Categories : Field-specific (academic)

9 December 2024 – When does a group become a group? Remarks on the ‘birth’ of Shi’i Sufism, academic reification, and the issue of confessional identity
With Dr. Alessandro Cancian (Senior Research Associate at the Institute of Ismaili Studies)
13 January 2025 – Ismaili Cosmology : Nature and Religion
With Dr. Daryoush Mohammad Poor (Associate Professor and the Interim Head of the Constituency Studies Unit at the Institute of Ismaili Studies)
3 March 2025 – Reconstructing the Higher Thought of Muhammad b. ‘Abd al-Karīm al-Shahrastānī (d.548/1153): Eclecticism or Intellectual Synthesis?
With Dr. Toby Mayer (Senior Research Associate at the the Institute of Ismaili Studies)
11 April 2025 – Expressions of Islamic Syncretism in the Ismaili Traditions – The Case of the Nizari Ismailis of Central Asia
With Dr. Hakim Elnazarov (Head of the Central Asian Studies at the Institute of Ismaili Studies)

https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/banquet-of-the-brethren-an-ismaili-guide-to-spiritual-hermeneutics-9780755653928/

Zahra Institute:
Wednesday, 4 December, at 6 PM Central/ 7 PM Eastern Time.
Dr. Akihiko Yamaguchi will present, “Safavid Policy in the Kurdish Borderlands: A Comparative Study with Ottoman Kurdish Policies”.

Dr. Yamaguchi is a professor of Middle Eastern History at Sophia University in Tokyo. His research primarily focuses on the history of Iran from the 16th to early 20th centuries, with a special emphasis on minorities and peripheral regions.

Zoom: https://zoom.us/j/95861905448?pwd=GVhh6furcdhIwnCnqxdLlRrIVF26yD.1

See:
https://www.bloomsbury.com/us/early-nizari-ismailis-and-their-neighbouring-powers-9780755656677/

For further information:
https://islamic-college.ac.uk/publications/acss/cfp/

Lecture Title:
‘Who I was his master, ʿAlī is his master’: the Narrative Development of a Shīʿī Hadith and Its Transmitters in the Eighth Century.

Speaker:
Dr. I-Wen Su (Professor in Islamic Studies at Department of Arabic Language and Culture, National Chengchi University; https://arabic.nccu.edu.tw/PageStaffing/Detail?fid=6949&id=2472)

Chair:
Dr. Kazuo Morimoto (Professor in Islamic and Iranian History, Institute for Advanced Studies on Asia, University of Tokyo)

Date and Time:
December 4 (Wed), 2024, at 18:00-19:40 (JST)

Venue:
Conference Room No. 1, The Institute for Advanced Studies on Asia 3F, Hongo Campus, The University of Tokyo (東京大学東洋文化研究所3階、第一会議室), and online via Zoom.

Lecture Abstract:
This lecture addresses a Prophetic tradition, ‘Who I was his master, ʿAlī is his master’ (man kuntu mawlāhu fa-ʿAlī mawlāhu). This hadith is cited by Shīʿī and Sunnī Muslims alike to articulate ʿAlī’s exclusive legitimacy to rule or his privileged standing in the first Muslim community; however, its origins remain understudied. The lecturer will present the results of an analysis of this Prophetic hadith through the isnād-cum-matn method, which not only pinpoint the time of its circulation or creation, but also identify the key transmitters responsible for the circulation of its variants. The sectarian tendencies of the pivotal figures in the dissemination of this hadith as depicted in early Arabic biography also provide valuable insights which can help to navigate the ambiguous sectarian boundaries in early Islam.

How to Participate:
Pre-registration is required for online participants. Please fill in the form at https://tinyurl.com/yphprp2h, by Dec 1, at 24:00 JST.
In-person attendance does not require registration.

Contact Person: Naoki Nishiyama (nishiyama[at]ioc.u-tokyo.ac.jp)

This event is organized by the JSPS Kakenhi Project “ ‘Sunnis’ and ‘Shi’is’: Historical Inquiries into Confessional Identities and Mutual Perceptions” (23H00674) based at the Institute for Advanced Studies on Asia, University of Tokyo.

For zoom access please email Elvire.Corboz@ed.ac.uk.