Shafique N. Virani is Distinguished Professor of Islamic Studies at the Institute of Islamic Studies, University of Toronto. [1] Having earned a master's degree in Islamic Studies from McGill University and a PhD from Harvard University, he has also served as faculty at Harvard University and Zayed University. [2] [3]
He has won several international awards, such as the 2001 Dissertation Award from the Foundation for Iranian Studies, [4] the 2008 British-Kuwait Friendship Society Book Prize (for his The Ismailis in the Middle Ages), [5] and the Farabi International Award (granted annually by the Iranian Ministry of Science). [6]
In 2014, the American Academy of Religion named Virani the recipient of its Excellence in Teaching Award. [7]
In Islam, Taqiyya is a precautionary dissimulation or denial of religious belief and practice. Generally, taqiyya is the action of committing a sinful act for a pious goal.
Shah Karim al-Husayni, is the 49th and current Imam of Nizari Ismailis. He has held the position of Imam and the title of Aga Khan since 11 July, 1957, when, at the age of 20, he succeeded his grandfather, Sir Sultan Muhammad Shah Aga Khan III. The Aga Khan claims direct lineal descent from the Islamic prophet Muhammad through Muhammad's cousin and son-in-law, Ali, who is considered an Imam by Nizari Ismailis, and Ali's wife Fatima, Muhammad's daughter from his first marriage.
The Nezamiyeh or Nizamiyyah are a group of institutions of higher education established by Khwaja Nizam al-Mulk in the eleventh century in Iran. The name nizamiyyah derives from his name. Founded at the beginning of the Seljuk Empire, these Sunni Islam theological schools are considered to be the model of later Islamic universities, or schools.
Annemarie Schimmel was an influential German Orientalist and scholar who wrote extensively on Islam, especially Sufism. She was a professor at Harvard University from 1967 to 1992.
Nima Arkani-Hamed is an American-Canadian theoretical physicist of Iranian descent, with interests in high-energy physics, quantum field theory, string theory, cosmology and collider physics. Arkani-Hamed is a member of the permanent faculty at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey. He is also director of the Carl P. Feinberg Cross-Disciplinary Program in Innovation at the Institute and director of The Center for Future High Energy Physics (CFHEP) in Beijing, China.
The Jaʿfarī school, also known as the Jafarite school, Jaʿfarī fiqh or Ja'fari jurisprudence, is a prominent school of jurisprudence (fiqh) within Twelver and Ismaili Shia Islam, named after the sixth Imam, Ja'far al-Sadiq. In Iran, Jaʽfari jurisprudence is enshrined in the constitution, shaping various aspects of governance, legislation, and judiciary in the country.
Roy Parviz Mottahedeh is an American historian who is Gurney Professor of History, Emeritus at Harvard University, where he taught courses on the pre-modern social and intellectual history of the Islamic Middle East and is an expert on Iranian culture. Mottahedeh served as the director of Harvard's Center for Middle Eastern Studies from 1987 to 1990, and as the inaugural director of the Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Islamic Studies Program at Harvard University from 2005 to 2011. He is a follower of the Baha'i faith.
Caroline Walker Bynum, FBA is a Medieval scholar from the United States. She is a University Professor emerita at Columbia University and Professor emerita of Western Medieval History at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey. She was the first woman to be appointed University Professor at Columbia. She is former Dean of Columbia's School of General Studies, served as president of the American Historical Association in 1996, and President of the Medieval Academy of America in 1997–1998.
Ginans are devotional hymns or poems recited by Shia Ismaili Muslims.
Ali Sultaan Asani is a Kenyan-American academic. He is Murray A. Albertson Professor of Middle Eastern Studies and Professor of Indo-Muslim and Islamic Religion and Cultures at Harvard University. He has served as Director of Prince Alwaleed bin Talal Islamic Studies Program at Harvard University as well as the Chair of the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations.
Ẓāhir or zaher is an Arabic term in some tafsir for what is external and manifest. Certain esoteric interpretations of Islam maintain that the Quran has an exoteric or apparent meaning, known as zahir, but also an underlying esoteric meaning, known as batin (baten), which can be interpreted only by a figure of esoteric knowledge. For Shi'a Muslims, the Imam of Time alone can understand the esoteric meaning.
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.
Asma Afsaruddin is an American scholar of Islamic studies and Professor in the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures at Indiana University in Bloomington.
Jawid Mojaddedi is an Afghan researcher and professor.
Anjudan is a village in Amanabad Rural District, in the Central District of Arak County, Markazi Province, Iran. At the 2006 census, its population was 446, in 154 families. it situated near the major Shi'i centres of Qumm and Kashan in Iran, to which the Nizari Ismaili Imamate was transferred during the late 14th century CE. Owing to the village’s name, Nizari history between the 14th and 15th centuries is dubbed the “Anjudan period”.
The doctrine of the Imamate in Isma'ilism differs from that of the Twelvers because the Isma'ilis had living Imams for centuries after the last Twelver Imam went into concealment. They followed Isma'il ibn Ja'far, elder brother of Musa al-Kadhim, as the rightful Imam after his father, Ja'far al-Sadiq. The Ismailis believe that whether Imam Ismail did or did not die before Imam Ja'far, he had passed on the mantle of the imamate to his son Muhammad ibn Isma'il as the next imam.
Zayn R. Kassam is an American religious studies scholar known for her work on gender roles in Islam and Indian philosophy with 29 publications of her work as of July 2022. She was the chair of the religious studies department at Pomona College, and in January 2023, she began her term as director of the Institute of Ismaili Studies.
ʿAlī Shāh, known by the regnal name al-Mustanṣir Billāh II, was the 32nd imam of the Qasim-Shahi branch of the Nizari Isma'ili community. His reign initiated the Anjudan period of Nizari history, which was marked by a revival of Nizari teachings.
ʿAbd al-Salām Shāh was the 33rd imam of the Qasim-Shahi branch of the Nizari Isma'ili community.