The Institute of Ismaili Studies (IIS) hosted this lecture on Wednesday 10 June 2026 at the Aga KhanA title granted by the Shah of Persia to the then Ismaili Imam in 1818 and inherited by each of his successors to the Imamate. Centre and online, as part of the Islamic History and Thought Lecture Series (IHTLS). Dr Kumail Rajani, Imam Sajjad Chair in Shi’i Studies at the University of Exeter, delivered the lecture. Dr Aslisho Qurboniev, Research Associate in Shi’i Studies at IIS, served as discussant. Dr Orkhan Mir-Kasimov, convenor of the series, chaired the session.
Dr Kumail Rajani, Imam Sajjad Chair in Shi'i Studies at the University of Exeter
Dr Rajani traces the sources behind al-Qāḍī al-Nuʿmān’s legal writings, from his early work Kitab al-Idah through to the Daʿaʾim al-Islam. He argues that the Daʿaʾim drew on material already recorded in earlier texts. To test this, he proposes cross-regional textual analysis, comparing hadith cited independently by scholars from different regions and traditions. He gives al-Qāḍī al-Nuʿmān and al-Kulaynī as an example: matching material points to one shared, earlier source.
Key themes
- The textual line from Kitab al-Idah to the Daʿaʾim al-Islam
- Cross-regional textual analysis as a method for tracing early Shi’i hadith
- The movement of source material from Medina and Kufa to IfriqiyaMediaeval Muslim name for modern-day Tunisia; also the area where the Fatimids founded their state in the early tenth century., via Yemen and Egypt
- Scholarly networks around al-Qāḍī al-Nuʿmān, including al-Malūsī and Ibn al-Haytham
- Long-standing claims about Ismaili hadith and why Dr Rajani contests them
