Categories : News

https://x.com/NABEELRAJAB/status/2053075873994256620

Bahrain makes rare arrest after AP report

Steve authored such works as
Astronomy and astrology in the Islamic world (2016)
Time in early modern Islam : calendar, ceremony, and chronology in the Safavid, Mughal, and Ottoman empires (2013)
Half the world : the social architecture of Safavid Isfahan, 1590-1722 (1999)
Shahjahanabad : the sovereign city in Mughal India, 1639- 1739 (1993)

and, as your moderator, was an alumnus of Dartmouth College.

See also:
https://www.aljazeera.com/video/newsfeed/2026/2/6/dozens-killed-in-suicide-bomb-attack-at-pakistan-mosque

On ISIL’s involvement, see

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/2/6/explosion-rocks-mosque-in-pakistans-islamabad

Hikmat International Institute:

‘It is with deep sorrow that we received the news of the passing of Dr. Abdulaziz Sachedina [3 December, 2025]. We extend our heartfelt condolences to his family, students, and all those whose lives were touched by his scholarship and character. May God grant him forgiveness, mercy, and everlasting peace.
Dr. Sachedina was a distinguished scholar whose contributions to Islamic thought—particularly in Shi‘i theology—continue to influence and inspire. We at the Hikmat International Institute were honored to host him as an instructor during our 2021 International Intensive Academic Course on Shi‘i Studies, where he delivered an insightful and memorable session on “Doctrine of Imam Mahdi and the Occultation.”
In honor of his legacy, and so that students, researchers, and all those interested in academic Islamic studies may benefit from his work, we are making this session available to the public. The lecture can now be viewed on the official YouTube channel of the Hikmat International Institute.’
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HABa778NB3U

See also: https://x.com/themaydan/status/1996370470091018395

See also:
‘Saudi MBS Kissing up to Anti-Christian Extremists’ – The Institute for Gulf Affairs

The HIAA (Historians of Islamic Art Association) Board is extremely sad to announce that Sheila Canby, former HIAA President 2014-2016, has passed away. Our thoughts are with her friends, family, and loved ones. Please see her obituary below, provided by her colleagues at the Department of Islamic Art, The Metropolitan Museum of Art:

The Department of Islamic Art at The Metropolitan Museum of Art mourns the loss of Sheila Canby, Curator Emerita and former Curator in Charge of the Department from 2009 to 2019. She was a scholar in the field of Persian art and culture, with a vibrant career as a museum professional. She received her BA from Vassar College and her MA and PhD from Harvard University.

Before joining The Met, Sheila Canby was Curator of Islamic Art and Antiquities at the British Museum and held curatorial and research positions at the Brooklyn Museum, Los Angeles County Museum, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Fogg Art Museum and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

Her research and contributions to the field of Safavid art have left an enduring legacy. Throughout the course of her career Dr. Canby organized dozens of exhibitions and installations and authored numerous articles, encyclopedia entries, reviews and books. Her exhibitions and publications include: Princes, Poets and Paladins: Islamic and Indian Paintings from Collection of Prince and Princess Sadruddin Aga Khan (1998); Rebellious Reformer: The Paintings and Drawings of Riza-yi Abbasi of Isfahan (1999); The Golden Age of Persian Art (1999); Islamic Art in Detail (2005), Shah Abbas: The Remaking of Iran (2009); The Shahnama of Shah Tahmasp: The Persian Book of Kings (2011); Hunt for Paradise; Court Arts of Safavid Iran,1501-1576 (2003), Court and Cosmos: The Great Age of the Seljuqs (2016) and Masterpieces of Islamic Art from the Farjam Collection (2024).

In 2012 Sheila Canby won the Farabi book award for The Golden Age of Persian Art. She served on the Board of the American Institute of Iranian Studies, on the Cultural Committee of Asia House in London, on the Council of the British Institute of Persian Studies, the Society for Iranian Studies, as well as on the Advisory Council of the Department of Near Eastern Studies at Princeton University, and she was also a fellow of the Royal Asiatic Society,

The Department of Islamic Art

The Metropolitan Museum of Art