The Making of a Marjaʿ: Sīstānī and Shiʿi Religious Authority in the Contemporary Age ” Brill Online

Anyone considering the question of religious authority among the contemporary Shiʿa not least in Iraq will recognize the paramount significance of Ayatollah Sīstānī, described as the most important marjaʿ in the world.

Muslim Cultures in the Indian Ocean

Explore the diversity of Muslim cultures prevalent in the Indian Ocean region where, historically, Muslims have interacted for centuries.

Israel adopts abandoned Saudi sectarian logic

Amid ever closer cooperation with Saudi Arabia, Israel’s military appears to be adopting the kind of sectarian anti-Shiite rhetoric that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is abandoning as part of a bid to develop a national rather than a religious ethos and promote his yet to be defined form of moderate Islam.

Saudi effort to isolate Iran internationally produces results

Saudi efforts to isolate Iran internationally are producing results in North Africa and Central Asia. Authorities and religious leaders in Tajikistan and Algeria have in recent weeks accused Iran of subversive activity and propagating Shiism while Morocco last month announced that it was breaking off diplomatic relations with the Islamic republic.

Some Aspects of Conversion Narratives in Late Safavid Iran and their Circulation: The Case of ʿAlī Akbar Armanī : Eurasian Studies

This study focuses on a conversion narrative from the late Safavid period, the Iʿtirāf-nāma, written by an Armenian merchant known after his conversion as ʿAlī Akbar Armanī. The study addresses questions on the transmission of texts, the conventions of the genre of convert literature, and the socialization of converts into Muslim scholarly families.

Mahathir’s reforms could put Saudi Arabia and the UAE on the spot

Newly elected Malaysian Prime Minister Mohammed Mahathir is adopting policies that could reshape the Southeast nation’s relations with powerful Gulf states. A series of anti-corruption measures as well as statements by Mr. Mahathir and his defense minister, Mohamad (Mat) Sabu, since this month’s upset in elections that ousted Prime Minister Najib Razak from office, are sparking concern in both Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

The story of Pakistan’s ‘disappeared’ Shias

CCTV images from a local mosque show 30-year-old Naeem Haider being led away in handcuffs by more than a dozen armed men. Some have their faces covered with masks, others are in police uniform. It was the night of 16 November 2016. Mr Haider has not been seen since.

زمینه‌های تبلیغاتی تأسیس دولت‌های سادات در شمال ایران در قرن نهم

پیدایش دولت‌های مرعشیان، آل‌کیا و آل‌عماد و بعد از آن تاسیس دولت صفوی که آن هم ادامه آنها و بر پایه نوعی انقلاب-سیادت بود، نیاز به زمینه‌های تبلیغاتی فراوانی در ایران مرکزی، شمال ایران و خراسان داشت. بخشی از این تبلیغات، در کتاب‌های انساب و عمدتاً بر محور بحرالانساب شکل گرفت.

Ismaili of Central Asia – Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Asian History

The Ismailis are one of the largest Muslim minority populations of Central Asia, and they make up the second largest Shiʿi Muslim community globally. First emerging in the second half of the 8th century, the Ismaili missionary movement spread into many areas of the Islamic world in the 10th century, under the leadership of the Ismaili Fatimids caliphs in Egypt.

Impostors, Antinomians and Pseudo-Sufis: Cataloguing the Miscreants | Journal of Islamic Studies | Oxford Academic

From the fourth/tenth century onwards, numerous Sufi authors found it necessary to identify groups they regarded as inauthentic, as false claimants to the Sufism they claimed to espouse. Particularly energetic in this regard was Ghazālī; in a treatise denouncing them together with other antinomians, he called for their eradication.