This event will be held 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 streamed via Zoom between 1700-1830 GMT.
The Institute of Ismaili Studies (IIS) will host a hybrid book launch celebrating De la Lettre à l’Esprit / From the Letter to the Spirit, a two-volume Festschrift honouring the scholarship of Professor Mohammad Ali Amir-Moezzi. The event will bring together the dedicatee, editors, and scholars for a conversation reflecting on his four decades of research, teaching, and intellectual influence.
De la Lettre à l’Esprit / From the Letter to the Spirit, published by Brepols, brings together contributions from colleagues, former students, and collaborators. The volumes span Shiʿi studies, Qurʾanic studies, Late Antiquity and early Islam, Islamic mystical traditions, and aspects of contemporary religious and intellectual life, standing as both a major scholarly resource and a collective tribute to a lifetime of academic achievement.
The London event will take the form of a scholarly conversation reflecting on Professor Amir-Moezzi’s four decades of research and teaching, and on the ways his work reshaped the study of Shiʿi thought, Qurʾanic interpretation, and the intellectual history of Islam. Building on the Paris ceremony, this event offers an opportunity to engage more closely with the intellectual questions explored in the Festschrift and the collaborative scholarly networks it represents. The discussion will consider both the academic significance of the volumes and Professor Amir-Moezzi’s enduring influence as a mentor and teacher.
Professor Mohammad Ali Amir-Moezzi will be joined by Dr Orkhan Mir-Kasimov and Dr Mathieu Terrier, co-editors of the Festschrift, alongside scholars from IIS, including Dr Farhad Daftary, Governor and Director Emeritus, Dr Maria De Cillis, Senior Research Associate and Managing Editor of the Shiʿi Heritage Series, and Dr Toby Mayer, Senior Research Associate in Qurʾanic Studies. Together, they will reflect on the intellectual scope of the volumes, Professor Amir-Moezzi’s influence on their work, and the long-standing relationship between his scholarship and IIS, particularly in the development of Shiʿi studies as a recognised academic field.
