Archive for November, 2018

As Expected, Bahrain’s Parliamentary Elections Were Neither Free Nor Fair

26 November 2018 – This past weekend, on 24 November 2018, Bahrain held elections for the 40 seats of the lower house of parliament. As expected, these elections occurred with severe restrictions placed on civil and political society by the Bahraini government.

See also ADHRB Weekly, number 279.
See also BIRD Weekly, 215.

St Andrew’s Day Interfaith Service at Cathcart Old Parish Church

The Scottish Ahlul Bayt Society’s Director-General Imam Razawi gave an address at Cathcart Old Parish Church as part of the St Andrew’s Day Interfaith Service. Imam Razawi was graciously welcomed by the Rev Neil Galbraith and the Very Rev John Christie, former moderator of the Church of Scotland.

1.Centre for Islamic and West Asian Studies 2^nd Annual Conference

Call for Papers

Islam, the West, and Radicalism

20 February 2019

Royal Holloway, University of London

Egham, Surrey UK

The Centre for Islamic and West Asian Studies (Royal Holloway, University of London) and the Imam Sadr Foundation (Lebanon) invite proposals for the 2019 Annual Centre for Islamic and West Asian Studies (CIWAS) Conference on ‘Islam, West, and Radicalism’.

Today, more than in any age and area, the role of Islam in societies across the world is being shaped by the political, economic, and cultural dynamics of West Asia. While many are celebrating the imminent demise of ISIS, acute observers express concern that the persistence of the West Asian socio-political context in which radical ideologies and movements have emerged will generate new radical movements in the region and beyond.

The CIWAS 2019 Annual Conference seeks to address the conference theme by considering a broad range of issues; and we are particularly interested in panel and paper proposals that offer original and under-researched approaches to them. The various issues that might be addresses, include, but are not limited to:

• Islam and the West (the Muslim diaspora, its coexistence with ‘others’ in the West) Islamic responses to radicalism
• Islam and ethics (human rights, ethics, medical ethics and Islamic jurisprudence, women’s rights)
• Spirituality in Islam (Islamic arts, rituals)
• Islamic authority in an age of Western dominance

Paper title and abstract (maximum 250-words) and contact details should be sent by email attachment to ciwas@rhul.ac.uk by 5pm (UK time), Friday 14 December 2019. You will receive an email notification confirming receipt of your form.

2. 2019. 16th Symposium

Fantasy and Imagination in the Middle Ages and Early Modern Age: Projections, Dreams, and Illusion (also: Monsters and Monstrosity).

For more information see, https://aclassen.faculty.arizona.edu/content/2019-16th-symposium.

Deadline for submission of abstracts: January 31, 2018, but feel free to send an inquiry even after that date, to aclassen@email.arizona.edu

3. International Conference: “Hadith and Inner-Islamic Pluralism: The Origin and Development of the Prophetic Tradition as a Trans-denominational Phenomenon”, University of Tuebingen, 7-8 December 2018

See program at https://bit.ly/2P4SVvO; for registration contact hossam-mohammed-mohammed.ouf@student.uni-tuebingen.de

4. Posts:

a) Professorship (Tenure Track) for the History and Culture of Islam in the Eastern Mediterranean (W 1), University of Mainz

The junior professor should represent the entire field in research and teaching. Knowledge of Arabic is required, that of Ottoman Turkish is also desirable. The candidate should either possess or be willing to develop a research focus on gender relations and roles from a historical perspective. Competencies in the field of visual and material culture are preferable.

Deadline for application: 27 December 2018. Information: https://euraxess.ec.europa.eu/jobs/354794

b) PhD Position (E 13 TV-L / 50%) for Islam Studies, University of Bayreuth

The successful candidate will work part time (until 30 September 2022) in a research group addressing questions of religious difference, sectarianism or sectarian indifference among Muslims in the European diaspora and in the respective countries of origin. Especially welcomed are projects on Shiis or Alevis, dealing with contemporary issues or topics of modern history, thereby focusing either on the diaspora or on the Near and Middle East.

Deadline for application: 17 December 2018. Information: https://www.uni-bayreuth.de/de/universitaet/arbeiten-an-der-universitaet/stellenangebote/doktorandenstellen/KW-1/index.html

c) University Assistant (post-doc) at the Department of Islamic-Theological Studies, University of Vienna

Reference No. 9110. Job-Description: Participation in research, teaching and administration at the Institute for lslamic-Theological Studies for four years. Profile: PhD in lslamic studies, lslamic theology, legal science; relevant knowledge of lslamic theology with a focus on Fiqh and Usul al-fiqh or in a similar discipline.

For information contact Prof. Dr. Ebrahim Afsah: ebrahim.afsah@univie.ac.at.

d) Assistant Professor in Islamic Studies, University of AlbertaThe Faculty of Arts invites applications for a full-time tenure-track position at the rank of Assistant Professor in Islamic Studies, with a starting date of July 1, 2019. Applicants must hold a PhD in a humanities or social science discipline with a research focus on Islamic Studies, or have a strong expectation of completing such a PhD before July 1, 2019.

Review of applications start on 2 January 2019. Information: https://www.careers.ualberta.ca/Competition/A107337623/

e) Lecturer in Arabic Language and Middle Eastern Studies, Virginia Commonwealth University

The School of World Studies invites applications for a non-tenure-track position at the instructor level. Requirements: PhD in hand by August 2019 in Arabic studies or closely related field with preference given to specialists in Arabic language acquisition, linguistics, applied linguistics, Teaching Arabic as a Foreign Language, etc.

Deadline for applications: 10 January 2019. Information: https://www.vcujobs.com/postings/84511

f) Granada ENI Spring School 2019 on “Patronage and Clientelism in the Muslim World”, Granada, 18-22 March 2019

We invite doctoral students and Early Stage Researchers working on or being interested in aspects of patronage and clientelism in the Muslim world from different disciplines in humanities and social sciences (history, anthropology, sociology, economics, cultural studies, political sciences, religious studies) to explore and present the relevance of these concepts for their work.

Deadline for applications: 15 January 2019. Information: https://www.uni-marburg.de/de/cnms/islamwissenschaft/aktuelles/nachrichten/granada-enis-spring-school-2019-on-patronage-and-clientelism-in-the-muslim-world

g) Articles for Edited Book with Brill on “Ḥadīth and Ethics: Concepts, Approaches and Theoretical Foundations”

Full papers will be discussed in a seminar at the Research Center for Islamic Legislation and Ethics (CILE) in Doha, 7-5 May 2019 (travel expenses will be covered).

Deadline for proposals: 15 December 2018. For information contact Dr. Mutaz al-Khatib: malkhatib@hbku.edu.qa.

A mysterious Shia group has Nigeria worried

THE STREETS are quiet and the tear gas has dissipated, but no one knows for sure how many protesters were killed in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital, at the end of October. The army claims six people died when soldiers stopped demonstrators from overrunning a checkpoint.

Bahrain: Pre-election clampdown on political opposition and activists

Widespread suppression of the political opposition, activists, and civic leaders. Shi’a public figures have been disproportionately targeted in the parliamentary pre-election clampdown

Imamia Medics International (IMI) Northern and Southern California Chapters will be hosting IMI’s 2018 North American Conference in Orange County, California. The conference combines IMI’s commitment to enhancing health, education, capacity building and the integration of community and faith based approaches to health. The theme for this conference is an exploration of the two public health emergencies across North America: Opioids and Obesity. In addition we will overview all aspects of health and medical sciences from clinical, basic and population perspectives. The conference will also incorporate full parallel programming for young leaders with skills development as well as conversations centered around the overall conference theme exploring healthy physical and mental lifestyles.

For tickets click here.

For the Conference Schedule, click here.

1. Tenure-track post in Islamic Studies at Trinity College Dublin

See:  https://jobs.tcd.ie  and choose ‘academic vacancies’ or search for key word ‘Islam’.

Closing date of 3.12.18

2. Middle East Studies at Brown University invites applications for a two-year position as Visiting Assistant Professor in Iranian Studies. The position is open to all disciplines in the humanities and the social sciences. We especially welcome candidates who have wide knowledge of Iranian history and civilizations, thrive in an interdisciplinary environment, are interested in comparative and global perspectives, and have experience teaching and supervising undergraduates. The successful candidate will teach three classes a year and is expected to actively cultivate broad interest in Iranian Studies at Brown and to contribute to the intellectual life of the university. Additional funding for programming and research expenses will be considered.

For further information, please visit the Middle East Studies website (http://www.middleeastbrown.org/). On the post, see: https://watson.brown.edu/mes/news/2018/visiting-assistant-professor-iranian-studieshttps://watson.brown.edu/mes/news/2018/visiting-assistant-professor-iranian-studies .To contact the department, send an email to mes_director@brown.edu.

3. The Khalili Research Centre (University of Oxford) is offering a fully-funded graduate scholarship from the beginning of the academic year 2019–2020 for a student undertaking either doctoral research or a combined four-year programme consisting of a Master’s course proceeding to a D.Phil.

The Scholarship is awarded on the basis of academic merit and potential. The Scholarship will cover full course fees, and maintenance costs equivalent to the U.K.national minimum doctoral stipend.

Applicants should first consult the Further Particulars that may be downloaded at: https://krc.web.ox.ac.uk/sites/default/files/krc/documents/media/impei_grad_2019.pdf  Applicants, whether internal or external, should then apply to the University under the standard procedures for graduate degrees. The University’s application procedures are described at http://www.ox.ac.uk/admissions/graduate.

Applications should be made on-line (www.graduate.ox.ac.uk/applyonline) and submitted before 12:00 noon on Friday 11 January 2019.

Applicants to the M.St., M.Phil. or D.Phil in Islamic Art and Archaeology at the Khalili Research Centre may also be considered for other fully-funded scholarships. For further details, please visit: https://krc.web.ox.ac.uk/article/courses

4. New Research Network: “Categories of Religion and the Secular in Islam” (CRSI)

CRSI is an interdisciplinary network for scholars interested in critical approaches to ‘religion’ and ‘the secular/non-religious’ as discursive categories in Islamic contexts.  We have created a community email list for discussion of these themes and circulation of academic notices, calls, publications, etc.  Look out for notice of our first workshop, to be held at Oxford in Spring 2019, supported by the British Association for Islamic Studies.

Contact Alex Henley (alex.henley@theology.ox.ac.uk) to join our listserv, which is open to academics and graduate students working on any period or region.

Further details here: https://www.theology.ox.ac.uk/categories-religion-and-secular-islam-crsi

5. CFP – Inscriptions from the Islamic World (American University in Cairo, 6-8 September 2019)

Inscriptions in Arabic, Persian and Turkish constitute a remarkable source for the history of the Islamic world. The earliest Arabic inscriptions represent some of our earliest firmly dated Muslim sources for Islamic history, while in later periods inscriptions often constitute unique contemporary evidence for not just the building activities sponsored by rulers and high officials, but also raw historical data such as dates of rulers and events.

Even where such events are otherwise attested, the inscriptions offer us an insight into rulers’ self-representation through the titles and epithets they use, and thus into contemporary discourses about political legitimacy. Furthermore, Islamic inscriptions are not merely historical sources, but also represent one of the great achievements of Islamic art, adorning both major and minor buildings as well as other media such as gravestones and ceramics.

The field of Islamic epigraphy, despite great progress in the 19th and early 20th centuries, has been rather neglected in recent years, although individual scholars have continued to make significant contributions. Moreover, work has tended to focus mainly on Arabic inscriptions, with those in Persian and Turkish comparatively neglected; the earliest Arabic-script Turkish inscription has only recently come to light. Moreover, although historically the literary and epigraphic traditions in all three languages were closely intertwined, today they continue to be studied in isolation from one another.

The aim of this conference is to give a new impetus to the study of Islamic inscriptions by bringing together leading scholars from the fields of history, art and language. In addition to the issues raised above, contributions will consider how inscriptions convey meaning through their placement, script, language, and quotations from textual sources ranging from the Qur’an to poetry. It will also consider the purpose and characteristics of bilingual inscriptions.

This conference is organised jointly by the AUC’s Department of Arabic and Islamic Studies, and the Centre for Anatolian and East Mediterranean Studies at the University of St Andrews. It will be held at AUC’s Tahrir Campus in downtown Cairo on November 6 – 8, 2019. The conveners intended to publish selected contributions as edited volume.

http://conf.aucegypt.edu/IIW

6. Workshop on Scriptural Hermeneutics and Exegesis was held in Paderborn University on 16-17 November 2018

At the kind invitation of Zentrum für Komparative Theologie und Kulturwissenschaften (ZeKK), the Workshop on Scriptural Hermeneutics and Exegesis was held in Paderborn University on 16-17 November 2018 under the high patronage of the Dean of Zentrum für Komparative Theologie und Kulturwissenschaften (ZeKK), Prof. Klaus Von Stosch. This workshop was attended by Professors from  Germany and Iran.

For further details and panel synopses, see:

http://zabanshenasitarikhi.ir/p/37/Workshop-on-Scriptural-Hermeneutics-and-Exegesis/

7. Conference: “Pilgrimage and the Senses”, University of Oxford, 7 June 2019

This interdisciplinary conference hosted at the University of Oxford aims to shed light on how sensory perception shapes and is shaped by the experience of pilgrimage across cultures, faith traditions, and throughout history.

Deadline for abstracts: 20 January 2019. Information: https://networks.h-net.org/node/73374/announcements/3112523/cfp-pilgrimage-and-senses-conference-oxford-7-june-2019

8. 26th International Congress of the German Middle East Studies Association (DAVO) in Cooperation with the Section Islam Studies of the DMG, University of Hamburg, 3-5 October 2019

Mind the date! Website with detailed information will soon be available.

Deadline for abstracts of panels on 15 February 2019 and papers on 30 April 2019. Information: davo@geo.uni-mainz.de

9. Fellowship on Gender, Human Rights and Refugees in the Middle East, Baker Institute for Public Policy, Rice University

Position for a Fellow whose work is at the intersection of gender, human rights, and refugees in the Middle East. This is an endowed position with primary responsibility in conducting policy-relevant research on these topics.

Review of applications will continue until the position is filled. Information: https://jobs.rice.edu/postings/16664

10. Assistant Professor with Expertise in East or Southeast Asia or the Middle East, Department of Historical and Political Studies, Arcadia University

Thematic specialization in one or more of the following areas is desired: international political economy, global governance, conflict management, or environmental politics and sustainable development. We welcome candidates with training in Political Science, History, Anthropology, and other related disciplinary and interdisciplinary fields.

Consideration of applications will begin 14 December 2018. Information: https://faculty-arcadia.icims.com/jobs/2352/assistant-professor-in-the-department-of-historical-%26-political-studies/job

11. 8 PhD Scholarships in Cultural Studies at the International Graduate Centre for the Study of Culture (GCSC), University of Giessen, Germany

The GCSC encourages applications which make a significant contribution to the study of culture in various historical contexts, including contemporary phenomena. An international research perspective, i.e. international study experience, is an advantage. Scholarships are offered for one year with the possibility of two extensions, each of one year.

Deadline for applications: 1 February 2019. Information: https://networks.h-net.org/node/73374/announcements/3112516/8-phd-scholarships-cultural-studies-gcsc-giessen-university

12. Funding Opportunities for 2019-2020 and Research Awards by the “Council of British Research in the Levant”

CBRL offers research grants for fellowships, project awards and travel grants.

Information: http://cbrl.ac.uk/news/item/name/we-are-now-accepting-applications-for-funding

13. American Institute of Indian Studies (AIIS) offers a Mughal Persian summer program for students interested in reading texts from the 16^th through 18^th centuries. The program is designed for students and scholars interested in the Mughal Empire, Comparative Empire Studies, and the larger Persianate World—encompassing Persia, Ottoman Empire, Mughal India, Afghanistan and Central Asia. The program lasts for two months from June to August 2019. For the summer of 2019, AIIS is holding a special Mughal Persian archival workshop for students and scholars—including scholars from local Indian educational institutions, libraries and archives—at the conclusion of the program. Students should have the equivalent of one year (or an intensive summer program) of prior Persian, Urdu or Arabic by the time the program starts.

Summer students should apply for FLAS or other funding if available at their institutions to cover the costs of the program. AIIS has some funding available for summer students who cannot procure their own funding. This funding is allocated on the basis of the language committee’s ranking of the applicants. The application deadline is December 31, 2018. Applications can be downloaded from the AIIS web site at www.indiastudies.org. For more information: Phone: 773-702-8638. Email: aiis@uchicago.edu.

14e Journée Henry Corbin : Images, rêves, apparitions | École Pratique des Hautes Études

14e Journée Henry Corbin. Paris, 24 novembre 2018.

Bahrain: No Free Elections in Current Environment

(Beirut) – The upcoming parliamentary elections in Bahrain, scheduled for November 24, 2018, are occurring in a repressive political environment that is not conducive to free elections, Human Rights Watch said today. Bahrain’s allies should encourage the Bahraini government to take all the necessary steps to reform laws undermining freedom of expression and assembly and to release detained opposition figures.

For more on the US Senate vote and the Bahrain elections, see ADHRB Weekly 278, accessible here.

تاریخ ، قرآن و حدیث – Book Launch

Book Launch –