’s intense animosity toward Iran and increasing concerns that the Saudis are inflaming the sectarian divide between Sunnis and Shiites.

SAFAVIDS BEFORE EMPIRE: TWO 15TH-CENTURY ARMENIAN PERSPECTIVES | International Journal of Middle East Studies | Cambridge Core

SAFAVIDS BEFORE EMPIRE: TWO 15TH-CENTURY ARMENIAN PERSPECTIVES – Volume 49 Issue 2 – Thomas A. Carlson

President Trump and the Muslim World

In an ostentatious conference hall in Riyadh, President Trump lectured a group of bizarrely deferential leaders from 50 Muslim majority nations, while actually telling them he was “not here to lecture”. Magically changing the campaign rhetoric of “I think Islam hates us.”

Trump’s Alignment with Sunni Autocrats Masks Shallow Understanding of Region

President Trump’s visit to Saudi Arabia has engendered endless press reporting and analysis. Two key points stand out in the media coverage. First, the trip was mostly show than action. Second, the Saudis played up to Trump’s craving for adulation and narcissism. They knew he was a fickle showman and acted accordingly.

1.Jobs:

Postdoctoral Teaching Scholar, North Carolina State University, Raleigh
The scholar will be expected to teach two classes (Middle Eastern History) per semester in the Department of History. Qualifications: Ph.D. in Middle Eastern History; experience as a teaching assistant or instructor; etc.
Deadline for application: 22 May 2017. Information: https://jobs.ncsu.edu/postings/85717 

Columbia University – Lecturer in Arabic Language
http://www.h-net.org/jobs/job_display.php?id=54920

2. MESA Graduate Student Paper Prize
Graduate student research papers on any aspect of post 600 CE Middle East studies are sought for this blind review. Winner is awarded $250.

Deadline for application: 15 August 2017. Information: http://mesana.org/awards/student-paper-prize.html

3. Malcolm H. Kerr Dissertation Awards

Students completing their dissertations between July 1, 2016 and June 30, 2017 may submit entries for this award. The competition is to recognize exceptional achievement in research and writing for/of dissertations in Middle East studies. Winner in each category (social sciences and humanities) is awarded $1000.

Deadline for submissions: 1 July 2017. Information: http://mesana.org/awards/malcolm-kerr-dissertation.html
 

4. Articles for the “Australian Journal of Islamic Studies (AJIS)”

Contributions for this double-blind peer-reviewed journal are encouraged in Islamic theology, philosophy, sociology, jurisprudence, contemporary studies, comparative religion, spirituality, Qur’anic and Sunnah studies, history and art.

Deadline for submissions: 1 September 2017. Information: http://www.ajis.com.au/
 

5. LC Offers Largest Release of Digital Catalog Records in History

The Library of Congress announced today that it is making 25 million records in its online catalog available for free bulk download at loc.gov/cds/products/marcDist.php. This is the largest release of digital records in the Library’s history.

The records also will be easily accessible at data.gov, the open-government website hosted by the General Services Administration (GSA). Until now, these bibliographic records have only been available individually or through a paid subscription.

6. Director of the HRH Prince Alwaleed bin Talal Centre for the Study of Islam in the Contemporary World

Vacancy Ref: :  039922

The University of Edinburgh is seeking to appoint an outstanding Director of the HRH Prince Alwaleed bin Talal Centre for the Study of Islam in the Contemporary World.

The HRH Prince Alwaleed bin Talal Centre for the Study of Islam in the Contemporary World (www.alwaleed.ed.ac.uk) is a Centre within the University of Edinburgh, established in 2010, devoted to research, outreach and knowledge transfer, in the field of Islamic Studies. It is part of a network of Centres established by the HRH Prince Alwaleed bin Talal Foundation, currently two in the United States (Harvard and Georgetown), two in the United Kingdom (Edinburgh and Cambridge), and two in the Middle East (the American University of Beirut and the American University in Cairo), which are devoted to the improvement of mutual understanding between the Muslim World and the West. Further details of the Objectives, Staff, and activities of the Edinburgh Alwaleed Centre can be found at www.alwaleed.ed.ac.uk.

As Director, and in consultation with Head of College and Head of School and other stakeholders, you will set a strategic vision for the Centre’s development covering research, outreach and impact to raise the Centre’s international profile, build research and teaching partnerships across the University, and creatively engage with a broad range of external individuals and organisations.

A successful track record of leadership, strong intellectual credentials, and the ability to command credibility amongst senior figures in academia and beyond is essential. A successful candidate for this position will be appointed, if suitably qualified and as appropriate, to a Chair at the University at the same time.

For a confidential discussion, please contact Professor Jeremy Robbins, Head of School, Literatures, Languages and Cultures – Tel: +44 (0)131 650 3638.

This is a full time, open ended position based on 35 hours each week. Salary will be negotiable depending on track record and experience.

Closing date: 5pm (GMT) Wednesday 14th June 2017.

Further information and details on how to apply can be found at the following link: https://www.vacancies.ed.ac.uk/pls/corehrrecruit/erq_jobspec_version_4.jobspec?p_id=039922

حمد بن عيسى: ملك الفتنة والدم!

يُمعن حكام البحرين وملكهم حمد عيسى، بإلحاق الظلم بالشيخ عيسى قاسم، وهو الزعيم الأكبر في البلاد والذي حكمت عليه محكمة في المنامة غيابياً يوم الأحد الماضي، بالسجن مدة سنة مع وقف التنفيذ بعد إدانته “بجمع الأموال بالمخالفة لأحكام القانون… وغسل الأموال”، وبدفع غرامة قدرها مئة ألف دينار بحريني (نحو 265 ألف دولار) و”مصادرة الأموال المتحفظ عليها”.

See the English translation

SÉMINAIRE ‘Culture matérielle et pratiques dévotionnelles dans les sociétés chiites’
Séance Bohra du 1er juin 2017, 9h-12
Olly Akkerman, Freie Universität Berlin
‘Bohra Manuscript Culture, Archive and Secrecy: a Social Codicological Ethnography’
The Alawi Bohras, a small but vibrant Muslim Shia community in India that is almost entirely closed to outsiders, hold a secret Arabic manuscript culture, which is enshrined and preserved in royal archives. Having had unique access to one of these archives, my presentation unravels the as yet unstudied physical and social aspects of the Alawi Bohra philological tradition. Through the lens of what I call social codicology, i.e. the conducting of philological fieldwork and participant observation in the community in Baroda, Gujarat, I intend to discuss the social role of this archive as a repository of secret texts, and further examine the social lives of its manuscripts.

Denis Gay, Université de Lausanne
« Le renforcement de la frontière ethnique de la diaspora bohra à Madagascar »
Les Bohra dawoodi constitue l’une des cinq communautés originaires du Nord-Ouest de l’Inde installées à Madagascar. Fondée sur des théories l’ethnicité, cette communication montre que d’une part les catégories de l’identité et de l’altérité utilisées par les Bohra de Madagascar sont d’une grande diversité et que la limite entre Bohra et les autres dans la société malgache est renforcée par des changements religieux et des activités commerciales. Alors que des auteurs soulignent la cohésion des Bohra (Blank 2001, Salvadori 1989), cette communication met en évidence de manière complémentaire d’une part une tension entre l’unité et la diversité culturelle et, d’autre part la consolidation de la frontière ethnique.

Lieu :
Centre d’Études de l’Inde et de l’Asie du Sud
UMR8564 – CNRS / EHESS
salle A06_51 (6e étage) 54 bd Raspail 75006 Paris.

Organisateurs :
Zahir Bhalloo (CEIAS), Michel Boivin (CNRS), Anabelle Collinet (Musée du Louvre), Sepideh Parsapajouh (CNRS)

Two conferences spotlight Muslim world’s struggle to counter militancy

Two conferences this week spotlight the Muslim world’s struggle to come to grips with extremism and militancy. The conferences, the Arab-Islamic-American summit in Riyadh and a gathering in East Java of youth leaders of Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), the world’s largest Muslim movement, laid bare the difficulty of reforming cultures in the battle against extremism, called into question the commitment of Muslim states to combat radicalism and political violence, and put on display US President Donald J.

Bahrain police ‘open fire on sit-in’ around Shia cleric’s home – BBC News

Bahraini police have opened fire during a raid on a sit-in near the home of the Sunni-ruled Gulf kingdom’s most prominent Shia cleric, activists say. The UK-based Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy said one protester had been killed in the incident in Sheikh Isa Qassim’s hometown of Diraz.

See also Reuters
“Human Rights Watch condemned the Diraz raid as a crackdown on free expression. It said it was no coincidence it occurred two days after a “convivial” meeting between Trump and King Hamad.”
See also ADHRB statement.
See also Washington Post

UK Protest: at Bahrain Embassy, 15.00 (3.00 pm) today, 30 Belgrave Square, London SW1X 8QB