Categories : Field-specific (academic)

Approaches to the Qur’an in Contemporary Iran

Approaches to the Qur’an in Contemporary Iran explores the importance of the Qur’an in the religious, artistic, political, and intellectual discourses in modern and contemporary Iran from the nineteenth century to the present. The chapters included in the volume have been written by some of the most authoritative specialists in the modern history of Iran.

The solitude of the Orphan: Ǧābir b. Ḥayyān and the Shiite heterodox milieu of the third/ninth-fourth/tenth centuries | Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies | Cambridge Core

The community of Shiite alchemists gathered under the pen name of Ǧābir b. Ḥayyān produced an important corpus first studied by Paul Kraus, who dated it between the third/ninth and fourth/tenth centuries. The religious, doctrinal and political issues of the corpus – especially in the last two collections – show that the Ǧābireans were a real sectarian trend unknown to heresiographers.

A Pioneering Workshop on Legal Maxims

By Kumail Rajani Al-qawāʿid al-fiqhiyya – Islamic legal maxims – have received limited attention in the plethora of works on Islamic law and legal theory published in the last two to three decades. With the aim of further advancing the study of Islamic legal maxims, the Exeter-based LAWALISI (LAW, Authority and Learning in Imami Shiʿite Islam)…

For more information on the LAWALISI project, see here.

Transnational Shi’ism in Southern China and the Party-state’s “Hawza” Diplomacy

This article seeks to transcend the Sunni-centered narratives that often inform the discussions on Islamicate interactions with China. Following a cursory historical view of Shi’ism’s influences on Chinese expressions of Islam, the article presents a rough sketch of the contemporary transnational Shi’ite communities that have emerged over the past few decades in southern China, most notably those of Guangzhou (Guangdong) and Yiwu (Zhejiang).

Sovereignty, Legitimacy and Authority in Twelver Shia Islam: Clerics and the State, Past and Present

10-11 September 2020

A University of Birmingham Conference at the Leibniz-Zentrum Moderner Orient (ZMO) Berlin

The question of what constitutes legitimate authority – both religious and secular – has been a core theological concern of Twelver Shia Islam. Emerging with the question of the succession of the Prophet Muhammad, Twelver Shia theological discourse invested sole sovereignty and legitimate authority with the Imams, the male members of the ahl al-bayt, designated to lead the Muslim community. The occultation (ghayba) of the Twelfth Imam led to the emergence of the notion of the collective deputyship (al-niyaba al-‘amma) of the learned class within Twelver Shia Islam, the ‘ulama’, who assume some of the prerogatives of the Imam. From the period, Twelver Shia clerical authorities had to address the question to what extent secular political authority is legitimate and how to relate to it.

With the establishment of the first Twelver Shia state in Iran in the 16th century, clerics had to define their relationship to the Safavid dynasty and the extent of their support for it. During the Qajar period in 19th century Iran, Twelver Shia clerics assumed a more pro-active political role, considering themselves as mediators between the ruler and the people. The rise of the modern nation-state in the Middle East in the early 20th century led to debates around the role of the clergy in the state and the nature of an Islamic state. While Khomeini’s understanding of the “guardianship of the jurisconsult” (wilayat al-faqih) has been the most prominent and influential intervention, other models of clergy-state relations, that have emerged, do not advocate direct clerical involvement in the affairs of the government. Clerical figures nevertheless play a central role in Shia Islamist parties, networks and movements across the Middle East and South Asia, remaining thereby important political actors in the context of weak or failed nation-states, ripped by sectarian divisions, civil conflict and corruption.

This conference invites papers on the topic of clergy-state relations in Twelver Shia Islam, from the post-ghayba period (ca. 941 CE) to the present. Placing clergy-state relations in the context of Twelver Shia discourses on sovereignty, legitimacy and authority, the conference seeks to investigate clerical positions towards secular authority and power in different historical periods. While the focus of the conference will be the Middle East, it intends to adopt a wider geographical perspective with contributions welcome on similar debates in South Asia and other parts of world where Shia clerics were or have become influential political actors.

Papers can address – but are not restricted to – the following issues:

– definitions of sovereignty in Twelver Shia theological and jurisprudential discourse
– conceptions of legitimate political authority in Twelver Shia Islam
– approaches and conceptions of clerical authority and its relation to secular power in Twelver Shia Islam
– case studies of clergy-state relations from past and present
– binary between clerical quietism and activism and its validity and relevance
– clerical responses to the rise of the modern nation-state
– role and position of Twelver Shia seminaries (hawza) in the context of the modern nation-state
– conceptions of an Islamic state in modern and contemporary Twelver Shia discourse
– role of clerical leadership in modern and contemporary Twelver Shia political movements
– transnational and diasporic reach of clerical movements and networks
– mediatisation of clerical authority as actors within the state and transnationally

Confirmed keynote speakers:

Prof Andrew J. Newman (University of Edinburgh)
Prof Rula Abisaab (McGill University)

The deadline for abstract submission is 15 March 2020. Abstracts of up to 300 words and a short bio of (up to 200 words) should be sent in MS Word format as an email attachment to alterumma@bham.ac.uk. For enquiries about the conference, contact Prof Oliver Scharbrodt (o.scharbrodt@bham.ac.uk).

The conference is part of the Alterumma project, funded by the European Research Council and hosted at the University of Birmingham. The conference will take place at the Leibniz-Zentrum Moderner Orient (ZMO) in Berlin.

A number of travel bursaries are available for conference presenters. Enquiries should be made to Prof Oliver Scharbrodt.

Timeline:

Deadline for abstract submission: 15 March 2020

Notification of acceptance: 3 April 2020

Dates of the conference: 10-11 September 2020

Call for Papers: “The Regulation of Purity (Ṭahāra) and Impurity (Najāsāt) in Islam: Practical, Socio-Ethical and Theological Implications” – Al-Mahdi Institute

The 8th Annual Contemporary Fiqhī Issues Workshop, at the Al-Mahdi Institute, seeks to provide a forum for considering the regulations of im/purity (ṭahāra and najāsā) in Islam, in light of their wide-reaching practical, socio-ethical and theological implications. The practical importance …

The ‘Merits of Isfahan’ from Arabic into Persian | Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society | Cambridge Core

References to RMI in this article are to . Since the manuscript from which Ṭihrānī worked is dated 735/1334-5 (Editor’s Introduction, [ bāʾ]), I take the published edition of RMI to represent a reasonable facsimile of the text available to Āvī in 729/1328-9.

Now enrolling for February 2020 – Apply Now!

Starting from 24th February 2020, we’re offering a range of entry-level courses available to study both on-campus and by distance learning anywhere in the world! Check out the courses on offer below…

The Rehabilitation of ʿAlī in Sunnī Ḥadīth and Historiography | Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society | Cambridge Core

After the Prophet Muhammad, the most contested figure in Islamic history would be his son-in-law, ʿAlī b. Abī Ṭālib. ʿAlī’s political rivals staunchly denounced him, his family and his partisans as impious criminals in his own lifetime and after his death.

Afghanistan’s Islam: From Conversion to the Taliban

The book provides the first overview of the history and development of Islam in Afghanistan. Written by leading international experts, chapters cover every era from the conversion of Afghanistan through the medieval period to the present day. Based