Categories : Field-specific (academic)

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

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Conference Call for Papers: Historicizing the Shiʿi hadith Corpus

Hosted by Leiden University Centre for Islam and Society (LUCIS) and Shiʿi Studies Unit, The Institute of Ismaili Studies, London (IIS)

Date: June 24-26 2020

Location: Leiden University, the Netherlands

Convenors: Hassan Ansari, Edmund Hayes, Gurdofarid Miskinzoda

Abstract deadline: January 31st 2020

This conference will focus on the processes which led to the early production, evolution, dissemination and canonisation of a set of distinctively Shiʿi hadith corpora. These corpora are both clearly linked to the greater project of hadith in Islam, but they also follow certain, understudied processes specific to the Shiʿi communities. In the conference, both the specificities of the various Shiʿi hadith corpora (Twelver, Zaydi, Ismaili, Nuṣayri, and so on) will be addressed, as well as their links and cleavages with hadith corpora preserved by other Muslim traditions. The focus of this conference will be the period in which the Shiʿi hadith corpora were initially formed and canonized, and therefore will aim at contributions dealing with the years roughly 700-1250 CE, however extensions to this period will be accepted if the case demands it.

This conference will bring together scholars working on the formation and canonisation of Shiʿi hadith, to summarise progress, and sketch out future directions and lacunae. The aim of the conference is to produce a landmark publication for the study of Shiʿi hadith, to be published as part of the Institute of Ismaili Studies’ Shiʿi Heritage Series, and all participants will be expected to submit their papers for consideration in the resulting volume.

Participants in the conference will be asked to present original research which illuminates and reflects upon the key sub-fields of the study of Shiʿi hadith, including particular figures, geographical schools, texts, social contexts, topics and methods. Thus, even if contributions are on a narrowly focused topic, it is essential they address the larger questions and framework of the conference, indicating how their work relates to work that has been done in the larger field, and how it fills a gap or strengthens a direction of research which will be salutary to the field. Contributions might address the following areas for the formative period of the Imami, Ismaili, Zaydi or other Shiʿi traditions:

· Definitions of hadith and hadith studies (comparing Imami, Ismaili, Zaydi perspectives)

· Genres and terms, such as hadith, khabar/akhbār), aṣl, kitāb, muṣannaf, jāmiʿ, masāʾil, nawādir

· Authenticity, dating, transmission history

· Manuscripts of Shiʿi hadith works

· Dealing with particular Imams and the bodies of hadith ascribed to them

· Mechanisms of production, dissemination and circulation of hadith during the lifetime of the Imams and thereafter

· Hadith relating to a particular event, such as the Occultation or the rise of the Fatimids

· Hadith in a particular era of production and compilation, such as the Buyid or Seljuk eras

· Hadith in a particular location, such as Qum or Qayrawan

· Post-classical hadith compilations

· Particular hadith compilers and their works, such as Qāḍī Nuʿmān or Ibn Babawayh

· Hadith of Nusayris, Druze or “ghulāt”

· Hadith and history writing

· Hadith and law

· Hadith and theology, philosophy or mysticism

· Hadith and ethics, piety, practice, liturgy (prayer, ziyāra, etc.)

· Exegetical hadith/ hadith in exegesis

· Apocalyptic hadith

· Science, medicine and magic

· Hadith, adab and poetry

· Hadith and heresiography

· Bio-bibliographical literature (rijāl and fihrist)

· Hadith criticism and commentary

· Isnād criticism

Details

Please send an abstract of around 300 words to e.p.hayes@hum.leidenuniv.nl by January 31st 2020.

Draft papers should be pre-circulated 1 month before the conference.

Final chapters should be submitted for the edited volume by January 31st 2021.

Subsidies for travel and accommodation will be available.

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