CSI Monday Majlis: WHAT IS SHI’ISM? FACTIONALISM AND UNIVERSALISM IN ISLAMIC STUDIES

ORKHAN MIR-KASIMOV
WHAT IS SHI’ISM? FACTIONALISM AND UNIVERSALISM IN ISLAMIC STUDIES
Monday Majlis Online on the 28th of October, 17: 00-18:30 (UK time)
Centre for the Study of Islam, Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies, Exeter

Register please on this link:
https://Universityofexeter.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJMof-yrqz4oGNG05aS90Of_tKDtvwsYwkXB

 
Bio: Orkhan Mir-Kasimov (PhD Paris, 2007) is Associate Professor at The Institute of Ismaili Studies (IIS), London. Previously, he lectured at the Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes and the National Institute for Oriental Languages and Civilisations (INALCO) in Paris and worked at various research centres in France and Germany, including the Institute for Advanced Study of Nantes and the Free University of Berlin. His teaching and research focus on Islamic history, Shiʿi history and thought, and Islamic mysticism. He has published journal articles and book chapters on various aspects of Islamic mysticism and messianism, focusing on the late medieval and early modern periods. He has edited and co-edited several volumes and authored Words of Power: Hurufi Teachings between Shiʿism and Sufism in Medieval Islam (2015) and Christian Apocalyptic Texts in Islamic Messianic Discourse (2017). https://www.iis.ac.uk/our-people/units/shi-i-studies/orkhan-mir-kasimov/


Abstract: Existence of divisions, or “sects” in Islam is supported by Islamic doxographical literature and summarised in well-known hadith according to which Muslims will be divided into 73 sects, only one of which will attain salvation. To some extent, this “sectarian” approach is reflected in modern scholarship, where “Shi’i Studies”, “Sufi Studies”, etc. are sometimes defined as independent fields. In line with the question from its title, this talk will start with a discussion of definitions of “sects”: can we clearly define what Shi’ism is? What about the trends displaying some Shi’i features but not belonging to any known Shi’i denominations? Considering examples of reinterpretation and extension of some basic Shi’i concepts we will look for the links between “sectarian” and broader “universalist” visions of Islam and of Islamic Studies.

In the spirit of the label ‘Majlis’ and also to make the talks even more interesting, our speakers present the topic discussed as embedded in their own journey. You can watch the previous Majlises here https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL8YRkUahFj_81oJzCSDLTx4kVQQgeHLc-, but we don’t record the Q&A in order to keep the discussion free. Please come and enjoy the talks and the discussions : ) If you’d like to be included in the CSI (Centre for the Study of Islam, Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies, University of Exeter) mailing list, please write to me (I.T.Kristo-Nagy@ex.ac.uk).
We’ll be happy to welcome you!
István T Kristó-Nagy https://arabislamicstudies.exeter.ac.uk/staff/kristo-nagy/