This lecture will be held at the Aga Khan Centre and online at 17.00 BST
This lecture is based on the book Dissolving into Being (Anqa Publishing: Oxford, 2024). Professor Dickson will provide a new introduction to Sufi mystical philosophy, a tradition traced back to the works of Sufism’s most renowned master, Ibn ʿArabi (d. 1240). To help bridge the gap between specialised studies of Ibn ʿArabi and a more general readership, Professor Dickson will highlight several of Ibn ʿArabi insights, on subjects ranging from the origin of the world and the reality of love, to the nature of life after death, destiny, peace and conflict, and religious diversity, all through an exploration of Ibn ʿArabi’s masterwork Gemstones of Wisdom (Fuṣūṣ al-ḥikam).
Speaker
William Rory Dickson
Associate Professor
William Rory Dickson is Associate Professor and Chair of Religion and Culture at the University of Winnipeg. His research focuses on Sufism and contemporary Islam. His books include Living Sufism in North America: Between Tradition and Transformation (SUNY Press: Albany, NY, 2015) and Unveiling Sufism: From Manhattan to Mecca (Equinox Publishing: Sheffield, 2017), co-authored with Meena Sharify-Funk.
Moderator
Dr George Warner
George Warner completed his PhD at SOAS in 2017, and is currently Research Associate in West Asian Religions at Ruhr-Universistät Bochum in Germany. His first book, The Words of the Imams: al-Shaykh al-Ṣadūq and the Development of Twelver Shīʿī Hadith Literature is published in December 2021 with I.B. Tauris.
Discussant
Dr Toby Mayer
Dr Toby Mayer is a Research Associate in the Qur’anic Studies Unit at The Institute of Ismaili Studies, London. After completing his undergraduate degree in Indian Studies at the University of Cambridge, he went on to study Medieval Arabic thought at the University of Oxford, where he wrote his doctoral thesis on the Book of Allusions (Isharat) by the major Persian philosopher Ibn Sina.
Please note filming and photography may take place during the event, and be used across our website, newsletters and social media accounts. These could include broad shots of the audience and lecture theatre, speakers during the talk, and of audience members participating in Q&A.
Views expressed in this lecture are those of the presenting scholars, not necessarily of IIS, the Ismaili community or its leadership. Promotion of this lecture is not an explicit endorsement of the ideas presented.
