Eighth Annual Conference 2023
Conference Highlights
Explore the full lineup of sessions
9:00 - 9:05 AM | Opening Remarks
Speaker: Dr. Mohammed Ali Ismail
Affiliation: Director of Research and Publications, The Islamic College, London, UK
9:05 – 9:45 | Keynote speech
Speaker: Andrew Newman
Affiliation: Personal Chair of Islamic Studies and Persian, University of Edinburgh, UK
Topic: ‘Digging for Subalterns: Safavid Ijāzāt as a Source on the “Periphery”’
9:45 – 10:45 | Session 1: Contemporary Shi‘i Thought
Chair: Mohammed Ali Ismail
Talk : 1
Speaker: Zain Alattar, University of California Berkeley, USA
Topic: Two Voices on Islamic Government: Ayatollah Khomeini and Shaykh Muḥammad Jawād Mughniyyah on the Structure and Duties of the Islamic State
Talk: 2
Speaker: Bahman Khodadadi , University of Münster, Germany
Topic: Shi‘i Jurisprudential Perception and the Rule of the Judge in the Crucible of the Modern State: Problems and Perspectives
Talk: 3
Topic: Tim Orr, Indiana University Purdue University Columbus, USA
Topic: Gender Justice in Islam: A Critique of Ziba Mir-Hosseini’s Humanistic Ethic of Social Justice by Using Shi‘i Epistemological Assumptions
10:45-11:00 Break
11:00 – 12:00 | Session 2: Philosophy and the intellect
Chair: Amir DeMartino
Talk: 1
Speaker: Saeid Sobhani, The Islamic College, London, UK
Topic: A Critical View on Sayyid Quṭb and the Status of Intellect (‘Aql)
Talk: 2
Speaker: Amina Inloes, (The Islamic College, London, UK),
Topic: Artificial Intelligence and Islamic Theology: An Interview with ChatGPT
Talk: 3
Speaker: Mehdi Ali, University of Southern California, USA
Topic: Before “After Virtue”: The Philosophy of Muḥammad Bāqir al-Ṣadr
12:00 – 13:00 | Session 3: Narrative studies
Chair: Amina Inloes
Talk: 1
Speaker: Rev Frank Gelli, Church of England
Topic: A Deconstruction of Two Popular Western Fictional Narratives about Imam al-Mahdi, Contrasted with a Positive Literary Alternative
Talk: 2
Speaker: Reza John Vedadi, Loughborough University London, UK
Topic: How has the Shia Muslim identity been represented in Hollywood films since 1986?
12:45-1:00 Student awards
1:00-2:00 Lunch
14:00 – 15:00 | Session 4: Writings
Chair: Hamid Tehrani
Talk: 1
Speaker: Mahdieh Tavakol, Freie Universität Berlin, Germany
Topic: Travelling Manuscripts: A History of the Personal Library of Shaykh Bahāʾī
Talk: 2
Speaker: Amir Mohammad and Hakimi Parsa , New York University, USA
Topic: Shi‘i Mysticism in the Turkish Divan of Shah Ismāʿīl Khaṭāʾī
Talk: 3
Speaker: Kasra Shiva, Independent researcher
Topic: The Rhetoric of Social Interdependency and Community Making: References to the Ikhwān al-Ṣafā in the Poetry of Nizārī Quhistānī Break
15:00 – 16:00 | Session 5: Regional studies
Chair: Amir Dastmalchian
Talk: 1
Speaker: Jaffer Mirza, King’s College London, UK
Topic: The Absence of British Shia Muslims in the Multicultural and Integration Literature
Talk: 2
Speaker: Sher Muhammad, University of Karachi, Pakistan
Topic: Shia in Sindh: Its Roots, History, and Special Link to Mysticism
Talk: 3
Speaker: Antonio Torres Fernández, Independent researcher
Topic: When Sharia and Secularism Collide: Shi‘i Bektāshī Order’s Contribution to Turkey’s Modern Politics
4:00-4:15 Break
16:15 – 17:15 | Session 6: Intrafaith studies
Chair: Amir Dastmalchian
Talk: 1
Speaker: Berhat Cem Oner, Independent researcher
Topic: The Imamate of ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib and the Fatimid Alids: A Comparison of the Doctrine of Imamate between the Zaydiyyah and the Imamiyyah
Talk: 2
Speaker: Sheikh Al Muatasim Said Al Maawali and Julia Katarina, Centre for Omani Studies at Sultan Qaboos University, Oman and University of Birmingham, UK; The Islamic College, London, UK
Topic: Akhlāq, Imāmah, Wilāyah: A Comparative Study of the Ibāḍī and Jaʿfarī Schools
Talk: 3
Speaker: Shabbir Agha Abbas, University of Arizona, USA
Topic: Defining Twelver Islam
17:15 | Closing address
Speaker: Dr Isa Jahangir
Affiliation: Principal of The Islamic College, London, UK
