Hermann Landolt is a Swiss scholar of Iranian and Islamic philosophy and emeritus professor of Islamic thought at McGill University in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. [1]
Born in 1935 in Basel, Switzerland, Hermann Landolt studied at Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes in Sorbonne, Paris under prominent Islamicist Henry Corbin and obtained a PhD from the University of Basel under the supervision of Alfred Bühler and Fritz Meier. In 1960, Landolt visited Iran and had grown an intense interest in Iranian life and culture. Upon recommendation of Henry Corbin, he was invited to Canada in 1964 and was appointed a 'junior scholar' at McGill University. [2] Besides McGill, Landolt has also served as a research fellow at the Institute of Ismaili Studies and had been a guest professor at Sorbonne. [3]
Wilferd Ferdinand Madelung FBA was a German author and scholar of Islamic history widely recognised for his contributions to the fields of Islamic and Iranian studies. He was appreciated in Iran for his "knowledgeable and fair" treatment of the Shia perspective. In the obituary of the Institute of Ismaili Studies (London) where Madelung worked his last years, it reads: "With particular reference to religious schools and movements in early Islam, his studies, based on a vast array of primary sources, have enriched the discipline’s understanding of almost every major Muslim movement and community – not only early Imami Shi‘ism and the later developments of Twelver, Ismaili and Zaydi Islam but also the lesser known aspects of Sunni, Khariji and the Mu‘tazili schools of theology and philosophy."
Henry Corbin was a French philosopher, theologian, and Iranologist, professor of Islamic studies at the École pratique des hautes études. He was influential in extending the modern study of traditional Islamic philosophy from early falsafa to later and "mystical" figures such as Suhrawardi, Ibn Arabi, and Mulla Sadra Shirazi. With works such as Histoire de la philosophie islamique (1964), he challenged the common European view that philosophy in the Islamic world declined after Averroes and Avicenna.
Iranian philosophy or Persian philosophy can be traced back as far as to Old Iranian philosophical traditions and thoughts which originated in ancient Indo-Iranian roots and were considerably influenced by Zarathustra's teachings. According to the Oxford Dictionary of Philosophy, the chronology of the subject and science of philosophy starts with the Indo-Iranians, dating this event to 1500 BC. The Oxford dictionary also states, "Zarathustra's philosophy entered to influence Western tradition through Judaism, and therefore on Middle Platonism."
William Clark Chittick is an American philosopher, writer, translator, and interpreter of classical Islamic philosophical and mystical texts. He is best known for his work on Rumi and Ibn 'Arabi, and has written extensively on the school of Ibn 'Arabi, Islamic philosophy, and Islamic cosmology. He is a Distinguished Professor in the Department of Asian and Asian American Studies at Stony Brook University.
Abu Ya'qub Ishaq ibn Ahmad al-Sijistani or al-Sijzi (السجزي) was a 10th-century Persian Ismaili missionary active in the northern and eastern Iranian lands. His life is obscure, but he was a prolific writer, who played a crucial role in the infusion of Neoplatonic ideas into Isma'ili theology.
Chilla, also known as Chilla-nashini, is a spiritual practice of penance and solitude in Sufism known mostly in Indian and Persian traditions. In this ritual a mendicant or ascetic attempts to remain seated in a circle practicing meditation techniques without food for 40 days and nights in imitation of the Arba'een.
Tāj al-Dīn Abū al-Fath Muhammad ibn `Abd al-Karīm ash-Shahrastānī, also known as Muhammad al-Shahrastānī, was an influential Persian historian of religions, a historiographer, Islamic scholar, philosopher and theologian. His book, Kitab al–Milal wa al-Nihal was one of the pioneers in developing an objective and philosophical approach to the study of religions.
Mir Sayyid Ali Hamadani was a Sufi Muslim saint of the Kubrawiya order, who played an important role in spread of Islam in Kashmir. He was born in Hamadan, Iran and preached Islam in Central Asia and Kashmir. He died in Swat on his way from Srinagar to Mecca and was buried in Khatlan, Tajikistan in 1385 CE, aged 71–72. Hamadani was also addressed honorifically throughout his life as the Shāh-e-Hamadān, Amīr-i Kabīr, and Ali Sani.
Ginans are devotional hymns or poems recited by Shia Ismaili Muslims.
Sajida S. Alvi is an academic of Pakistani origin in Canada. She is a historian of Islam in South Asia and was the inaugural appointment to the chair in Urdu Language and Culture at the Institute of Islamic Studies from September 1987 until her retirement in June 2010.
Bāṭin or baten literally means "inner", "inward", "hidden", etc. The Quran, for instance, has a hidden meaning in contrast to its exterior or apparent meaning, the zahir (zaher). Sufis believe that every individual has a batin in the world of souls. It is the inward self of the individual; when cleansed with the light of one's spiritual guide, it elevates a person spiritually. This notion is connected to Allah's attribute of the Hidden One, who cannot be seen but exists in every realm.
Mehdi Mohaghegh, sometimes transliterated Mahdi Muhaqqiq, is an Iranian scholar specializing in Persian literature, Islamic studies and philosophy.
The McGill University Institute of Islamic Studies and the Islamic Studies Library were established in 1952 by Wilfred Cantwell Smith, and since 1983 both have been housed in Morrice Hall on McGill's campus in downtown Montreal, Quebec. McGill's institute is the first institute of Islamic studies in North America and hosts 14 full-time professors, 5 visiting positions and 5 professors emeritus.
Reza Shah-Kazemi is an author who specializes in comparative mysticism, Islamic Studies, Sufism and Shi'ism. He is the founding editor of the Islamic World Report and currently a research associate at the Institute of Ismaili Studies with the Department of Academic Research and Publications. He received degrees in International Relations and Politics at Sussex and Exeter University, before receiving his doctorate in Comparative Religion from the University of Kent in 1994. He later acted as a consultant to the Institute for Policy Research in Kuala Lumpur.
Farhad Daftary is a Belgian-born Iranian-British Islamic scholar who is co-director and head of the Department of Academic Research and Publications at the Institute of Ismaili Studies in London. He is related to the Aga Khan IV.
Leonard Lewisohn was an American author, translator and lecturer in the area of Islamic studies and a specialist in Persian language and Sufi literature. He was the editor of Mawlana Rumi Review, a publication of the Rumi Institute and Archetype, Cambridge, published once a year. He was a member of the Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies in University of Exeter.
Reshun is a village located on the left bank of Kunar River, in Upper Chitral District of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan.
Knowledge by presence or consciousness is a degree and kind of primordial knowledge in the Illuminationist school of Islamic philosophy. This knowledge is also called the illuminative doctrine of knowledge by presence or al-ilm al-huduri al-ishraqi. This theory is attributed to Shahab al-Din Suhrawardi. According to this theory self knows himself directly through a kind of cognition.
Todd Lawson is an Emeritus Professor of Islamic thought at the University of Toronto.