Archive for 2019

1. American University of Beirut

Sheikh Zayed Chair of Arabic and Islamic Studies

Chair of Arabic and Islamic Studies

A conference marking 100 years since the birth of the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan

 

Mysticism and Ethics in Islam

التصوف والأخلاق في الإسلام

Organized by Bilal Orfali, Radwan Sayyid, and Mohammed Rustom

May 2-3, 2019

Olayan School of Business, Maamari Auditorium

 

May 2, 2019

 

9:00-9:30 Opening Remarks: Dean of Arts and Sciences and Conference Organizers (Bilal Orfali, Radwan Sayyid, and Mohammed Rustom)

 

9:30-11:30       Panel 1: Defining Boundaries I

Chair: Ramzi Baalbaki, American University of Beirut

Suad al-Hakim, Lebanese University: “الأخلاق في التصوف: بين تزكية النفس وتزكية السلوك”

Chafika Ouail: Post-Doc, Orient Institute Beirut: “النسق المعرفي لإعادة إنتاج المفاهيم الأخلاقية عند الصوفية”

Issam Eido, Vanderbitt University: “تلوّنات المتصوّفة والمفهوم الأخلاقي في الأدب الصوفي”

Khaled Abdo, Mominoun Without Borders: “من نقد التصوّف إلى إصلاح الأخلاق :الكشف عن أعمال الديلمي”

 

11:30-12:00     Coffee Break 

 

12:00-13:30     Panel 2: Defining Boundaries II

Chair: Atif Khalil, University of Lethbridge

Michael Arnold, American University of Beirut: “Sufism as an Ethical Panacea? Situating Taṣawwuf in Islamic Ethics”

Sophia Vasalou, Birmingham University: “Does al-Ghazālī have a Theory of Virtue?”

Jeremy Farrell, Emory University: “A “Value Theory” of Obligations: Early Sufi approaches to zuhd”

 

13:30-14:30     Lunch Break

 

14:30-16:30     Panel 3: From Grief to Love

Chair: Sebastian Günther, University of Göttingen

Riccardo Paredi, American University of Beirut: “To Grieve or Not to Grieve? The Concept of ḥuzn in Early Sufism”

Atif Khalil, University of Lethbridge: “On Patience in Early Sufi Ethics”

Kazuyo Murata, King’s College London: “Sufism and the Pursuit of Happiness”

Mohammed Rustom, Carleton University: “Theo-Fānī: ʿAyn al-Quḍāt and the Fire of Love”

 

16:30-17:00     Coffee Break

 

17:00-18:00 Keynote Address: Jamal Elias, University of Pennsylvania: “Revisiting Rūmī’s Mathnawī as the ‘Persian Qur’an’ through the Lens of Anqarawī”

 

May 3, 2019

 

9:00-11:30       Panel 4: Late Pre-Modern Sufism

Chair: Bilal Orfali, American University of Beirut

Matthew Ingalls, American University in Dubai: “al-Shaʿrānī’s Laṭāʾif al-minan and the Virtue of Sincere Immodesty”

Rizwan Zamir, Davidson College, N.C: “‘Dogs are Better than You!’ Mockery in Punjabi Sufi Poetry”

Alexandre Papas, French National Center for Scientific research: “Sufism and Ethics in Central Asia: Ṣūfī Allāhyār’s Thabāt al-ʿājizīn and its Legacy”

Marcia Hermansen, University of Chicago: “Shāh Walī Allāh and the Virtues”

Muetaz A. Al-Khatib, American University of Beirut/Hamad Bin Khalifa University: “المعارف والأحوال: العزّ بن عبد السلام والتأسيس لأخلاق الظاهر والباطن”

 

11:30-12:00     Coffee Break

 

12:00-13:30     Panel 5: Literary Engagements

Chair: Enass Khansa, American University of Beirut

Lina Jammal, American University of Beirut: “أحلام المتصوّفة”

Richard McGregor, Vanderbilt University: “Beauty, Vision, and the Discipline of Bodies in Sufi Aesthetics”

Vahid Behmardi, Lebanese American University: “Social Ethics in Rūmī’s Mathnawī”

 

13:30-14:30     Lunch Break

 

14:30-16:00     Panel 6: Sufism in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries I

Chair: Lyall Armstrong, American University of Beirut

Paul Heck, Georgetown University: “Mystical Traditions of Prophetic Ethics in Moroccan Sufism: The Case of ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz al-Dabbāgh”

Ahmed El-Shamsy, University of Chicago: “Modernist Appropriations of Sufi Ethics”

Leila Almazova, International Relations Kazan (Volga Region) Federal University: “Sufism and Modern Muslim Ethics in 20^th Century Russian Islamic Thought”

 

16:00-16:30 Coffee Break

 

16:30-18:00     Panel 7: Sufism in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries II

Chair: Bashshar Haydar, American University of Beirut

Mohammed Helmi: “سؤال التصوف في الأفق الـمُعاصر: التاريخ والـمصائر”

Oludamini Ogunnaike, College of William and Mary: “The Existential, Epistemological Ethics of Tarbiyah: Ibrahim Niasse’s Maqāmāt al-dīn al-thalāth”

Abdelouahab Belgherras, Centre de recherche en anthropologie sociale et culturelle: “الأخلاق الصوفية في الخطاب المعاصر: الإنسان “الكامل” والمواطنة العالمية”

American University of Beirut

P.O. Box 11-0236, Riad El Solh 1107 2020, Beirut, Lebanon

T: +961-1-350000 ext. 3800

F: +961-1-744461

http://www.aub.edu.lb/alabhath/Pages/default.aspx

http://www.aub.edu.lb/pages/profile.aspx?memberID=bo00

 

 

 

 

2. The Hajji Baba Club, New York, Announces a New Fellowship in the Field of Carpet Studies

The Hajji Baba Club is pleased to announce the creation of a new fellowship in the field of carpet scholarship. The Hajji Baba Club is the oldest organization in the United States devoted to the study of oriental carpets and antique textiles. Founded in New York City in 1932, its original members included many collectors whose carpets and textiles now form principal holdings at several major US museums.

The fellowship seeks to support established and early-career scholars of outstanding promise.  The first HBC Research Fellowship will be for the 2019-2020 academic year, from September to June.  An annual HBC Research Fellowship will be awarded thereafter.

 

For the application procedure and terms of the fellowship, please see:

https://www.hajjibaba.org/fellowship/

 

 

 

 

3. Conference: “A Century of State Making in Iraq: The Middle East in Transition”, University of Leicester, 24 April 2019

On the occasion of the anniversary of Woodrow Wilson’s famous ‘Fourteen Points’ speech with regard to the Middle Eastern region, this is an inter-disciplinary scholarly activity focused on history, law and politics. The conference will bring together British, Iraqi and international experts and practitioners to discuss the inter-relationship between theory and practice.

See program at https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/a-century-of-state-making-in-iraq-the-middle-east-in-transition-tickets-59189098186

 

 

 

 

4. The Most Important Event in Middle East and North African Studies in France 2019: “Congrès des études sur le Moyen-Orient et mondes musulmans”, SEMOMM, IISMM, GIS MoMM, Université Panthéon-Sorbonne, Paris, 3-5 July 2019

This is the joint Congress of SEMOMM (Société d’études du Moyen-Orient et des mondes musulmans), IISMM (Institut d’études de l’Islam et des sociétés du monde musulman) and GIS MOMM (Groupement d’intérêt scientifique Moyen-Orient et mondes musulmans).

Deadline for abstracts: 1 June 2019. Information: https://www.semomm.fr/congres-gis-moyen-orient-mondes-musulmans-2019-appel-a-contributions/

 

 

 

5. 53rd Seminar for Arabian Studies, University of Leiden, 11-13 July 2019

See program at: https://www.thebfsa.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Seminar-2019-Draft-Programme.pdf

Further Information: https://mailchi.mp/33eed0779ee8/bfsa-bulletin-call-for-contributions-1770885?e=18cf0337f7 _

 

 

 

 

6. Conference: “Regime-Critical Media and Arab Diaspora: Challenges and Opportunities Post-Arab Spring”, University of Copenhagen, 5-6 September 2019

The research project ‘Mediatized diaspora (MEDIASP): Contentious Politics among Arab Media Users in Europe’ is pleased to announce the call for papers for this conference on regime-critical media – produced in or outside the Middle East and North Africa – and their users in diaspora.

Deadline for abstracts: 15 May 2019. Information: https://ccrs.ku.dk/research/

 

 

 

 

7. Conference: “The Urban Artistic Heritage in the Islamic World”, RCICA, University of Tunis, 14-17 November 2019

Papers, videos and posters are invited on the following topics: 1) Issues and approaches associated with the urban artistic heritage in the Islamic world. 2) Islamic architecture and interior design. 3) Islamic book artworks (miniatures and book / manuscript illuminations) and Arabic calligraphy. 4) Applied arts and crafts (wood carving, metalwork, textile, carpets, leatherwork) in traditional Islamic cities.

Deadline for abstracts: 10 May 2019. Information: ateru.recherches.urbaines@gmail.com

 

 

 

 

8. PhD Position for Research Project “Bibliotheca Arabica – Towards a New History of Arabic Literature: Libraries between the Mamluk and Ottoman Era”, Saxon Academy of Sciences and Humanities, Leipzig

The long-term research project invites applications for a part-time PhD position. Start date is January 2020; the contract period is 3 years, with an option of extension for another year. Requirements: MA or equivalent degree in Islamic Studies, Arabic philology; excellent knowledge of Arabic and preferably one other primary language of the Islamicate world; paleographical skills preferred; etc.

Deadline for application: 18 May 2019. Information: https://www.saw-leipzig.de/de/ausschreibungen/stellenausschreibungen/phd-position-in-the-research-project-bibliotheca-arabica.pdf/view

 

 

 

 

9. Research Associate at the Syria/Iraq Office of the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung, Beirut

Qualifications: Master or doctoral degree in political or social science with focus on the Middle East and preferably international relations, Germany and the EU; good knowledge of the situation in the Middle East with special focus on Syria and Iraq; excellent knowledge of English and German; etc.

Applications and start of the position at the earliest possible date. Information: gregor.jaecke@kas.de

 

 

 

 

10. Visiting Faculty Position in Middle Eastern and North African History, University of the Holy Cross, Worcester (MA)

Including Fall 2019 semester and Spring 2020 semester. Requirements: Ph.D. in Middle Eastern/North African History is preferred. Candidates must demonstrate commitment to, and excellence in, undergraduate teaching as informed by current practice and scholarship in the field.

Review of applications will begin immediately and continue until the position has been filled. Information: https://apply.interfolio.com/62147

 

 

 

 

11. Dissertation Award of the German Middle East Studies Association (DAVO) for Research on the MENA Region

DAVO will award a prize of 3,000 Euro to the best dissertation in the field of contemporary research on the Middle East and North Africa which was written in German or English and submitted to a university by a member of DAVO in 2018.

Please send an application with a printed copy and a digital version of your dissertation, a summary, your CV and the assessments of your dissertation by two professors to davo@geo.uni-mainz.de  until 28 April 2019.

For further information on the advantages of being a member of DAVO see http://davo1.de/en/uber-die-davo/

 

 

 

 

12. LUCIS Summer School: “Philology and Manuscripts from the Muslim World”, University of Leiden, 20-30 August 2019

This summer school is for graduate (MA and PhD) students and researchers who have an interest in handwritten materials, editing, and the tradition of editing in the Muslim world. It offers theoretical lectures as well as hands-on practice with samples from the world-famous collections of the Leiden University Library.

Deadline for applications: 28 June 2019. Information: https://www.universiteitleiden

 

 

 

 

13. Call for Submissions: Syrian Studies Association Prizes for Outstanding Book 

In order to promote and highlight excellence in research, the Syrian Studies Association awards annual prizes for the best writing on Bilad al-Sham until 1918 and on Syria in the period following.

In 2019, the SSA seeks submissions for the most outstanding book published between July 1, 2017 and June 30, 2019, and the most outstanding article or book chapter published between July 1, 2018 and June 30, 2019.

In order to be considered for the prize, candidates must join the association. Information about the Syrian Studies Association is available at the following website: http://www.ou.edu/ssa/index.html

Submissions in languages other than English are welcomed.

Articles should be sent electronically. Books can be sent either electronically or in hard copy.

The deadline for submissions is July 15, 2019. All submissions should be sent to Paul M. Cobb, Chair of the Prize Committee, at the following address: pmcobb@upenn.edu  Winners will be announced at the SSA annual meeting held in conjunction with the Middle East Studies Association in November 2019. Inquiries should be directed to Paul M. Cobb.

 

 

The Shi’i clergy and perceived opportunity structures: political activism in Iran, Iraq, and Lebanon

During the last four decades, the Middle East has witnessed the rise of Shi’i political activism, through the direct engagement of clerical elites in socio-political arenas. With the re-emergence of activism on the part of Shi’i mujtahids and its impact on the ascent of Shi’i community in Iran, Iraq, and Lebanon, scholars have defined a distinct strategic difference between what they characterise as ‘quietist’ and ‘activist’ Shi’i mujtahids.

Two bodies pinned to a pole in Saudi Arabia as 37 people killed in ‘chilling’ mass execution

Saudi Arabia executed 37 people for terror offences on Tuesday, the country’s interior minister said, in one of the largest mass executions in recent years. Human Rights Watch described the punishment as “grotesque,” and said the news represented a “day we have feared.”

See also The Washington Post.
See also Human Rights Watch.
See also The New York Times.

Untold Stories, The Suffering of Shia Muslims – Shia Rights Watch

Annual report of Anti-Shiism around the Globe This report reflects investigative work Shia Rights Watch staff undertook in 2018 Shia Rights Watch 2018 Annual Report_2 Size: 1.37 mb Format : PDF Preview Introduction Parallel to the rise of coverage of the Shia identity came to an increased need for recognition for the dynamics of …

Nigeria’s Shia protesters: A minority at odds with the government

Abuja, Nigeria – Four years ago, several members of Abdullahi Muhammad’s family were killed, setting off a series of events that led him to become an outspoken critic of the government. Now 32, Muhammad, a member of the country’s Shia Muslim minority, says he would give his life “to fight tyranny”.

1.Marriage and Divorce in Modern Islamic Law

Tuesday 23rd April 2019
Seminar Room 1: IAIS, University of Exeter

If you wish to attend, please email: csi@exeter.ac.uk

Marriage and Divorce in Modern Islamic Law

Tuesday 23rd April 2019
Seminar Room 1: IAIS, University of Exeter

In the last 200 years, a series of legal innovations have appeared in both Islamic legal thought and practice in the areas of marriage and divorce. In this workshop we will examine the changes in how marriages are conducted, and how divorce is initiated. The workshop is sponsored by the Understanding Sharia: Perfect Past Imperfect Present project (www.usppip.eu) which has been examining how the past is employed in contemporary Islamic law, and how it has been responding to societal change in the modern period.

1230 Lunch
1330 Introduction: Robert Gleave (Director of USPPIP Project) 1400 Dr Sejad Mekic (Exeter, USPPIP Fellow), ““Tafwid al-Talaq: Delegating the Power of Divorce to the Wife in Hanafi and Imami Legal Traditions”

1430 Dr Nijmi Edres, (Göttingen, USPPIP Fellow; Exeter, Visiting USPPIP Fellow) “Stipulations into Muslim marriage contracts in Israel: preliminary insights into tafwid al-talaq and property relations agreements”

1500 Dr Mahmood Kooria, (Leiden, USPPIP fellow): “High Rate of Divorce among Matrilineal Muslims: Islam and Law in the Indian Ocean Littoral”

1530 Coffee/Tea
1600 Mr Mahmoud Afifi (Lancaster University): “Q4: 34: marital qiwamah and ‘wifely discipline’”

1630 Dr Ayesha Shahid (Coventry University): “Protecting Muslim Women’s Right to Post-Divorce Maintenance in Pakistan: Making the Case for Law Reform”

1700 Mr Muhammad Al-Marakaby (University of Edinburgh): “The impact of social norms on fatwas of marriage and divorce: an ethnographic study at Al-Azhar’s Fatwa Council”

1730 Concluding remarks: Robert Gleave

 

 

 

2. Call for applications: Residential Fellowships for the Critical Edition of Key Text

This call for applications pursues a novel approach to one of the fundamental problems of Islamicate History, and Islamicate intellectual history in particular: With the support of the Alexander von Humboldt Kolleg of the Islamicate Intellectual History of the Later Middle and Early Modern Periods at the University of Bonn, scholars are invited to submit a proposal for the critical edition and/or translation into English of a key text of this period. With an estimated 85% of the texts of the Later Middle and Early Modern periods remaining unpublished, basic research (“Grundlagenforschung”) is required to make accessible key texts. In the case of Islamic Studies such basic research means indeed preparing critical editions of primary texts based on a careful selection and comparison of the extant manuscript witnesses of relevant texts.

In a time and world where critical editions are not the stuff that attract financial support, this is a unique opportunity for those scholars for whom solid philological work means something. Applications for the completion of an edition that has already been begun are also welcome.

With this, first, call for applications, we invite scholars to apply for two different strands of residential fellowships, one (i) for an already identified work that we believe deserves publication, and one (ii) bottom-up proposal for the preparation and publication of a critical edition of a text freely chosen and proposed by the applicant. The texts should pertain to the period 1200-1600 and can be written in Arabic, Persian, or Ottoman or Chagatay Turkish.

(i) Call for applications to prepare a critical edition of one of the unpublished parts of Ṣadr al-Sharīʿa’s (d. 747/1347) Taʿdīl al-ʿulūm. Applications are particularly encouraged from such scholars who have previously worked on Ṣadr al-Sharīʿa and/or have already started preparing a (partial) edition, though entirely new projects are equally welcome. The length of the fellowship depends on the reasoned timeline proposed in the application.

(ii) Call for applications to prepare a critical edition and/or English translation of a relevant text freely chosen and suggested by the applicant.

Eligibility: Scholars of all nationalities are eligible to apply. Applicants should hold the Ph.D. or equivalent in hand by the time of the start of their scholarship, usually in October of each year, and must prove excellent knowledge of the academic field, historical context, and literary language in which was composed the work they propose to edit, together with a thorough understanding of, and preferably prior experience in, reading and editing Islamic manuscripts according to the latest academic standards.

Duration: While Fellowships at the Alexander von Humboldt Kolleg are usually for the duration of 9 months, the length of the fellowships can be adjusted to the actual time needed for the critical edition of a given text, depending on the time necessary for completing such a project as reasoned in the proposal.

Fellowship: In addition to a monthly stipend, this research fellowship will provide successful applicants with working space as well as access to the various libraries and other research facilities at the University of Bonn. We shall also be happy to facilitate contact with other colleagues and research institutions in Bonn and in Germany. Depending on the experience of the applicant, a stipend equivalent to in the amount of an Alexander von Humboldt Post-doctoral Research Fellowship (2.650 Euro/month) or Alexander von Humboldt Senior Research Fellowship (for scholars with a university post or equivalent) plus travel to and from Germany, and financial support to acquire the relevant manuscripts will be awarded. Information about support needed for the acquisition of relevant manuscripts should be provided together with a reasoned budget at the time of application.

To apply, please submit a letter of interest together with a curriculum vitae, a proposal, and in the case of Post-doctoral applicants also the names and contact details of three referees to fellowships@avh-islamicate.uni-bonn.de. The proposal should not exceed five pages, including bibliography, and should review the state of the art, state why it is important to publish the selected work, name the manuscript witnesses to be considered for the edition, explain the method to be used and why the applicant is apt to undertake the proposed edition, and give a realistic and reasoned estimate for the time and resources required to prepare the edition. Proposals for the completion of editions that are already under way are welcome, and will be scrutinized by the same standards as proposals that start from scratch.

Grant value: 2.650,– Euro/month, plus travel to and from Germany, and financial support to acquire the relevant manuscripts based on the budget submitted at the time of application.

Start date: 1 October 2019.

Closing date for applications is 12 noon on Friday, 17 May 2019.

To apply for this Fellowship, please submit the required application material to fellowships@avh-islamicate.uni-bonn.de.

Prior questions are welcome and may be directed to judith.pfeiffer@uni-bonn.de.

For further information, and how to apply, please see https://www.academia.edu/38788863/Call_for_applications_Residential_Fellowships_for_the_Critical_Edition_of_Key_Texts.

 

 

 

 

3. Islamic Art Circle, Revisiting Baghdad: Mosques, Caliphs and the ‘Ulama (May 8) and Bahari Foundation Lectures, The Shah and the ‘Ulama: A Tale of Two Mosques in Safavid Isfahan (May 9), Ruba Kana’an

 

The Islamic Art Circle at SOAS, London University

Revisiting Baghdad: Mosques, Caliphs and the ‘Ulama

May 8, 2019, 7:00 pm

 

The Bahari Foundation Lectures on Art and Culture of Iran, The Courtauld Institute of Art

The Shah and the ‘Ulama: A Tale of Two Mosques in Safavid Isfahan

May 9, 2019, 6:00 pm

 

Islamic Art Circle at SOAS, London University. May 2019 Lecture

The Islamic Art Circle at SOAS is delighted to announce that our May lecture will be given by Dr Ruba Kana’an, University of Oxford,  on Wednesday, 8^th May at 7.00 pm in the Khalili Lecture Theatre, L/G Phillips Building, SOAS, London University, WC1H 0XG – all welcome. Enquiries to Rosalind Wade Haddon: rw51@soas.ac.uk

 

Dr Kana’an’s topic is: Revisiting Baghdad: Mosques, Caliphs and the ‘Ulama

 

Her lecture will explore relationships between the historical narratives about Friday mosques in pre-Mongol Baghdad and legal discourses about Friday prayer. It revisits Jacob Lassner’s 1970 study of the Abbasid city where he translated and analyzed the topographical introduction to the multivolume work of the 11^th century historian al-Khatib al-Baghdadi (d. 1071), but departs from it by situating al-Baghdadi’s section on Friday mosques within the contemporaneous socio-religious context of the Abbasid city. The paper will demonstrate that the history of these mosques is intertwined with the formation of legal discourses on Friday prayer as exemplified by Abbasid period furu‘ literature. Furthermore, it will demonstrate that the legal discourses on Friday prayer that evolved predominantly in Abbasid Baghdad continued to influence the establishment of Friday mosques and shaping the urban growth of medieval cities.

 

The Bahari Foundation Lectures on Art and Culture of Iran. The Courtauld Institute of Art, University of London

Thursday 9 May 2019, 6:00 pm – 7:00 pm

Lecture Theatre 1, The Courtauld Institute of Art, Vernon Square, Penton Rise, King’s Cross, London, WC1X 9EW

 

Dr Kana’an’s topic is: The Shah and the ‘Ulama: A Tale of Two Mosques in Safavid Isfahan 

Safavid art of the sixteenth century is celebrated for its exceptional painted manuscripts and the monumental architectural patronage of its dynastic shrines. Yet the same period did not produce a single Safavid Friday mosque. This paper explores relationships between the historical narratives about the architectural patronage of Safavid Friday mosques and the legal discourses about Friday prayer. It examines views penned by Shi‘a ulama in the sixteenth century about the performance of Friday prayer during the occultation of the Imam (ghayba), and the impact of these debates on the architectural patronage of Isfahan’s two Friday mosques: the Great Mosque of Isfahan and the Shah’s Mosque begun under Shah Abbas 1^st in 1611. Theoretically, the paper takes a comparative approach to the patronage of Friday mosques. It situates Safavid architectural patronage within a comparative framework with similar debates that took place amongst Sunni legal scholars and shaped the monumental architecture of cities like Baghdad, Cairo, and Istanbul.

https://courtauld.ac.uk/event/the-shah-and-the-ulama-a-tale-of-two-mosques-in-safavid-isfahan

 

 

 

 

4. IN QUEST OF IDENTITY. STUDIES ON THE PERSIANATE WORLD:

Mirosława Michalaka Magdaleny Rodziewicz, eds.
ISBN: 978-83-8002-328-4
Publisher: Academic Publishing House DIALOG , Warsaw
Date Of Publication: 2015

 

Introduction
The Role of the King of Kings: An Interpretation in Historiography – Dariush Borbor
Kasravi – Was He Truly the Integrative Nationalist of Iran? – Stanisław A. Jaśkowski
A Glance at New Persian Translations of the Middle Persian Texts – Mateusz M. Kłagisz
Who is a Madame? – Anna Krasnowolska
A Lost Identity: Iranians as Seafarers and Explorers – Mirosław Michalak
The National Identity of Iranian Jews, As Manifested in their Intellectual & Judeo-Persian Contributions – Nahid Pirnazar
Blasphemers or Mystics? Reflection over the Nature of Revelation in Contemporary Iran – Magdalena Rodziewicz
Indigenous versus International? The Role of “Preislamic” Identity and Shici Islam in the Clashes of the Bāwandid Kingdom with the Nizārī Ismācīlīs in Northern Iran – Miklós Sárközy
Razi’s Egalitarian Idea – Reza Shomali
Rūmī, Balkhī, Mevlevī: The Ambiguities of Identity in the Poetry of Jalāl al-Dīn Muh.ammad (1207-1272 CE) – Rafal Stepien
How the Characters Speak for Themselves: Colloquial Language as a Mean of Expressing Identity in Čerāqhā rā man xāmuš mikonam, a Novel by Zoyā Pirzād – Katarzyna Wąsala
List of Contributors
Index

 

 

 

5. Apply now to the E.J W Gibb Scholarships 2019-20 (http://www.gibbtrust.org/scholarships/)

The Gibb Memorial Trust offers two annual scholarships to students studying at British Universities who are undertaking doctoral research in the field of the Trust’s activities.

The Gibb Memorial Trust’s Centenary Scholarship of up to £2,000 is available to postgraduate students at an advanced stage of their doctoral research in any area of Middle Eastern Studies (7th century to 1918) at a British university.

Centenary Scholarship application form & past recipients

The A. H. Morton Memorial Scholarship for Doctoral Research in Classical Persian Studies is for a maximum of £3,000 and can be applied to any year of a course of doctoral study at a British university, including for an approved period of study abroad.

H. Morton Scholarship application form & past recipients 

Applications must be submitted by 30 April. It is the applicant’s responsibility to contact two referees and to ask them to send references direct to me.

 

The making of a transnational religion: Alevi movement in Germany and the World Alevi union

The literature on migrants’ religious movements generally see them as backward and conservative movements that are resistant to change. On the contrary, this paper shows that transnational religious movements are shaped by interactions between origin and destination places’ political, legal and social structures, and may take different pathways across time and place.

Bahraini Court Revokes 138 Individuals of their Citizenship and Sentences 69 to Life in a Mass Trial

16 April 2019 – Today, Bahrain’s Fourth High Criminal Court handed prison sentences ranging from three years to life imprisonment to 139 Bahraini nationals, of whom 138 were revoked of their citizenship and 69 were sentenced to life over terrorism-related charges, the Public Prosecution revealed. 30 defendants were acquitted.

For BIRD Issue 232, click here.
For BIRD Issue 233, click here.
For ADHRB Newsletter 295, click here.

Special issue of Studies in Ethnicity and Nationalism (19/1, April, 2019) on the ‘Nexus between Sectarianism and Regime Formation in a New Middle East’.

Edited by Morten Valbjørn and Raymond Hinnebusch

This special issue of Studies in Ethnicity and Nationalism (vol 19,1) explores the nexus between sectarianism and regime formation in a ‘new Middle East.’

More specifically, it examines a) how sectarianism impacts on the trajectories of different types of regime over time (with the main – but not exclusive – focus being on their location along the authoritarian/democratic continuum), b) whether different kinds of regime dilute or inflame sectarian identities and animosities, c) whether the study of regime formation in a sectarian context requires distinct analytical tools, or whether we can stick to the already existing approaches from the (post)democratization tradition.

All articles of the special issues examine how sectarianism and regime formation/type might be inter-related, though in different ways: they cover different regime types (authoritarian republics, monarchies, and semi-democracies), both Shia- and Sunni-majority countries, countries with and without a Shia/Sunni schism at home, and geographical areas ranging from the Gulf to the Levant, and in addition to these intra-regional comparisons the Middle East is moreover compared with other regions. The studies also differ in their methodology, ranging from a large-N study to comparative snapshots of similar dynamics in several country cases in order to test and demonstrate issues such as the relative power of sectarianism, and longitudinal case studies showing the interaction of sectarian configurations and regime change over time.

The special issue is linked to the interdisciplinary research project SWAR: Sectarianism in the Wake of the Arab Revolts at Aarhus University (www.ps.au.dk/swar).

Morten Valbjørn and Raymond Hinnebusch Exploring the Nexus between Sectarianism and Regime Formation in a New Middle East: Theoretical Points of Departure

Lasse Lykke Rørbæk Religion, Political Power, and the ‘Sectarian Surge’: Middle Eastern Identity Politics in Comparative Perspective

Raymond Hinnebusch Sectarianism and Governance in Syria

Adham Saouli Sectarianism and Political Order in Iraq and Lebanon

Courtney Freer The Symbiosis of Sectarianism, Authoritarianism, and Rentierism in the Saudi State

Hasan Hafidh and Thomas Fibiger Civic Space and Sectarianism in the Gulf States: The Dynamics of Informal Civil Society in Kuwait and Bahrain beyond State Institutions

Morten Valbjørn What’s so Sectarian about Sectarian Politics? Identity Politics and Authoritarianism in a New Middle East

At least 20 killed in market blast in Pakistani city of Quetta

At least 20 people were killed in the Pakistani city of Quetta on Friday, after a bomb blast ripped through a fruit market.

See also al-Jazeera.
See also BBC.