Issue no.

1 April - June 2011

Shia Scholarship 16th Century Present: Conference Report

Sabine Schmidtke

Students of today should practice rihla fi talab al-ilm

Re-Establishing the Foundations: Reform and Continuity in the Hawza of Najaf

CONTENTS
DIRECTORS MESSAGE NEWS
3 Shia Scholarship 16th Century Present: Conference Report Second Advisory Board Meeting CISS at the Clerical Authority in Shii Islam project CISS at MESA 2010

WHO WE ARE
Shia Studies is an academic quarterly produced by The Centre for Islamic Shia Studies (CISS). The CISS was established in July 2007 to bring the Shia Hawza tradition and Western academic tradition closer to each other as well as to foster greater understanding of Islam and its intellectual heritage. It aims to produce research on traditional and contemporary issues specifically from the Shia perspective and promote a better understanding of the Shia faith, its people and culture in academia and society.

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FEATURES
9 Re-Establishing the Foundations: Reform and Continuity in the Hawza of Najaf Muslim Intellectual History: Between Romanticised Narratives and Pessimistic Interpretations

CONTACT DETAILS
Centre for Islamic Shia Studies, 75 Brondesbury Park, London, NW6 7AX, United Kingdom Tel: +44 20 8930 0368 Fax: +44 20 8451 3323 Website: www.shiastudies.org.uk E-mail: info@shiastudies.org.uk

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ACADEMIA
17 19 Professor Sabine Schmidtke: An Interview Book Review Round Up

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EDITORIAL BOARD
Editor: Co-Editors: Designer: Mohammed Ali Musawi Ahab Bdaiwi Sajad Jiyad Anmar Al Gaboury

CONTRIBUTIONS
Graduate students, researchers and academics are invited to submit essays, book reviews and articles to Shia Studies. For more information contact: info@shiastudies.org.uk

DISCLAIMER:
The views expressed by authors & contributors in Shia Studies do not necessarily reflect those of the Centre for Islamic Shia Studies.

DISCLAIMER:
The views expressed by authors & contributors in Shia Studies do not necessarily reflect those of the Centre for Islamic Shia Studies.

Centre for Islamic Shia Studies

http://twitter.com/shiastudies

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DIRECTORS MESSAGE
Welcome to the first edition of Shia Studies, the Centre for Islamic Shia Studies new quarterly. Since the establishment of the Centre for Islamic Shia Studies, the issue of producing a magazine has been one of the most important items on the Centres agenda. Shia intellectuals and those familiar with the field will be aware of the great gap between the Hawza in the East, whether in Najaf or Qum, and Western research institutes and universities whether in Europe or America. Further, I have noticed from personal experience during various stages of my education, the difficulty, and at times impossibility of bridging this gap, while keeping abreast with the latest developments of the other side, and retaining the depth and true spirit of the others scholarship. This is mainly due to the lack of mutual recognition and, perhaps also a lack of mutual respect. Therefore, there was a real need for a coming together of efforts and a cross pollination of ideas within the framework of mutual respect to reach a shared goal. Thus, we diligently started work on creating a forum that would help facilitate the bridging of the gap between these two scholarly traditions several years ago, which resulted, by the grace of God and the help of our staff, in the establishment of the Centre for Islamic Shia Studies in London in 2007. As mentioned earlier, one of the Centres main objectives is to bridge the gap between Western academia and the Hawza. The Centre started work towards this objective by organising a conference on the heritage of Samarra in London two years ago, and later through intensifying efforts to form an advisory board for the Centre that reflects both sides of the divide, and most recently by organising the Centres second biennial conference entitled Shia Scholarship 16th Century Present, which was held in London in March, 2011. Four years on since the Centres establishment, we have managed to convince some segments within the Hawza of the feasibility of starting a dialogue between the two traditions, and organising joint research initiatives, meetings and discussions, in addition to mutual visits between traditional and academic scholars. We hope that Shia Studies will constitute another brick that will help build the bridge between traditional and academic scholarship. In this, our first issue, you will read a report on the Centres recent conference, which was not only well attended by representatives of both
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the traditional and academic communities, but also stimulated fruitful discussions on topics such as the criteria used by esteemed Shii scholars for authenticating hadith transmitters and Shii interpretations of the doctrine of Jihad. In addition to the Centres news and two very informative feature essays, this issue also includes an interview with Professor Sabine Schmitdke, an academic who has made great contributions to the field of Shii Studies and to furthering Western academias understanding of Islam. I hope that you enjoy this issue of Shia Studies. Sayyid Fadhil Bahrululoom Director of The Centre for Islamic Shia Studies

Picture Mohammed Ali Musawi Shia Studies April - June 2011

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Shia Scholarship 16th Century Present: Conference Report

On Saturday March 5th 2011, the Centre for Islamic Shia Studies held its second international biennial conference entitled Shia Scholarship 16th Century Present, at the School of Oriental & African Studies (SOAS), London. Shia scholarship is characterised by the interpretation of not only the Quran but the teachings of Prophet Muhammad and the Twelve Imams. Their teachings have been the bedrock and influence of many pioneering works in Shia and wider Islamic scholarship from the sixteenth century onwards, which was a flourishing time for Shia scholars because of the freedom they had from persecution and oppression. The conference focused on seminal texts produced in that period and beyond to the present day; for example Bihar alAnwar by al-Allamah Majlisi, Mujam Rijal al-Hadith by Ayatullah Al-Khui and al-Asfar al-Arbaah by Mulla Sadra Shirazi. Professor Liyakat Takim of McMaster University, Canada and Dr Andrew J Newman of the University of Edinburgh, Scotland delivered the keynote lectures. Additionally, graduate students and academics from Princeton University, USA, University of Basel, Switzerland, University of Exeter, The Islamic College and Azad University in Oxford presented papers on themes ranging from the obligatory nature of Friday Prayer, the concept of Jihad in Shii & Sunni jurisprudence and the Shii & Sufi concept of spiritual authority. The conference commenced with introductory remarks about the aims of CISS and some challenges for Shia scholarship, by CISS Director Sayyid Fadhil Bahrululoom. In particular, he highlighted the lack of appreciation for Shii texts in western academia, which has resulted in a gap in the study of Shii Islam. He further mentioned the need for more scholastic exchanges between Eastern and Western scholars within the field to appreciate each others methodologies and mentalities. Sayyid Fadhil also conveyed the willingness of traditional scholars in the Hawza to take part in any initiative that would result in better communication and fruitful exchange of research and methods.

Sayyid Fadhil Bahrululoom

Legal Theory & Jurisprudence

Miriam Younes a PhD student and University Assistant at the Department of Islamic Studies at the University of Basel, Switzerland, kick started the first panel entitled Legal Theory & Jurisprudence with her paper Shii Juristic Scholarship in the 16th Century: Three Treatises on the Question of the Legality of the Friday Prayer. The paper dealt with the juristic discussion regarding the legality of Friday prayer during the absence of the twelfth Shii Imam using three treatises as its basis of analysis. The treatises investigated were: Risalat Salat al-Juma written in 921/1515 by Ali al-Karaki (d. 940/1534), Salat al-Juma written in 96263/1554-55 by Zayn al-Din al-Amili, also known as al-Shahid al-Thani (d. 965/1558), and al-Iqd al-Husayni or al-Iqd al-Tahmasbi, written in 971/1563 by Shaykh Husayn Abd al-Samad (d. 984/1576).

Miriam Younes

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The second panelist was Dr Fahimeh Mokhber, a lecturer at the Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies, University of Cambridge and an academic board member at Azad University in Oxford. Her paper entitled Muhaqiq al-Karaki and his Treatise in Salat al-Juma also looked into the issue of Friday prayer, however it focused on al-Karakis treatise on the issue. Dr Mokhber investigated al-Karakis formulation of the concept of the jurists guardianship and his authority in the state, through his treatment of the issue of Friday prayer and its legality in the absence of the twelfth Imam. CISS researcher Imaranali Panjwani chaired the panel.

Simon Wolfgang Fuchs

Dr Fahimeh Mokhber

Shiism Beyond Boundaries

The second panel of the day entitled Shiism Beyond Boundaries was chaired by CISS researcher Sajad Jiyad, and the first speaker on the panel was Simon Wolfgang Fuchs, a second year PhD student at Princeton Universitys Near Eastern Studies Department. His paper entitled Whose Shurut? Shah Abbas, the Armenians and Shaykh Bahai dealt with the legal reasoning of Shaykh Baha al-Din Muhammad al-Amili (d. 1030/1621) towards the non-Muslims (dhimmis) in the Safavid Empire. The paper examined Shaykh al-Bahais famous fiqh manual Jami-i Abbasi explaining that Shaykh al-Bahai argued for a strict implementation of the rules of inheritance to foster conversion among the dhimmis and attempted to delineate more clearly the boundaries of the umma by putting into place extensive purity laws. Further, the paper argued that Shaykh al-Bahai prepared the ground for Shii ulama to demand that the non-Imam led government impose Shurut Umar upon the non-Muslim population in dress, freedom of worship or appearance in the public sphere in the end of the 17th century.

The second speaker of the panel was Mohammed Ali Musawi, a CISS researcher who presented a paper entitled Shii Readings of Jihad based on Kashf al-Ghita and Jawahir alKalam. The paper analysed juristic discussions regarding the doctrine of Jihad during the first half of the eighteenth century due to this periods scholarly and political significance. It based its analysis on two legal texts written in this period which were Kashf al-Ghita an Mubhamat al-Sharia al-Gharra by Shaykh Jafar Kashif al-Ghita (d. 1227/1812) and Jawahir al-Kalam fi Sharh Sharai al-Islam by Shaykh Muhammad Hasan al-Najafi (d. 1266/1850). The paper also highlighted the most distinct features of the Twelver Shii interpretation of Jihad that distinguish it from its Sunni counterparts.

Mohammed Ali Musawi

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Professor Liyakat Takim

Rijal and Hadith Studies

Professor Liyakat Takim, the Sharjah Chair in Global Islam at McMaster University, Canada, gave the first keynote lecture of the conference titled Idealization or Realization: Methodology of Ayatullah Khui in Mujam al-Rijal. The paper focused on Ayatullah Khuis Mujam Rijal alHadith and examined the first volume of the book in which al-Khui critiques the principles of the studies of Rijal, and offers distinctive views on how to authenticate some of the hadith transmitters. The paper also examined al-Khuis process of harmonization of the contradictory remarks uttered by the Imams regarding some of the eminent companions of the Imams like Zurara b. Ayan and Muhammad b. Muslim alThaqafi. Professer Takims paper also assessed al-Khui contribution to modern biographical studies. Dr Andrew J Newman, a Reader of Islamic Studies and Persian at the University of Edinburgh gave the second keynote lecture entitled Ibn Qawlawayh and his Legacy in 17th Century Safavid Iran: The Text of Kamil al-Ziyarat as Recorded in Bihar al-Anwar. Dr Newmans paper examined the texts of Kamil al-Ziyarat, the collection compiled by Jafar b. Muhammad b. Qawlawayh (d. 979-80) and
Professor Charles Tripp Page 5 Shia Studies April - June 2011 www.shiastudies.org.uk

cited by Muhammad Baqir al-Majlisi (d. 1699) in his Bihar al-Anwar over 1200 times. The paper argued that Kamil al-Ziyarat was intended to define a distinct Shii identity by over emphasizing the merits of visiting the shrine of Imam Husyan, however the book was not fully utilized at its time and was only revived through Bihar al-Anwar. Further, Dr Newman argues that Bihar al-Anwar itself was meant to remind the believing community of what united them and divert attention from the spiritual and theological discord that was taking place in the later part of the seventeenth century. The panel was chaired by Professor Charles Tripp, a Professor of politics at the Department of Politics and International Relations at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London.

Mysticism and Philosophy

CISS administrator, Hadia Saad, chaired the final panel of the conference entitled Mysticism and Philosophy. The first panelist was Ahab Bdaiwi, a CISS Researcher and PhD candidate at the University of Exeter. His paper entitled Al-Asfar al-Arbaah alAqliyyah fi al-Hikmah al-Mutaaliyyah: A Medieval Islamic Summa Philosophiae argued that al-Asfar written by Mulla Sadra Shirazi is a seminal text in the intellectual history of Shiism and represented the grandest and fullest synthesis of Islamic philosophical thought. Further it argued that Mulla Sadra blends rationalistic enquiry, epistemic claims to mystical intuitions, dialectical theology and scriptural hermeneutics, all of which highlight the four modes of spiritual enquiry outlined by Abu Hamid al-Ghazali (d. 1111) in the twelfth century.

Dr. Rebecca Masterton

The conference was well attended and promoted fruitful and stimulating intellectual dialogue. The Centre for Islamic Shia Studies intends to publish the conference proceedings with a major publisher.
Ahab Bdaiwi The last panelist of the day was Dr Rebecca Masterton, a lecturer at the Islamic College in London. Her paper entitled A Comparative Exploration of Spiritual Authority in the Shii and Sufi Traditions based on Allamah Tabatabais Risalat al-Wilayah and Lubb al-Lubab, which explored the specific components of the concept of walaya as outlined by the Imams of Ahl al-Bayt, and their adaptation and reinterpretation in the Sufi tradition. The paper explained that within the Shii tradition wilaya and walaya are differentiated, in the Sufi tradition they are often conflated, so that the awliya are also deemed to be those who are protected from sin and who have been given divine authority over people. The paper discussed the authority of the awliya who are not the Imams in light of the contemporary Irfan works. www.shiastudies.org.uk Shia Studies April - June 2011 Page 6

CISS holds Second Advisory Board Meeting

On Saturday 8th January 2011, the CISS held its second advisory board meeting at its offices in London. In addition to the CISS team, the following key academics in the field of Shii and wider Islamic Studies were in attendance; Professor Peter Sluglett (University of Utah), Professor Robert Gleave (University of Exeter), Professor Sabrina Mervin (Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique), Professor Charles Tripp (School of Oriental & African Studies), Professor Sajjad Rizvi (University of Exeter), Dr Andrew Newman (University of Edinburgh), Dr Mara Leichtman (Michigan State University), Dr Alla Hassan (CISS Trustee) and Ghanem Jawad (CISS Advisor and Human Rights Activist). The purpose of the meeting was to discuss the Centres progress in the year 2010. After the welcome speech by the Director, Sayyid Fadhil Bahrululoom, Imranali Panjwani (CISS researcher) began the session by talking about the expansion of the CISS team with three new researchers joining the Centre. The new researchers specialise in the areas of Shii philosophy, fiqh and hadith respectively. CISS researcher, Ahab Bdaiwi, chaired the second session and discussed several joint projects with the advisors universities. The CISS is now embarking on organising these projects for the next two years. Sajad Jiyad, a CISS researcher, chaired the final session and gave a presentation about the CISS Press, which was set up in 2010. He informed advisors that the Press has already published a book and is accepting new proposals. CISS Team

On Tuesday 29 March 2011, Royal Holloway, University of London, hosted the fourth and final workshop of the 2nd year of the Clerical Authority in Shii Islam Project, sponsored by the British Academy, the British Institute of Persian Studies and the British Society for Middle Eastern Studies. Professor Robert Gleave (University of Exeter), is the overall project coordinator, however the final workshop was organized and hosted by Professor Vanessa Martin (Royal Holloway). The theme for the second year of the project was The History and Development of the Hawza which awarded a limited number of research grants for prospective researchers and scholars working in the field of Shii clerical authority. CISS researchers, Ahab Bdaiwi and Sajad Jiyad, were awarded research funding from the project committee to undertake research on the aforementioned theme, and all research proceedings, including those of CISS researchers, will be published in an edited volume next fall. The workshop consisted of a total of nine paper presentations by researchers and scholars working in the field of Shii Studies. Topics covered included the financial systems of the Hawza in Iraq, the origins of the Hawza of Najaf, the role of the Hawza in Iraqi politics between 1963 and 1980, the role of Khoja Shias in the Hawzas and Shaykhi/Akhbari learning in Eastern Arabia. Ahab Bdaiwi presented a paper on The Teaching of Philosophy in the Najaf Hawza in the Twentieth century where he discussed the history of Islamic philosophy and its teachings in the Hawza before the turn of the twentieth century, and then its subsequent decline in later times. He explained some of the reasons for the increased interest in philosophy starting at the turn of the last century, among them, the desire of Islamists to counter Communist ideologies and to meet the challenges of the materialist tendencies of the early modern West and the reclamation and revival of Shii heritage which influenced post-Avicennian thought in Islam. The presence of notable ulama and urafa in Najaf after Sayyed Hayder Amuli (d. 787/1385) continued to flourish and create a vibrant milieu for Shii Islamic Philosophy, but it was the critical event of the establishment of Muntada al-Nashr (later Kuliyat al-Fiqh, or the College of Law) in the 1940s by Shaykh Muhammad Rida al-Muzaffar (d. 1383/1964) that really gave the study of Islamic philosophy a formal platform in Najaf. In this paper, Ahab presented al-Muzaffar as both a pioneer and reformer, who managed to win the backing and support of the Hawza

CISS at the Clerical Authority in Shii Islam Project

PHOTO Massimiliano Fusari/ massimedia.com

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in the formal teaching of philosophy that was considered a fringe subject and an undesirable one for public teaching. His conclusions centred on the Kuliyat al-Fiqh establishment, as well as subsequent corpus and lecture notes of students published later, revived interest in Najaf as a centre for Islamic philosophy. The second paper presented by CISS researcher, Sajad Jiyad, entitled Tusis Najaf Today: Modern Ulama and their Perception of Role and History. The research was based on fieldwork carried out in Najaf in October 2010, primarily using interviews with students and senior teachers in the Hawza. The aim of the research was to bring to light the role of the ulama, of Najaf in their own understanding, with regards to the history of the Hawza and to investigate if a link could be found between the Hawza and ulama of today and Shaykh Tusi (d. 459/1067). The findings of the paper showed there was some affinity with Shaykh Tusi, sometimes symbolic and sometimes real, depending on different contexts in different situations, but that there was evidence of the influence of Shaykh Tusi on the Hawza of Najaf, though sometimes this could not be shown in a thoroughly and substantial way unique to Najaf. The presentation also explained some of the workings of the modern Hawza in Najaf, with the audience engaging with several questions to aid their understanding of study and teaching in Najaf. CISS Team

thinking itself. In the Shii Islamic world and especially following the popularisation of Islamic philosophy in the epicentres of Shii learning such as Qom and Najaf, Ahab Bdaiwis paper presentation highlighted ongoing debates in Iran today over acceptance or opposition to philosophy. Relying on modern historical anecdotes and transmitted oral history, as well as recently published works in Arabic and Persian, Ahab Bdaiwis paper presentation discussed (i) the rise of philosophy in Qom; (ii) its popularisation and inclusion in Hawza syllabi; and (iii) the emergence of an anti-philosophy movement in Iran and some of its key ideas. It was argued that following the 1979 Islamic Revolution in Iran, Khumayni encouraged the linkage of the study of philosophy with politics; Khumyanis standing as the Supreme Leader of the Iranian polity after 1979 facilitated the rise of philosophy in Irans learning centres and, later on, its popularisation in Iranian society. However, Ahab Bdaiwis paper examined a number of polemical tracts published and circulated in Iran after 1979 showing extreme discomfort with philosophy and its popularisation. The pioneers of such tracts rejected all forms of philosophy in Islam as alien to the Islamic scripture itself and concomitantly sought to disentangle infallible divine knowledge from fallible human speculations, resulting in the movements adjectival name, maktab-e tafkik (lit. school of disentanglement). From its inception in 1966 with 50 founding members, Middle East Studies Association (MESA) has increased its membership to more than 3,000 and now serves as an umbrella organisation for more than sixty institutional members and thirty-nine affiliated organisations. Today MESA has become a renowned learned society that brings together scholars, educators and those interested in the study of the region from all over the world. In total there were approximately 800 panel papers presented and over 80 panels convened with each being chaired by a leading academic in the field; the number of Shii-related panels numbered around 20 with a heavy focus on contemporary Iranian and Iraqi affairs. CISS Team

CISS at MESA 2010

Ahab Bdaiwi, Researcher at the Centre for Islamic Shia Studies, presented a paper as part of a panel entitled Change and Tradition in Shii Islam at MESA 2010 in San Diego. Are Faith and Reason compatible? Can Faith and Reason be reconciled and brought to a harmony? Questions of this nature have preoccupied great minds for millennia with debates dating back to the origin of human

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FEATURES
Re-establishing the Foundations: Reformism and Continuity in the Hawza of Najaf
Robert J Riggs Visiting Assistant Professor Department of History Franklin & Marshall College

Intellectual Precursors and Societal Changes Preceding Reformism Until the establishment of the Iraqi state in the 1920s as a British mandate, the rigorous nature of student life in Najafs religious learning centres (hawzat sing. hawza) had often meant, for the overwhelming majority of would-be graduates, a life of financial hardship, poor health and religious asceticism. These students had survived by means of a small monthly stipend paid by their teachers (called mujtahids), ostensibly coming from the khums money given to that specific mujtahid. Nevertheless, because of the intertwined nature of the client-patronage system that the collection and redistribution of the khums entailed, a guaranteed monthly stipend was sometimes an ideal rather than a reality. Additionally, the hawza had no accreditation system for students apart from the ijaza documents that were given personally to toplevel students after they had gained expertise in a specific topic through studying it at the highest level with a specific mujtahid. Notwithstanding the attractive features of Najafs lax administrative structure and seemingly open enrolment system, student numbers, estimated at 10,000 prior to 1914, dropped appreciably during the 1930s and 1940s, so that by 1957 there were fewer than 2,000 students in the holy city.1 The significant fall in student numbers contributed to the general decline of Najaf as the premier seat of Shii learning. Several factors coalesced after the mid-1920s to contribute to this trend. Politically, the downward turn in Najafs role paralleled a discernible decline in the city as a major centre of political ferment. The downturn in oppositional engagement can be attributed to the suppression of the ulamaled anti-colonial uprising of 1920, and, in the immediate aftermath, to the curtailment of the political engagement of the ulama by the British Mandatory administration.2 In the 1920 uprising the Shii mujtahids of Najaf had played a central role, but when powerful Arab Shii tribal chieftains of the southern hinterland led a revolt in 1935 against the central government in Baghdad the mujtahids did not take part. Although the revolt only lasted from January until May of 1935, the primary role of tribal

Shaykh Muhammad Rida al-Muzaffar

Significant structural developments within any society are the result of multiple factors and historical processes that enact gradual changes over time. The careful historian, therefore, must avoid overstating the importance of single individuals within a historical continuum. Recent histories of the Shii hawza in Najaf give precedence to the impact of Muhammad Baqir al-Sadr (1935-1980) on the intellectual development of the hawza curriculum as well as the involvement of hawza students in mid-twentieth century Iraqi political movements. No doubt al-Sadr cast a wide shadow over the hawza and his intellectual legacy is indisputable. Nevertheless, his reformist ideas found a receptive audience among the hawza students in the 1950s due in large part to earlier reforms, both at a theoretical and practical level, in the hawza of Najaf, beginning at the turn of the twentieth century.

1. Nakash, The Shiis of Iraq (Princeton: Princetone Unversity Press, 1994), 247-268. Nakash traces the rise of Qums student population in the mid-twentieth century as a result of the reverse migration of ulam from Najaf to Qum, after the rise of Arab nationalism and diminishing income from waqf properties. 2. Charles Tripp, A History of Iraq (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007), 44-108.

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alliances in leading the revolt increased their prominence, while detracting from the influence of the religious authorities.3 The diminished role played by the citys senior ulama in the major political events and developments that unfolded in the predominately Shii south is symptomatic of Najafs general decline during this period. The Shii ulama of Najaf appear to have disengaged from overtly political activities between the mid-1920s and the early 1950s. Finally, the steady waning of Najaf corresponded to the emergence of the Iranian holy city of Qum, which the Shah of Iran promoted as a serious contender for the mantle of pre-eminent Shii religious education. 4 The foundation of the nation-state of Iraq in 1921 was followed by the emergence in earnest of a national network of state-funded and administered schools. The emerging public school system came to present a steady challenge to Najafs hawza system as a destination for young Shii aspirants, as it had elsewhere with regard to traditional institutions of Sunni education. The national education and professional career paths offered by the burgeoning public education sector lured these students away from the historical Shii centres of education. They were dissatisfied with what was, in their view, a preponderance of religious instruction in traditional curricula, with the predominance of archaic textbooks, and the use of what they viewed as abstruse language and terminology. This dissatisfaction, as will be shown below, had been fomenting among students from Jabal Amil in Lebanon since the turn of the century. Student discontent was also fuelled, on the one hand, by the inadequacy, and in some cases absence, of student stipends, and, on the other, by the prolonged duration and intensity of the hawza education. This precarious funding situation compared unfavourably with the security of new government financial support, as well as with the existence of mechanisms to monitor and assess academic progress and due consideration given to standardized courses and time-frames for completion. Coupled with general grievances among the religious students of Najaf was frustration arising from the belated realization of the difficulty (upon completing the sutuh introductory level of the hawza educational curriculum) of competing for employment with their contemporary stateeducated counterparts.5
3. Nakash, Shiis of Iraq, 160-161; Phebe Marr, The Modern History of Iraq, (Boulder: Westview Press, 2004), 37-61; Tripp, A History of Iraq, 82. 4. Fischer, Iran: from religious dispute to revolution (Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 2003), 104-135. 5. Faleh Abdul-Jabar, The Shiite movement in Iraq (London: Saqi Books, 2003), 152-158.

In the 1920s and 1930s Najaf experienced economic decline that adversely affected its vibrant local economy. The resulting economic recession and concomitant social change stemmed in part from a drastic reduction in the volume of, and revenue from, the traditional transnational traffic in religious pilgrims to Imam Alis shrine.6 Part of the cause of this decline in pilgrims was an attempt to curtail the rituals performed by Shii devotees in the holy month of Muharram by the British-backed Iraqi administration, which issued a decree in 1935 that prohibited public Ashura celebrations. This led to a sharp drop in the number of foreign pilgrims arriving in the shrine cities of Najaf and Karbala. Those foreign Shia allowed to visit Najaf were obliged to obtain a travel visa and to comply with restrictions imposed on all but personal provisions, and on the duration of temporary residency, all results of the growing development of central state authority in Iraq. The decline in the incidence of self-flagellation at Ashura celebrations was a result not only of stern government measures however, but also of the condemnation of the practices by a number of prominent Shii ulama, of whom the most vocal was Muhsin al-Amin (1865 1952), a reformist mujtahid, from the al-Amin family of the Jabal Amil region.7 First Generation Reformism As mentioned above, al-Amin was part of a reformist trend in Shii educational theories that Sabrina Mervin traces back to Amili ulama who established a journal in Sidon, Lebanon, named al-Irfan, in 1909.8 al-Amin championed administrative and curricular reform in the hawza at a theoretical level in one section of a larger work published for the first time in 1929 called Maadin al-Jawahir wa Nuzhat al-Khawatir, in which he specifically addressed the need for a more clearly organized system of hawza classes and new curriculum.9
6. Nakash, Shiis of Iraq, 184-204. This decrease in the number of pilgrims and corpse traffic could also lead to a decline in khums revenue. 7. Ibrahim Haydari,The Rituals of Ashura: Genealogy, Functions, Actors and Structurs, in Ayatollahs, Sufis and Ideologues: State, Religion and Social Movements in Iraq, ed. Faleh Abdul-Jabar (London: Saqi Books, 2002), 101-113; Muhsin al-Amin al-Husayni Amili, Autobiographie dun clerc chiite du Gabal Amil: tir de, Les notables chiites, Ayan al-shia, trans. Sabrina Mervin (Damascus: Institut Franais de Damas, 1998), 107. Lara Deeb, An Enchanted Modern: Gender and Public Piety in Shii Lebanon (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2006), 131-132. 8. Sabrina Mervin, The clerics of Jabal Amil and the Reform of Religious Teaching in Najaf since the Beginning of the 20th Century, in The Twelver Shia in Modern Times: Religious Culture & Political History, eds. Rainer Brunner, Werner Ende (Leiden: E.J. Brill, 2001), 80. 9. Muhsin al-Amin al-Amili, Islah al-Madaris, in Maadin alJawahir wa Nuzhat al-Khawatir, vol. 1 (Beirut: Dar al-Zahra, 1981), 33-39.

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Second Generation of Reformers Move from Theory to Practice With the advent of print culture in Lebanon (most famously highlighted in the Lebanese and Egyptian literary cultural revival called the Nahda) in the nineteenth century and the increase in communication that it entailed, these reformist ideas spread seamlessly to Najaf, where all of the Amili clerics travelled to study (ostensibly with copies of al-Irfan in hand). Thus, it should come as no surprise that a young Najafi student, Muhammad Rida al-Muzaffar (1904-1964), convened a secret meeting in Najaf in 1924 with a goal of establishing the foundations of a new reformist educational society in Najaf called Muntada al-Nashr.10 It can hardly be a coincidence that only one year later, in 1925, a group of Amili and Najafi hawza students under the leadership of Muhsin Sharara (1901-1946) had organized a group named al-Shabiba al-Amiliya al-Najafiya who called for similar reforms in organization and curriculum.11 Finally in 1935, the founding members of al-Muzaffars group submitted a successful application to the Iraqi Ministry of the Interior for the registration of Muntada alNashr. This association published new hawza textbooks and other religious literature, as a precursor to the establishment of schools. The first state-registered modern Islamic primary (and later intermediate-level) male school was opened in Najaf in 1938. Pupils were taught Arabic syntax and grammar, Arabic literature and religious jurisprudence, as well as foreign languages (principally English) and modern sciences (such as psychology and sociology).12 Evidence for the connection between the Amili reformist trend and al-Muzaffar lies in the fact that he wrote a report about the establishment of the first Muntada school in Najaf for the Sidon-based reformist journal alIrfan in 1939.13 The reform movement had shifted from theoretical treatises to the reform of educational structures. Institutionalizing Reform in the Third Generation In establishing a new type of religious school, the founding fathers of Muntada envisaged that the institution would provide the Shia with a viable alternative both to government-sponsored secular schools and the informal hawza educational system. They envisioned that this reformist school would
10. Ali al-Bahadili, al-Hawza al-Ilmiya f al-Najaf (Beirut: Dar al-Zahra, 1993), 347. 11.Mervin, The clerics of Jabal Amil, 81. 12. al-Bahadli, al-Hawza, 315-22; Nakash, Shiis of Iraq, 263-68. 13. Mervin, The clerics of Jabal Amil, 81. Mervin references Muhammad Rida al-Muzaffar, Muntada al-Nashr, al-Irfan, vol. XXIX, 8-9 (Dec. 1939 Jan. 1940): 856-857.

produce a new generation of Shii mujtahids and preachers, who would be receptive to the changing needs of contemporary society. Modelled on the state school system, the Muntada society recruited qualified teachers, who received a monthly salary. Its students were paid a reasonable allowance, while periodic examinations were set to assess students progress. Although the society was able to expand its network of schools and steadily increase student enrolments, student numbers were too few to become a systemic competitor to either the hawzat or state educational systems. Strong opposition by some of the Shii ulama ensured that the reformist religious schools would not supplant the hawza system. Nevertheless, a number of prominent Shii intellectuals and young aspiring ulama, including Muhammad Husayn Fadlallah (19352010), Muhammad Mahdi Shams al-Din (19362001) and Muhammad Baqir al-Sadr (19351980), studied, for varying periods in one of the societys reformist schools.14 Al-Sadr had studied at the societys school in his hometown of Kazimayn.15 This society was formed to bridge the rift between the teaching curricula and methodologies employed in contemporary government schools, on the one hand, and that of traditional hawzat, on the other. In addition to its educational mission, Muntada al-Nashr inserted itself into the cultural and literary cultures of Iraq. An outgrowth of this was al-Rabitah al-Adabiya (The Literary League), which could be found in the building adjacent to the offices of the Muntada society in Najaf.16 Divergent Outgrowths of Reformism Beginning in the 1930s, the Iraqi Communist Party (ICP) began to make serious inroads amongst the Shia of Iraq. The historical causes that led to the vitality and rapid expansion of the ICP are outside of the scope of this article. However, by the early 1950s the first generation of scholars who had studied in Muntada schools, such as Muhammad Baqir alSadr, Fadlallah, Izz al-Din al-Jazairi and Mahdi al-Hakim, were disconcerted by the pivotal role that the ICP was playing in Iraqi politics and society. Echoing the goals of Muhammad Rida al-Muzaffar but adding a more overtly political slant, Fadlallah stated that this would be a dynamic Islam, capable of meeting
14. al-Bahadili, al-Hawza al-Ilmiya, 312-23. 15. Muhammad Baqir al-Sadr, Buhuth Islamiya (Beirut: al-Dar al-Islamiya, 1991), 16-17; M. al-Husayni, al-Imam al-Shahid Muhammad Baqir al-Sadr, (Beirut: Dar al-Furat, 1989), 57. Sarur, al-Allama Fadlallah, 49. 16. This literary society comprised members from the literary elite of Najaf during the mid-twentieth century regardless of their political and sectarian affiliation. For more information on the work of this association, see the serial Fi al-Rabita alAdabiya (Najaf: Jamiyat al-Rabita al-Adabiya, 1956).

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the challenges of shifting political realities.17 This desire to oppose the ICP through political activism coupled with a growing reformism in Najaf culminated in the establishment of the Hizb al-Dawa in 1957.18 During the same period, al-Muzaffar continued to work tirelessly to establish the College of Islamic Jurisprudence (kulliyat alfiqh), a goal that he achieved in 1958. This was a college within the state higher education system, eventually attached to the University of Baghdad and later the University of Kufa. Graduates of this college received the same degrees as other Iraqi university graduates.19 Simultaneously, graduates of the Muntada alNashr schools established new centres of higher education that remained unaffiliated with the state such as Izz al-Din al-Jazairis madrasat al-Najaf.20 Each of these new schools sought to reform the curriculum of the hawza by either giving new lessons on traditional topics or introducing new topics. Thus, Muhammad Rida al-Muzaffar taught classes in logic,21 and Muhammad Baqir al-Sadr wrote his famous theoretical treatise on Islamic banking through which economics was introduced.22 Additionally, these new learning institutions organized a system for entrance to classes and examinations for the elementary levels of study, fulfilling another goal of the earlier generations of reform-minded scholars.23 Conclusion Lasting structural changes within the hawza did not occur through the actions or writings of any single individual in the twentieth century. Rather, historical events such as the 1920 Iraqi revolt against the British and its subsequent suppression and the establishment of Reza Shah in Iran curtailed the number of pilgrims and students in Najaf, leading to an economic downturn. The rise of the Iraqi state
17. Ali al-Mumin, Sanawat al-Jamr: Masirat al-Haraka alIslamiya fi al-Iraq (London: Dar al-Masira, 1993), 32; Mahmud al-Suwayd, al-Islam wa-Filastin: hiwar shamil ma`a al-Sayyid Muhammad Husayn Fadl Allah (Beirut: Muassasat al-Dirasat al-Filastiniyah, 1995), 7. 18. Different historians have not reached a consensus on this date, however, the official website of the Iraqi Hizb al-Dawa uses 1957. Website of The Islamic Dawa Party, Party History http://www.islamicdawaparty. com/?module=home&fname=history.php&active=7, accessed April 1, 2011. 19. Mervin, The clerics of Jabal Amil, 83; al-Bahadili, alHawza al-Ilmiya, 370. 20. Mervin, The clerics of Jabal Amil, 83. 21. Notes from his lectures were gathered by his students and published posthumously in three volumes as al-Mantiq (Najaf: Matbaat al-Numan, 1968) and subsequently taught in the hawzat of Najaf. 22. It was written in 1960-61 and subsequently taught, but published in 1977 Iqtisaduna (Beirut: Dar al-Kitab al-Lubnani, 1977). 23. Mervin, The clerics of Jabal Amil, 84.

education system became a competitor to the hawza system, leading to a generation of hawza students lacking the academic training to gain access to the new state economy and feeling increasingly discontented. A new print culture flowing from Lebanon to Iraq facilitated the proliferation of reformist theories regarding the hawza. Later the rise of the Iraqi Communist Party constituted a new competitor for the Shia of Iraq. These changes in Najafi society both inside and outside of the hawza informed the gradual changes taking place within the minds of three successive generations of hawza students. The stage was set upon which actors such as Muhammad Rida al-Muzaffar and Muhammad Baqir al-Sadr could enact long-lasting reforms to the hawza. Currently, al-Muzaffars al-Mantiq and Baqir al-Sadrs Durus fi Ilm al-Usul are integral works taught in the hawza curriculum in Najaf. Formal examinations are administered to many of the introductory hawza students in Najaf. Rather than presupposing a strictly antagonistic relationship between the historical hawza of the early twentieth century and these reformist trends, this study highlights the gradual processes through which the flexible nature of the hawza incorporated reformist elements, an incorporation that simultaneously enacted structural changes within the hawza system itself.

Al-Muzaffar with students and notables

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Muslim Intellectual History: Between Romanticised Narratives and Pessimistic Interpretations

Ahab Bdaiwi Centre for Islamic Shia Studies Romanticising a narrative Between ca.24/645 and 96/715 the belligerent Arab armies, renowned for their obstinate impetuosity overran large swathes of land covering areas between modernday Mauritania and Spain and the Indiansubcontinent under the pretext of spreading monotheism so as to ensure that polytheists converted to Islam and that non-Muslims of a vaguely monotheistic tradition acknowledged the sovereignty of God. As is the case with most, if not all, histories of empires and imperial victories, official narratives emerge soon thereafter; such post-victory narratives and histories are written, in most cases, by individuals under the tutelages of court-patronage, or individual, often regal, patrons. Modern studies in historiography have shown us, repeatedly, that official narratives and histories of this sort strove to achieve, above all, a romanticised historical narrative tailored in a manner so as to create a picturesque ideal, or a continuum of events that unfolded perfectly as to make way for the ultimate victory and/or conquest. Arab and Muslim histories of what is conveniently referred to as the spread of Islam period, do not shy away from such methods of writing ones history. Traditional Muslim accounts of the early Arab conquests bespeak of a holy war, or jihad that called on believers to fight in the way of God (19:9, inter alia) in an effort to bring non-Muslim lands under Muslim dominion. Once captured and brought under Muslim rule, non-Muslim subjects of high learning fell in awe before Muslim and Arab learning but never the other way around according to traditionally romanticised historical narratives.24 However, our job as historians is to aim to separate the probable from the hyperbolic and the near-objective from the entirely subjective. Given this laborious task, not to mention the near-impossible noble ideal of interpreting history objectively, we can, however, speak of a counter-narrative that is, as much as
24. See, for example, F. Rosenthal, A History of Muslim Historiography (Leiden, 2nd rev. ed., 1968), pp. 11ff.

humanly possible, truer than the romanticised original and traditional accounts of early Muslim intellectual history, that is the history of intellectual traditions and ideas and the ways in which they developed and explored by their recipients.25 Truth be told however, as more and more land was captured by the early Arab Muslims, ideas and scholarly traditions associated with conquered plateaus were the subjects of immediate interaction and engagement by a new religious community of little scholarly credentials. What the early Arab Muslims lacked in military experience and scholarly credence, they made up for with religious convictions and imperialist ambitions. However, some modern historians concerned with Muslim culture and civilisation oftentimes describe the Arab armies-cum-imperial powers of the late seventh century with categories associated with their contemporaneous barbarous forces in Europe such the Germannic tribesmen and the Lombards, who captured civilised Roman cities and highly cultured regions in Italy, respectively. However, for the critical observer and committed historian such conclusions, if not forgone, do not seem to be corroborated with historical facts. In fact, far from being reluctant to engage with new intellectual traditions and philosophies, the early Arab community of believers set in process a voluntary and a selective assimilation phase to scholarly and cultural learning in philosophy, medicine, astronomy, physics, geometry, mathematics, and the even theology, works of which were received and then translated into Arabic from Greek, Persian, and Assyrian.

Arabic or Islamic?26
Philosophy, in particular, received more attention than any other received science associated with Hellenistic learning. Ever since, the Middle Ages it has been customary to speak of an Arabic philosophy in contexts where scholarly Islamic traditions are studied. There is no doubt that the Arabic language played a central role in the early development of Islamic philosophy - and more generally speaking, Islamic Thought. The Arabic language is also the liturgical language of prayer, the language and the conceptual tool employed by Arabs and non-Arabs alike in the construction of one
25. Some useful notes on historical objectivity can be found in P. Novick, That Noble Dream: The Objectivity Question and the American Historical Profession (Cambridge, 1988). 26. On the use of Arabic philosophy as opposed to Islamic philosophy, see Peter Adamson, Al-Kindi and the reception of Greek philosophy, in The Cambridge Companion to Arabic Philosophy, eds. Peter Adamson and Richard C. Taylor (Cambridge, 2005).

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of the most extensive intellectual traditions in the world: an intellectual tradition expressing the culture of Islam. Today, however, the term Arab, both in common parlance and in official usage, has reference to a specific ethnic, national and political concept, which coincides neither with the religious concept of Islam nor with the boundaries of its universe. The Arabs or Arabicized peoples are in fact no more than a tiny fraction of the Islamic world in its entirety. The plenary and grand intellectual expressions of Islam as a religious concept spanning over fourteen centuries can be neither transferred to, nor confined within, the limits of a secular ethnic or national concept.27 Of course, that the term Arabic philosophy is to be understood simply as referring to a philosophy written in the Arabic language, that is to say, in the written Arabic which even in our day is still the liturgical bond both between the non-Arab members of the Islamic community, and between the different parts of the Arab world. Unfortunately, this linguistic definition is both inadequate and wide off the mark. In accepting it, we would no longer know where to class the extensive Persian writings of pioneering thinkers such as the Ismaili philosopher Nasir-i Khusraw (d. ca. 469/1077) or Afdal al-Din Kashani (d. 610/1213),28 whose works are all written in Persian not to mention Avicenna (d. 428/1037) and al-Suhrawardi (d. 587/1191) down to Mir Damad (d. 1040/1631), Hadi Sabzavari (d. 1288/1872), Allamah Tabatabai (d. 1981), Ayatullah Javadi Amuli (b. 1932), and Ayatullah Hassan Hassan-Zadeh (b. 1934).

Abu Hamid al-Ghazalis (d. 504/1111) damning critique of so-called Islamic philosophy at the turn of the twelfth century, and aside from the twelfth century Arab philosopher Ibn Rushd (d. 594 /1198), this tradition was only able to survive in its corrected form by blending itself with Islamic (Sunni) orthodoxy. However, were one to glance at any Arabic manuscript catalogue today that enlists major philosophical works produced in the Muslim heartlands, one would find that a considerable number of voluminous philosophical works were authored in the post-thirteenth century period by mostly Shii thinkers who lived and studied in the Persian Muslim heartlands. Most of these works were in fact written in Arabic. It is astonishing that in the general account of Islamic thought, and philosophy in particular, no consideration, one might say (at least before the explications of Seyyed Hossein Nasr and the late Henry Corbin), has been given to the role and decisive importance of Shii thinking in the development of Islamic philosophical thought. There have even existed certain reservations or prejudices on the part of Arab historiographers, which border on hostility, and which, moreover, accord perfectly with the ignorance evinced in Sunni Islam concerning the real problems of Shiism. The Safavid Shii (reg. 906/15011134/1722) Renaissance in the sixteenth century, as a pertinent example, produced an extraordinary flowering of thought and thinkers in Shii Iran, the effects of which were to extend throughout the Qajar period up to our present day. Historians of philosophy and philosophers maintain that it would not have been possible for an Islamic Renaissance to flourish anywhere else but in a Shii milieu owning to the fact that early Shiism, as expressed in the dictums of the twelve Imams, is inherently esoteric with a developed taste for the arcane.29 The recent history of Islamic philosophy is almost entirely dominated by Shii figures who inherited an extensive corpus containing peripatetic and Illuminationist philosophy rooted in over a millennia of philosophising, and consequently setting the stage for a grand synthesis by bringing various strands of rationality and spirituality under one mode of enquiry known as al-hikma al-mutaaliya, Transcendental Philosophy, an approach championed by Mulla Sadra Shirazi (d. 1050/1640). Mulla Sadra benefited fully from a thousand years of Islamic intellectual activity, from the writings of nearly all the outstanding mystics before him, who
29. See Amir Moezzi, Le guide divin dans le shisme originel: aux sources de lsotrisme en Islam (Paris, 2007).

Ignoring Shii narratives

Modern Arab historians of Islamic thought, in continuing with their romanticisation of narratives, have reduced the history of Islamic thought in general and philosophy in particular, to a series of epochs championed by Arab luminaries, the last of whom died around the twelfth century. Most if not all modern Arab historiographies of Islamic thought and philosophy hitherto continually perpetuate a canard underpinned by modern notions of Arab nationalism, claiming that Islamic philosophy, a supposed Arab phenomenon, ended with
27. Henry Corbin, The History of Islamic Philosophy, trans. Liadain Sherrad (London, 1993), pp. 1-5. 28. Very little is known about Kashanis early life and his intellectual upbringing. A contemporary of Averroes, Suhrawardi, and Ibn Arabi, Kashani made a considered choice to write on philosophy in Persian at a time when Arabic was the language of choice for philosophy (and other rational and scriptural disciplines). For Kashani, See William Chittick, The Heart of Islamic Philosophy: The Quest for SelfKnowledge in the Teachings of Afdal al-Din Kashani (New York, 2001).

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had contemplated a world dominated by the reality of prophecy. His philosophical synthesis was both rigorously logical and rational and open to the melodies of the rhapsodic intellect. It is no longer possible to encounter difficulty of gaining access to important philosophical cannons by major Shii thinkers, since it is over fifty years since some of the great philosophy texts and canons began to be published, especially following the Iranian revolution in 1979, which triggered a new era for philosophical discourse, an era that gave rise to the popularisation of philosophy in Iran and, perhaps to a lesser extent, in Iraq and Lebanon, two Shia majority states. The flowering of the Shii intellectual tradition Shiism is explained first and last by the Shii consciousness itself, by the Shii sense and perception of the world. The texts going back to the Imams themselves show that what constitutes this consciousness is essentially the desire to attain the true meaning of the divine revelations, because, in the final analysis, the truth of human existence, the meaning of its original and of its future destiny, depend on this true meaning. If the question of such a comprehension has been affirmed ever since Islam began, this is precisely because it constitutes the spiritual fact of Shiism. From the very beginning, in fact, Shii thinking has given sustenance to a prophetic type of philosophy that corresponds to a prophetic religion. A prophetic philosophy presupposes a type of thought which does not allow itself to be bound either by the historical past, or by the letter of the dogmatic form in which the teachings of this past are consolidated, or by the limits imposed by the resources and laws of rational logic.30 Shii thinking is orientated by its expectation not of the revelation of a new Sharia, but of the complete manifestation of all the hidden or spiritual meanings of the divine revelations. The expectation of this manifestation is typified in the expectation of the coming of the hidden Imam (the Imam of that time, who according to Twelver Shiism is at present hidden, or in a state of occultation). The cycle of prophecy which has been concluded, is succeeded by a new cycle, the cycle of the walaya.31 The term walaya figures largely in the teachings of the Shii Imams themselves in the early Shii sources walaya is defined
30. Corbin, op. cit., pp. 35-38. 31. On walayah, see Walker, P.E. Wilaya (a.). Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition. Edited by: P. Bearman; W.P. Heinrichs. Brill, 2010.

as the esoteric aspect of prophecy (batin al-nubuwa).32 The word actually means friendship and/or protection. The awilya Allah (dustan-i Khuda in Persian) are the Friends of God; strictly speaking, they are the prophets and the Imams, the elite of humanity to whom divine secrets are revealed through divine inspiration. The Friendship with which they are favoured by God makes them the spiritual guides of humanity. It is by responding to them with his own devotion, as a friend, that each of their initiates (i.e. a Shii Muslim), arrives at knowledge of himself (thus assigning walaya an important epistemic value). The idea of the walaya is, essentially, suggestive of the initiatic and supervisory function of the Imam, initiating his disciples into the mysteries of the doctrine; it embraces, in an inclusive sense, both the idea of knowledge (marifa) and the idea of love (mahabba) a knowledge which is by its nature is a salvatory knowledge.33 The cycle of the walaya is thus the cycle of the Imam succeeding the Prophet; that is to say, of the batin (esoteric) succeeding the zahir (exoteric), the haqiqa (Ultimate Reality) succeeding the sharia (jurisprudential law). The esoteric aspect, as the content of knowledge, and the walaya, which configurates the type of spirituality postulated by this knowledge, come together and show Shiism to be the gnosis of Islam. Conclusion However, despite such rich intellectual and philosophical offerings, Shii Islam in general and its multifarious learning in particular have escaped the attention of modern Arab historiographers who have, it would appear, given preponderance to an early Islamic streak of learning, one beginning with the Arab conquests between ca.24/645 and 96/715 and ending with the passing away of Ibn Rushd in the twelfth century. Recent studies by Western academics such as the likes of Henry Corbin, Seyyed Hossein Nasr, Amir-Said Moezzi, Wilfred Madelung and James Morris have highlighted a noteworthy development of post-thirteenth century Islamic intellectual history: philosophical and spiritual modes of enquiry were overwhelmingly coloured by Shii theology and scripture, underscoring yet another inconsistency in the mythology of romanticised Arab narratives of Islam.

32. Corbin, op. cit., p. 37. 33. See Seyyed Hossein Nasr, Islamic Philosophy from its Origins to the Present (New York, 2006)

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Map of the World by Muhammad al-Idrisi (d. 1165/1166)

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ACADEMIA Professor Sabine Schmidtke: An Interview

Interviewed by Ahab Bdaiwi Professor Sabine Schmidtke is a professor of Islamic Studies at the Freie Universitt Berlin (Free University of Berlin) and director of the Research Unit Intellectual History of the Islamicate World. She has authored numerous books including The Theology of al-Alama al-Hilli (d. 726/1325). Berlin: Klaus Schwarz, 1991 and Theologie, Philosophie und Mystik im zwlferschiitischen Islam des 9./15. Jahrhunderts. Die Gedankenwelt des Ibn Abi Gumhur al-Ahsai (um 838/1434-35 - nach 906/1501). Leiden: Brill, 2000. Professor Schmidtke has made invaluable contributions to the fields of Islamic Studies and Shii Studies. CISS researcher & Shia Studies co-editor Ahab Bdaiwi in an exclusive interview with Professor Sabine Schmidtke discusses recent trends and developments in Shii Studies. AB: Thank you for agreeing to do this interview; the Centre for Islamic Shia Studies has for a long time now been following your excellent work in the field of Shii Studies and it gives us great pleasure to inaugurate our quarterly magazine with such an eminent scholar such as yourself. As you know very well, the field of Shii Studies has come a long way since the Colloque de Strasbourg held in 1968, which, according to many, broached Imami Shiism in Western academic studies. However given the large volume of unpublished and unstudied manuscripts that sit untouched in Islamic libraries across the globe, and despite the voluminous studies in the modern period, Shii Studies lags behind other studies concerned with Muslim and Islamic civilisation, culture, and thought. It would be most useful for our readers to learn a bit more about your academic profile and career thus far before we delve into the main topic of Shii Studies. Could you tell us a bit about your academic career as a professor of Islamic studies specialising in the field of Shii Studies? SS: By German standards, my academic career as a scholar of Islamic Studies may seem rather unusual. My first degree (Bachelor of Arts) is from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, one of the internationally leading universities for Islamic and Arabic Studies and, in particular, Imami Studies, with leading experts such as Etan Kohlberg, author of A Medieval Muslim Scholar
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at Work: Ibn Tawus and his library (Leiden: Brill, 1992), and Meir Bar-Asher, author of Scripture and Exegesis in Early Imami Shiism (Leiden: Brill, 1999). After a year in London where I completed my Master of Arts at the School of Oriental and African Studies, I moved to Oxford where I had the special privilege to write my doctoral dissertation under the supervision of Professor Wilferd Madelung, the doyen of all branches of Shii Studies, Imamism, Zaydism and Ismailiyya. It is certainly no overstatement that Professor Madelung influenced me more than any other of my teachers. AB: How would you define Shii Studies? SS: By my definition, Shii Studies covers a wide spectrum, including the three main branches of Imamism, Zaydism and Ismailiyya. However, as scholars of Shii Studies we should always bear in mind that any intellectual or historical development within any branch of Islam is usually linked to a wider sphere. Despite the relevance of each one of these branches we should strive, to the extent possible, not to be too exclusive in our scholarly engagement with Shii Studies or with the study of one of its branches.
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AB: Who were/are the main pioneers of Shii Studies who have made important contributions to the field? SS: Shii Studies is certainly no longer a marginalized field within the discipline of Islamic Studies as was still the case in 1968 when the Colloque de Strasbourg took place. For Imami Studies in particular, the participants at the time can certainly be counted among the pioneers of Shii Studies, among them Henry Corbin (19031978) and Wilferd Madelung, to name only the most influential. Both of them trained entire generations of scholars who likewise engaged in the field of Shii Studies. Of equal importance were the leading scholars from Iran and Iraq whose studies provide an indispensible and often still unsurpassed basis for Imami Studies until today, among them perhaps most importantly Agha Buzurg al-Tihrani (1875-1970) and Muhammad Taqi Danishpazhuh (1911-1996). The expansion of the field can be witnessed in the numerous articles, monographs and collective volumes specifically devoted to Imami Shiism that have been published since 1968, among them the important volume Le shiisme imamite quarante ans aprs: hommage Etan Kohlberg (eds. M.A. Amir-Moezzi, M. M. Bar-Asher, S. Hopkins, Turnhout: Brepols, 2009). As for Zaydi Studies, an enormously growing field of studies of its own in recent years, mention should be made of Rudolf Strothmann (1877-1960), Cornelis van Arendonk (18811946), Eugenio Griffini (1878-1925) and again Wilferd Madelung, whose Der Imam al-Qasim ibn Ibrahim und die Glaubenslehre der Zaiditen (Berlin: de Gruyter, 1968) is still unsurpassed. Henry Corbin and Wilferd Madelung are also among the pioneers of Ismaili Studies, as were Wladimir Ivanow (1886-1970) and Samuel Miklos Stern (1920-1969). Today, it is mostly thanks to the efforts of the Institute of Ismaili Studies in London that the study of the Ismailiyya is a thriving discipline as well. AB: How did you become interested in Islamic Studies in general and Shii Studies in particular? SS: Pure curiosity ... AB: You have written important monographs on Shii luminaries of the medieval period, two of which, in particular, have received a great deal of attention. One was on the theology of al-Allamah al-Hilli (d. 725/1325), whilst the other work dealt with an important Shii thinker in the pre-Safavid period, namely Ibn Abi Jumhur al-Ahsai (d. after 906/1501). What made you choose these two luminaries?
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SS: When I first embarked on Shii Studies I was mostly attracted by the Imami adoption of Mutazilite theology and the intriguing amalgamation of various strands of thought, viz. apart from Mutazilite kalam philosophy (Peripatetic and Illuminationist) as well as philosophical mysticism. It was mostly this intellectual richness of the later Imami traditions that intrigued me more than anything else. AB: Many nowadays claim that Shii Studies fares better in the Americas and whilst Europe has a long history of Islamic Studies it, however, lags behind in standard and quality of scholarship. Is there any truth to such a claim? SS: I do not share this claim and do not find it helpful. Islamic Studies is perhaps more than any other academic discipline a highly international field of studies. Over the past decades the discipline has experienced a proliferation of subdisciplines, methodologies and source materials that have come to light that is unparalleled in any other academic discipline. What is needed more than anything else is close collaboration among scholars from Europe, the Americas and the Islamic world and in many respects this is the reality in contemporary research. Fine scholars of Islamic Studies, including Shiite Studies, and important research centers can be found nowadays in Europe, in Canada and the US, and certainly in the Middle East and instead of competing with each other even more collaborative efforts should be made to advance research. AB: Of course on the positive side, European institutions of learning are becoming increasingly more attentive and interested in Islamic studies and most, if not all, major universities today house an Islamic and/or Middle East Studies department. However some prospective students are hesitant to embark on an Islamic studies course in Europe believing the standard of teaching and research to be less than that of the Americas or traditional Muslim centres of learning. As someone who is familiar with European institutions specialising in Islamic studies, what words of advice or solace would you offer to students reading this magazine? SS: From my own experience, students of today should practice to the extent possible the duty of rihla fi talab al-ilm, i.e. travel in search of knowledge. In view of the wide spectrum of Islamic Studies as an academic discipline and the resulting necessity of its scholars to specialize in one way or another in some select fields within

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the discipline, there is hardly any institution or teacher that can provide a sufficiently wide range of education in the field. AB: What do you enjoy most about your job as a professor of Islamic Studies? SS: There are many things I enjoy as a professor and scholar but perhaps one of the most gratifying things is to see new generations of scholars evolving from among the students. As scholars we can only contribute some few pieces to the advance of knowledge and all we do is nothing but preparatory work for what future generations may improve. AB: What would be considered a productive week in the life of an Islamic studies professor? SS: A week that brought new insights. AB: Would you support the idea of opening up more research units and centres specialising in Shii Studies here in the UK? SS: There is certainly still much to be done in the field of Shii Studies, particularly in view of the enormous Shii manuscript holdings in Iran as well as in the West, e.g. in London or Princeton. On the other hand I would consider it to be an advantage not to be too focused on only one strand within Islam, be it Shiism or any other. As I explained before, one of the fascinating aspects particularly of intellectual history is that any development is invariably linked to a larger context and should therefore not be studied in isolation. To illustrate this, I would like to point to the highly interdisciplinary work of the Mutazilite Manuscripts Project Group that was formed in 2003. The aim of the group was (and still is) to collect, record and prepare critical editions of all unpublished material of Mutazilite provenance. Given the reception of Mutazilite thought among Zaydis and Imamis as well as among Rabbanite and Karaite Jews, and of course, the significance of the movement within Sunni Islam, the group was successful so far because we looked at the materials preserved by all of the above mentioned groups, Sunnis as well as Shiis, Muslims as well as Jews. Had we focused on one group only, lets say the Zaydis, we would have missed a lot. This is also the guiding motif of the recently founded Research Unit Intellectual History of the Islamicate World at Freie Universitt Berlin in that its members systematically study intellectual developments of the Islamic world beyond denominational borders.

AB: Finally, what are the main challenges we are likely to face working in this field? SS: Any kind of border, real or imaged, that would prevent us from focusing on the issue at hand in a truly scholarly fashion. AB: Professor Sabine Schmidtke, researcher and professor at the Freie Universitt Berlin and director of the Research Unit Intellectual History of the Islamicate World, thank you very much for your time and on behalf of the Centre for Islamic Shia Studies we wish you all the best in your future endeavours.

Picture Mohammed Ali Musawi

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Book Review: T. BayhomDaou, Shaykh Mufid (Makers of the Muslim World Series), Oxford, Oneworld, 2005. ISBN: 1851683836
Yahya Seymour Centre for Islamic Shia Studies Professor Bayhom-Daou has made an excellent contribution to the Makers of the Muslim World series with her book on the life and contributions of Shaykh al-Mufid (d. 413/1022). This no doubt is a much-needed work on one of the greatest contributors to Shii Imami theology, which unlike many other works is accessible to a general audience, and not a purely academic text for specialised students. The choice of al-Mufid as the first Shii entry into the Series is definitely a wise one, as there are few other scholars who have made as great a contribution to the consolidation of Shii Imami theology as al-Mufid, therefore Professor Bayhom-Daou is also to be commended on this. The first chapter includes a crucial introduction to the theological differences between the Shii Imami and the Sunni theological schools with regards to the issue of leadership. Professor Bayhom-Daou accurately articulates that one of the main Shii arguments for the Imamate of Ali b. Abi Talib is based upon Prophet Muhammads reported statement at Ghadir Khumm, which has come to be known as hadith al-ghadir. However, it would have been beneficial, if Professor Bayhom-Daou clarified to readers who may not have a thorough understanding of Imami theology, that Imami theologians such as al-Mufid believed and argued that the Imam is actually designated by God as opposed to the Prophet. In the second chapter, Professor BayhomDaou presents a basic outline of al-Mufids life, which helps the reader understand the historical context in which al-Mufid lived. It contains a brief overview of the more fortunate circumstances that Imamis found themselves in due to the reign of the Buyids whom professor BayhomDaou postulates were most likely Zaydi (p. 18), allowing a degree of relative freedom for Imamis to operate in, and flourish. Special attention is also given to the other theological groups who were present and active in the time of al-Mufid, particularly the Ismailis and Mutazilites.
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There is a claim made in the third chapter, which could be disputed; Professor Bayhom-Daou claims on page 48 that al-Mufid was the first to reverse a negative attitude towards Zayd b. Ali, the brother of Imam Muhammad al-Baqir and that others had traditionally viewed his uprising as being a claim to his own Imamate. However, alMufids own teacher Ibn Babuwayh (d. 381/911) in his work Uyun Akhbar al-Rida (Ansariyan, 2006, p.469) also includes similar vindications of Zayd which would pre-date al-Mufid. The fourth chapter focuses on theological arguments surrounding Imamate. It is particularly relevant for the general reader as it introduces certain concepts that had not previously been available in English outside specialised work. In page 65, Professor Bayhom-Daou makes a claim, which I would argue has not been substantiated in enough detail with regards to al-Mufids belief vis--vis the integrity of the Quran. She puts forth the claim that at an earlier period of his life, alMufid believed that the Quran was tampered with (reflected in the work Masail al-Sarawiyyah) and then changed his position at a later period (in his work Awail al-Maqalat). However this claim needs further substantiation and the attribution of Masail al-Sarawiyyah (despite being frequent) to al-Mufid is speculative and furthermore seems unlikely; for had he written such a work, then his student al-Tusi, would have included the work appropriately under the list of Mufids works, in his book al-Fihrist. The fifth chapter of the book approaches the subject of the theological background of al-Mufids environment and details some of the groups that existed as theological opponents to the Imamis and the key points of contention between the groups. Professor Bayhom-Daous treatment of the epistemology of al-Mufid serves however as an excellent introduction to the uniqueness of al-Mufid and his rationalization of Imami theology and attempt to reverse the trend of scripturalist anti-rationalism adopted by some of his predecessors. Whilst a bibliography is included in Professor Bayhom-Daous book, there is an absolute lack of footnoting and not a single footnote appears within the book, which is an interesting break from the format of most publications within the Makers of the Muslim World series. However, despite Professor Bayhom-Daous lack of adequate referencing, her book makes an excellent addition to work available in the English language in the field of Shii Studies and Islamic studies at large and it should be welcomed as a valuable contribution, which offers a great insight into the life and work of Shaykh al-Mufid.

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Round Up
Online Resources for Shii Studies Digital Library Over 200 digitised Islamic and Shii Studies titles - including titles from Oxford University Press and Cambridge University Press. www.islamicperspective.net Fihrist This catalogue provides a searchable interface to more than 3,000 basic manuscript descriptions taken from printed and card catalogues of the collections of the Bodleian Libraries, Oxford and Cambridge University Library. http://www.fihrist.org.uk/ Al-Khazina Al-Khazina is an interactive database for the study of Islamic Culture, particularly in the early centuries. http://www.princeton.edu/~humcomp/alkhaz. html Shia Online Library A comprehensive online with 1000s of classical Arabic sources available for download. http://shiaonlinelibrary.com Centre for [Shii] Doctrinal Studies in Najaf Online recource affiliated with the office of Grand Ayatullah Sayyid Ali al-Sistani. www.aqaed.com Princeton Digital Library of Islamic Manuscripts http://library.princeton.edu/projects/islamic/ shiah.html University of Islam Online Arabic books related to Shii Studies. www.uofislam.net

New Publications Donner, Fred M., Muhammad and the Believers: At the Origins of Islam, Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 2010, ISBN 978-0-67405097-6, pp. xvii + 280.

Dabashi, Hamid, Shiism: A Religion of Protest, Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 2011, ISBN 978-0-674-04945-1, pp. xviii + 413.

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Amir-Moezzi, M.A., The Spirituality of Shii Islam: Belief and Practices (Ismaili Texts and Translations), London, I.B. Tauris, 2011, ISBN 978-1-84511-738-2, pp. xxii + 585.

Pourjavady, Reza, Philosophy in Early Safavid Iran: Najm al-Din Mahmud al-Nayrizi and His Writings, Leiden, Brill, 2011, ISBN 978-9004191730, pp. 240.

Kalin, Ibrahim, Knowledge in Later Islamic Philosophy: Mulla Sadra on Existence, Intellect, and Intuition, New York, Oxford University Press, 2010, ISBN 978-0199735242, pp. xx + 315.

Kazemi, Reza-Shah, Spiritual Quest: Reflections on Quranic Prayer According to the Teachings of Imam Ali, London, I.B. Tauris, 2011, ISBN 9781848854475, pp. 121.

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