Hosted by the Institute of Ismaili Studies (London) and convened by Dr Fârès Gillon, the Islamic History and Thought Lecture Series is designed to invite scholars of various international academic institutions, specialising in intellectual, social and political aspects of medieval and early modern Islamic societies, to present and discuss their research.

Fârès Gillon is a Research Associate in the Shiʿi Studies Unit at the Institute of Ismaili Studies. His research focuses on Islamic thought and Shiʿi Islam with particular reference to the Ismaili tradition.

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Lecture series:

Dr Meryem Sebti (CNRS) - Thursday 3 February 2022 - 5:00 pm – 6:30 pm GMT

Location: Online and at the Aga Khan Centre, London

Soul's Imaginal Motion in Abū Ya‘qūb al-Sijistānī’s (fl. 10th CE) Kitāb al-Maqālīd and Risālah al-Bāhirah

Professor Alexandrin (University of Manitoba) - Thursday 28 April 2022 - 2:00 pm – 4:00 pm GMT

A Fatimid Text on the Necessity of the Imamate: The Book of Interim Times and Planetary Conjunctions (Kitāb al-Fatarāt wa-l-qirānāt)

Alex Matthews (University of Chicago Divinity School) - Thursday 9 June 2022 - 2:00 pm-4:00 pm GMT

Pre-Existence: a Myth and its Implications in Imami-Shiʿi Thought

Dr Roy Vilozny (University of Haifa) - Thursday 14 July 2022 - 5:00 pm-6:30 pm GMT

The Exoteric Tradition of the Fatimids: Sources, Reception, and Interpretation

Dr Kumail Rajani (University of Exeter) - Thursday 29 September 2022 - 2:00 pm-4:00 pm GMT

Spiritual Education and the “Imaginary Master” in Ibn ʿArabī’s K. al-Ajwiba al-ʿarabiyya

Gregory Vandamme - Thursday 27 October 2022 - 2:00 pm-4:00 pm GMT

The poet al-Sayyid al-Himyari and the Literary Development of the Epic Character of Imam Ali b. Abi Talib

Professor Leonardo Capezzone (Sapienza-University of Rome) - Thursday 8 December 2022 - 5:00 pm-6:30 pm GMT