The Blackwell Companion to Nineteenth-Century Theology
Atomism in Late Medieval Philosophy and Theology
Aristotle’s Theory of Predication
A Muslim Theologian in a Sectarian Milieu: ‘Abd Al-Jabbar and the Critique of Christian Origins
A Jewish Philosopher of Baghdad: Izz Al-dawla Ibn Kammuna (D. 683/1284) and His Writings
The Legal Methodology of Late Nehardean Sages in Sasanian Babylonia
Society and Culture in the Early Modern Middle East: Studies on Iran in the Safavid Period
The Safavid Dynamic Provided the Link between the Medieval and Modern periods of both the history of Iran and that of the region as a whole.
The twenty articles in the present volume are divided into six sections, entitled ‘ History and Historiography’ , ‘Sources on Safavid Society and Culture’ , ‘Culture and Patronage in the Safavid Period’ , ‘Art and Identities’ , ‘Culture, Economy and Politics in Peripheries and Centres ‘ and ‘The Spiritual Realm: Medicine, Manuscripts, Money and Movements’.
In this book, bringing together the most productive and creative scholars from the many different sub-disciplines of Safavid, as in the past two Round Tables, also encouraged the identification and promotion of items for future research and analysis. The contributions to the present volume are the work of scolars from Iran, Russia, the Continent, the UK and the US. These articles underscore the contributions of relatively newer scolars in the field from all these geographical regions the articles of Bashir, Blake, Quinn, Matthee, Newmann, Ruhrdanz, Siftgol, and Jafariyan, half of the papers included, both add significantly to the field’s knowledge and challenge some of its underlying assumptions. The contributions of Sifatgol and Jafariyan from Iran, both especially prominent among the younger Iranian scholars of the Safavid period, attest to the appearance of a new, post-war generation of scholars in Iran ready and able to succeed such of the ‘Founding Fathers’ of the field in Iran as Afshar and Ishraqi, both of whose papers are also included in the present volume.
Also in kipping with the mission statement of these Round Tables, these articles reflect the effort to foster an exchange of ideas and information between scholars engaged in research across many fields and scholarly disciplines. Especially inasmuch as it was in the Safavid period that Twelver Shiism was first established in Iran and that, consequently, the key religious concepts and material infrastructure that underpin the present- day relationship between religion and the state in Iran.
The Qur’an: Text, Society And Culture’ Conference
‘The Qur’an: Text, Society And Culture’ Conference
Thursday 10 – Saturday 12 November 2016
SOAS, University of London
Convenors: Prof. M.A.S. Abdel Haleem and Dr Helen Blatherwick
Thursday 10 November
(Khalili Lecture Theatre, SOAS main building)
9.00–9.45 Coffee and Registration
9.45–10.00 Opening Address (Professor M.A.S. Abdel Haleem)
10.00–11.30 Panel 1: Rhyme, Style, and Structure (chair: M.A.S. Abdel Haleem)
Devin J. Stewart (Emory University), ‘Rhyme and Rhythm as Criteria for Determining Qur’anic Verse Endings in the Work of Ibn Sa‘id al-Dani and the “Counters”’
Marianna Klar (SOAS, University of London), ‘The Structuring Force of Rhyme in The Long Qur’anic Suras’
فايز حسان سليمان أبو عمرة (جامعة الأقصى)، السياق القرآني ودوره في فهم النصوص القرآنية
11.30–12.00 Coffee Break
12.00–1.00 Panel 2: Textual History and Chronology (chair: tbc)
Anne-Sylvie Boisliveau (Sorbonne University), ‘Diachronic Composition of the Qur’anic Text: When Argumentative Analysis Helps Chronology’
Adam Flowers (University of Chicago), ‘Reconsidering Genre in Qur’anic Studies’
1.00–2.30 Lunch
2.30–4.00 Panel 3: Language, Ideas, and Discourse (chair: Deen Mohamed)
Nathaniel A. Miller (University of Cambridge), ‘Quranic Isra’ and Pre-Islamic Hijazi Imagery of Rule’
عبد الرحيم بن أحمد شنين (جامعة قاصدي مرباح ورقلة)، درء شبهة تغليب المذكّر على المؤنث عند العرب من خلال القرآن الكريم
Thomas Hoffmann (University of Copenhagen), ‘Taste My Punishment and My Warnings (Q. 54:39): On the Torments of Tantalus and Other Painful Metaphors of Taste in the Qur’an’
Friday 11 November
(Brunei Gallery Lecture Theatre, Brunei Gallery)
9.30–11.00 Panel 4: Narration and Narrative (chair: Marianna Klar)
Jessica Mutter (University of Chicago), ‘Dramatic Form and Nested Dialogue: The Use of iltifat in the Qur’an’
Hamza M. Zafer (University of Washington), ‘The Patriarchs in the Qur’an’
Shawkat M. Toorawa (Yale University), ‘Daughters in the Qur’an’
11.00–11.30 Coffee Break
11.30–1.00 Panel 5: Law (chair: Abdul Hakim al-Matroudi)
Joseph Lowry (University of Pennsylvania), ‘Legal Language and Theology in the Qur’an: Excuse, Repentance, Forgiveness, and Fulfillment’
A. David K. Owen (Harvard University), ‘Certainty in Interpretation: Causal Knowledge in Ibn Hazm’s Account of Zahiri Qur’anic Exegesis in al-Ihkam fi usul al-ahkam’
Ramon Harvey (Ebrahim College), ‘Interpreting Indenture (mukataba) in the Qur’an: Q. 24:33 Revisited’
1.00–2.45 Lunch
2.45–4.45 Panel 6: Contemporary Approaches (chair: Devin Stewart)
Ulrika Mårtensson (Norwegian University of Science and Technology), ‘‘Abd al-Aziz Duri: The Significance of his Historiographical Model for Current Qur’an Research’
عبد القادر بوشيبة (جامعة تلمسان)، لسانيات النص وآفاق قراءة النص القرآني
نزار خورشيد مامه (جامعة دهوك)، نظرية التلقي في القرآن الكريم: دراسة تحليلية
Joseph Lumbard (American University in Sharjah), ‘Decolonialising Qur’anic Studies’
Saturday 12 November
(Brunei Gallery Lecture Theatre, Brunei Gallery)
9.30–11.00 Panel 7: Theology and Tafsir (chair: tbc)
Hannah Erlwein (SOAS, University of London), ‘A Reappraisal of Classical Islamic Arguments for God’s Existence: Fakhr al-Din al-Razi’s Tafsir as a Case in Point’
مشرف بن أحمد الزهراني (جامعة الأمير سطام بن عبد العزيز)، القيم المعنوية والجمالية في استطرادات القاسمي التفسيرية
Aisha Geissinger (Carleton University), ‘al-Maturidi’s Exegetical Use of Variant Readings: The Strange Case of “harf Hafsa”’
11.00–11.30 Coffee Break
11.30–12.30 Panel 8: Political Dimensions of Interpretation and Translation 1 (chair: Hannah Erlwein)
Teresa Bernheimer (SOAS, University of London), ‘Opposition Groups, Coins, and the Qur’an’
Walid Saleh (University of Toronto), ‘The Political in tafsir: Q. 43:44 as an Example’
12:30–1.45 Lunch
1.45–3.15 Panel 9: Political Dimensions of Interpretation and Translation 2 (chair: Helen Blatherwick)
Noureddine Miladi (Qatar University), ‘The Representation of the Qur’an in the Western Media’
Burçin K. Mustafa (SOAS, University of London), ‘The Translation of Ambiguous Qur’anic Terms in the Realm of Doctrine Propagation’
Johanna Pink (University of Freiburg), ‘Contested Form, Contested Meaning: Literal, Literary and Exegetical Translations of the Qur’an in Contemporary Indonesia’
3.15–3:30 Closing Remarks (Professor M.A.S. Abdel Haleem)
Further Information:
If you would like further information on the conference series, please visit the conference website at https://www.soas.ac.uk/quran-2016/. This will be updated on an ongoing basis.
For general enquiries, please contact the conference administrator at quran.conference@soas.ac.uk. For academic enquiries only contact Helen Blatherwick at hb20@soas.ac.uk.
The Journey of Maps and Images on the Silk Road
A map is a symbolized image of geographical reality. The area between the known world and the unknown worlds beyond was fuzzy: maps often showed fierce monsters or mythical beings guarding the edge of the known world. The Journey of Maps and Images on the Silk Road has two great merits: it takes us away from the traditional debate on objectivity and subjectivity in the sciences, and it introduces us to entirely different ways of depicting geographically referenced features. Its authors disclose how geographic and cartographic knowledge progressed along the Silk Road. In our global village, the theme of the Silk Road is gathering greater interest than before for several reasons. It encompasses many concepts that cultural studies have made fashionables, such as communication, representation, and syncretism. The geographical area that separates the capital cities of ancient China from the Mediterranean and the Indian Ocean harbors is, of course, large.
Map production and design, which of course varied significantly, reflected the techniques and supports then available as well as the specific ways in which each civilization perceived, selected, and displayed geographical information. This new volume proves that spatial and visual information circulated well across premodern Eurasia. Being so mobile, the cartographic body of knowledge of Asia and the Middle East influenced modern mapping to a greater extent than we generally assume. The Journey of Maps and Images on the Silk Road is an important contribution to a better understanding of the rich interaction we see between the early Eastern and Western schools of cartography. The present volume approaches the subject from a new angle, by looking at the journey of maps and images along the Silk Road to see how old ideas traveled and adapted themselves to new surroundings.
We had the impression that maps and other images were an especially promising point of entry to study the iconic vocabulary of the Greek, Indian, and Chinese scientific traditions, as well as that of Buddhist, Muslim, and Christian ritual artifacts. This topic allowed us to explore the Silk Road’s uniquely long communication network and investigate the diffusion of concepts and objects related to visual knowledge.