By James M. Dorsey

When President Recep Tayyip Erdogan recently declared that Turkey was “the only country that can lead the Muslim world ” he probably wasn’t only thinking of Middle Eastern and other Islamic states such as Pakistan and Bangladesh.

Increasingly, there is evidence that Indian Muslims, the Islamic world’s fourth largest community after Indonesia and the South Asian states, is on Mr. Erdogan’s radar.

Mr. Erdogan’s interest in Indian Muslims highlights the flip side of a shared Turkish and Indian experience: the rise of religious parties and leaders with a tendency towards authoritarianism in non-Western democracies that, according to Turkey and India scholar Sumantra Bose, calls into question their commitment to secularism.

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“Nahj al-Balaghah” is a collection of Amir al-Mu’minin Ali’s sermons, letters, and aphorisms. It is not only a precious work of hadiths and a set of constructive Islamic teachings but also one of the most important works concerning Arabic literature and a symbol of Arabic rhetoric. The book has since a long time ago been a focus of the attention of Muslim scholars. This is because of the special status of Nahj al-Balaghah as a symbol of the Tradition along with the Holy Quran and its comprehensiveness with regard to practical and applied doctrines in the lives of Muslims.

The significance of Nahj al-Balaghah motivated us in Nahj al-Balagha Research Center (Tehran, Iran) to assign the First International Book Prize for Nahj al-Balaghah in order to propagate the Alawi culture and lofty doctrines of the book more than ever. The Nahj al-Balaghah Foundation, the Book House, and the Deputy of the Quran and ‘Itrat of the Ministry of Islamic Culture and Guidance will play their role in this Prize as our partners.

Given that the prize is international, works concerning Nahj al-Balaghah or Imam Ali in any languages can be accepted. Scholars are invited to contribute with any works engaging Nahj al-Balaghah, including both traditional studies of topics and interdisciplinary studies, sciences of Nahj al-Balaghah such asdocuments, literature, rhetoric, commentaries and bibliography, textual studies of Nahj al-Balaghah including edits of manuscripts and translations.

Those interested can submit their works via the prize website by 31 December 2018: http://www.ibbnb.ir/en/home or contact atmoghri.a@gmail.com for any inquiries or questions.

Along with the Prize event, there will be a 2-day workshop on “Human and Social Relations in Shi’a Tradition” by Prof. Pakatchi. Those interested are welcome to apply.

The 8th Intensive Course on Shi’a Islamic Studies (Iran – 2019)

· Organized by the University of Religions and Denominations (Qom, Iran)
· Workshop: February 22-28, 2019
· Venue: Mashhad, Astan Quds Razavi
· Cultural Tour (Optional): Tehran, Isfahan, Qom
· Language: English
· Partial Scholarships are available
· Registration Deadline: 31 December 2018
· More Information: http://shiacourse.urd.ac.ir
· Contact: shiacourse@urd.ac.ir & iranstudytours@gmail.com