The Institute of Ismaili Studies - Video: Interview with Dr Toby Mayer

Video: Interview with Dr Toby Mayer

Publication: Keys to the Arcana: Shahrastani’s Esoteric Commentary on the Qur’an

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Available as MP3 format (24.6 MB, 26 minutes)

Questions addressed in the interview:

1. What is the significance to scholarship of presenting Shahrastani’s Keys to the Arcana?

2. Who was Shahrastani?

3. What was the historical and intellectual context of his Qur’an commentary?

4. Is Keys to the Arcana distinguished by any specific interpretative methodology?

5. How does Shahrastani's commentary reflect Shi'i or, more specifically, Isma'ili influence?

6. Does Shahrastani have a distinctive concept of the Qur’an and how is this reflected in the details of his commentary?

7. What, if any, is the modern relevance of this text?

Related Pages on the IIS Website:

News story on: IIS Publishes Shahrastani’s Esoteric Commentary on Qur’an

Academic Articles: Shahrastani’s ‘Mafatih al-asrar’ Introduction