The Institute of Ismaili Studies (IIS) is pleased to announce that applications for the Zahid Ali Fellowship are now open. The Zahid Ali Fellowship is awarded every 5 years to an internationally renowned scholar working in the field of Classical Arabic Literature who will use the award to publish research on a topic of relevance to Ismaili Studies.
The Zahid Ali Fellowship
The Zahid Ali Fellowship was established in 1997 by the Institute of Ismaili Studies in the name of Professor Zahid Ali (1888–1958), a pioneer of modern Ismaili Studies, at the bequest of Professor Zahid Ali’s son, the late Professor Abid Ali, and his family.
Belonging to a prominent BohraIndian community of Mustaʿli Ismailis, now found primarily in the Indo-Pakistan subcontinent, Yemen, Egypt and other parts of the world. Ismaili family of India, Professor Zahid Ali was educated at Oxford University and later taught at the Nizam College in Hyderabad. He produced the first modern studies of Ismaili history and Ismaili doctrines, based on primary Ismaili sources; these works were published in Urdu in 1948 and 1954.
Professor Zahid Ali had also inherited an important collection of Ismaili manuscripts, which had been acquired by several generations of his ancestors. This collection was also bequeathed to the Institute by the late Professor Abid Ali and his family.
The Zahid Ali Fellowship, in the amount of £5,000, is awarded once every five years to an internationally renowned scholar working in the field of Classical Arabic Literature who will use the award to publish research on a topic of relevance to Ismaili Studies.
To apply, please submit the following to scholarships@iis.ac.uk
- Covering letter
- CV
- Writing sample (preferably a publication)
- Research proposal (max. 2,000 words)
Deadline for applications: 30 September 2025
Learn more at the links below:
