Books by Seyfeddin Kara
Open access link: https://edinburghuniversitypress.com/book-the-integrity-of-the-qur-an.html, 2024
Gerlach Press, 2018
The history of the text of the Qur'an has been a longstanding subject of interest within the fiel... more The history of the text of the Qur'an has been a longstanding subject of interest within the field of Islamic Studies, but the debate has so far been focused on the Sunni traditions about the codices of Caliphs Abu Bakr and 'Uthman b. 'Affan. Little to no attention has been given to the traditions on 'Ali b. Abi Talib's collection of the Qur'an. This book examines both Shi'i and Sunni traditions on the issue, aiming to date them back to the earliest possible date and, if possible, verify their authenticity. To achieve this, the traditions are examined using Harald Motzki's isnad-cum-matn method, which is recognised as an efficient tool in dating the early Islamic traditions and involves analysis of both matn (text) and isnad (chain of transmission) with an emphasis on finding a correlation between the two.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Search-Ali-ibn-Talibs-Codex/dp/3959940548/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1527591413&sr=1-1
Journal Articles by Seyfeddin Kara
Encyclopaedia of the Qur'ān Online, 2024
Numerous Muslim aḥadīth (reports), both from Sunnī and Shīʿī compilations, narrate that, upon the... more Numerous Muslim aḥadīth (reports), both from Sunnī and Shīʿī compilations, narrate that, upon the death of the Prophet Muḥammad, ʿAlī collated his loose drafts that had been dictated to him by the Prophet into a Qurʾānic codex for the first time in the year 11/632. This codex is referred to as the Codex of ʿAlī. According to other reports, the Prophet Muḥammad had at least three other prominent scribes to whom he would dictate the revelation to be recorded in writing.
Ilahiyat Studies, 2023
There are apparent similarities between the parables contained in the Gospels and those found in ... more There are apparent similarities between the parables contained in the Gospels and those found in the Qurʾān, which provide their audiences with illustrations of complex religious concepts and moral teachings through the imagery of everyday life. Based on the form-critical analysis of the Gospel Parable of the Sower and some Qurʾānic parables, this article aims to detect defining similarities and differences between the Gospels and Sūrat al-Baqarah and illuminate details about the historical and geographic context in which the two texts originated. Based on the findings of the comparison, this article will argue that the Qurʾānic text represents a genuine continuation of the biblical text.
Journal of Near Eastern Studies, 2016
The history of the text of the Qur’ān has been a longstanding subject of interest within the fiel... more The history of the text of the Qur’ān has been a longstanding subject of interest within the field of Islamic Studies, but the debate has so far been focused on the traditions about the codices of Caliphs Abū Bakr and ʿUthmān b. Affān. Little to no attention has been given to the traditions on ʿAlī b. Abī Ṭālib’s collection of the Qur’ān. The Shī’ite school of thought has claimed that ʿAlī b. Abī Ṭālib collated the first copy of the Qur’ān, right after the demise of the Prophet. The paper examines both Shī’ite and Sunnī traditions on the issue, aiming to date them back to the earliest possible date and, if possible, verify their authenticity. In order to achieve this, the traditions are examined using isnād-cum-matn method. This method has been proven by Western academia to be an efficient tool in dating the early Islamic traditions and involves analysis of both matn (text) and isnād (chain of transmission) with an emphasis on finding a correlation between the two.
Upon examining the variants of the relevant traditions the paper, I conclude that with the aid of the traditions attributed to Ibn Sīrīn, the narrative on ʿAlī b. Abī Ṭālib’s collection of the Qur’ān can be dated back to as early as the first decade of the second century. This is the earliest date to which the history of the text of the Qur’ān can be traced through analysing Muslim traditions. In addition, in the analysis of a tradition recorded in Kitāb Sulaym b. Qays al-Hilālī, I find that the traditions concerning ʿAlī’s collection of the Qur’ān were not only transmitted orally but also recorded in written form, within the first half of the second century.
Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, Sep 2, 2015
In the introduction to his article, entitled ‘The Murder of Ibn abī l-Ḥuqayq: On the Origin and R... more In the introduction to his article, entitled ‘The Murder of Ibn abī l-Ḥuqayq: On the Origin and Reliability of Some Maghāzī Reports,’ Motzki summarises ‘special biases’ by which western scholars deal with the Muslim sources regarding the life of the Prophet. For Motzki, one of the most important biases held against the Muslim sources is that ‘The background is theological, in that the traditions tried to create a specific theology of history, or in that the Muslims simply tended to put a halo around the founder of their religion.’
One can also apply this argument to the sources related to the life of ʿAlī b. abī Ṭālib. There is ample ground for bias on the subject. Although ʿAlī b. abī Ṭālib was not the founder of the religion and therefore did not occupy an equal status in the eyes of Muslims in general, he is believed by the Shīʿites to be the first divinely appointed Imām of their faith and thus has certainly been a central figure in their religion. Hence, the same bias that ‘the traditions tried to create a specific theology of history’ might fit well in case of the traditions concerning him.
In the same pattern of thought, it could well be argued that the collection of the Qur’ān by ʿAlī b. abī Ṭālib soon after the demise of the Prophet would have been an appealing idea to some Shī’ites who could have used it as further proof of ʿAlī’s merits and proximity to the Prophet. Likewise, the tradition that all the other caliphs either commissioned or possessed their own copies of the Qur’ān, hence depriving ʿAlī of the same privilege, would have certainly diminished the Shī’ite claim for ʿAlī’s divine right for political and religious leadership or Imāma.
Considering the political and religious profits that some early caliphs accumulate through compiling a personal copy of the Qur’ān, some followers of ʿAlī must have been troubled by the lack of similar esteemed status. Consequently, it is conceivable that some concerned Shī’ites would have responded to this by fabricating traditions. Nevertheless, without a rigorous study of the traditions, it is impossible to prove or disprove these hypotheses.
Journal of Shi'a Islamic Studies, 2017
This paper examines how contemporary Shiʿi scholars
of rijāl deal with problematic isnāds through... more This paper examines how contemporary Shiʿi scholars
of rijāl deal with problematic isnāds through engaging in a thorough
examination of the isnād patterns. It focuses on a sample model
that has been undertaken to identify an informant of the renowned
Shiʿi hadith collector Abū Jaʿfar Muḥammad ibn Yaʿqūb ibn
Isḥāq al‑Kulaynī (329/941), recorded in his magnum opus, al‑Kāfī
fī ʿIlm al‑Dīn. Upon identifying the problem through examining
the variants of the tradition, the paper then tries to ascertain the
identity of the problematic reporter in the sanad by first looking into
classical rijāl works such as those written by Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd
Allāh al‑Asadī al‑Najāshī (d. 450/1058) and Muḥammad ibn al‑Ḥasan
al‑Ṭūsī (385/996-460/1067). After exhausting these classical sources, it
examines how the more recent prominent Shiʿi scholars of rijāl, such
as Ḥusayn ibn Muḥammad Taqī Nurī al‑Ṭabarsī (d. 1902), Sayyid
Ḥusayn Ṭabāṭabāʾī Borūjerdī (d. 1961), Ayatollah al‑Sayyid Mūsā
al‑Shubayirī al‑Zanjānī, and Ayatollah Muḥammad ṣif al‑Muḥsinī
deal with the issue. Finally, the paper undertakes an additional study
of the isnād patterns mentioned in al‑Kāfī in order to assess the
findings of Shiʿi scholars of rijāl.
Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs, 2020
This study aims to scrutinise the implementation of a "vicarious retribution model" on anti-Musli... more This study aims to scrutinise the implementation of a "vicarious retribution model" on anti-Muslim hate crimes and suggests that despite its advantages, the model is not sufficient to provide a clear picture of hate crimes alone and needs a supporting model such as "the domination hate model of intercultural relations" (DHMIR) to give it a historical and socio-political context. Whilst a rigorous model of analysis, the "vicarious retribution model," has been co-opted by institutions to explain the rise in hate crimes based on the assumption that the U.K. (and other countries investigated) have only experienced Islamophobia in the post 9-11 context. The IHRC surveys in the U.K. in 2010 and 2014, the occurrence of Brexit, and the post-referendum spike in hate crimes belie some of the foundations of the applicability of this model. Therefore, the study is an effort to understand anti-Muslim hate crimes through the use of the "vicarious retribution model" and the DHMIR.
Book Chapters by Seyfeddin Kara
Media Language on Islam and Muslims Terminologies and Their Effects, 2023
Media Language on Islam and Muslims, 2023
LOCKWOOD PRESS, 2019
Shiʿi approaches to the history of the text of the Qur’ān are largely unknown in Western academia... more Shiʿi approaches to the history of the text of the Qur’ān are largely unknown in Western academia. Aside from Friedrich Schwally’s brief treatment of the subject, Western scholars have discussed the history of the text of the Qur’ān mostly in relation to the Sunni perspective and sources. The predominant Sunni view is that the project of collecting the text was initiated at the behest of the caliphs Abū Bakr and ʿUthmān (ʿUmar was also involved). Shiʿi scholars, based on their traditions, claim that the fourth caliph or first Shiʿi Imām, ʿAlī b. Abī Ṭālib, collected the Qur’ān immediately after the demise of the Prophet. Some Sunni traditions that we will see in the following echo these claims, but they did not become part of the debate on the textual history of the Qur’ān. Considering the opposition of Shiʿis to “orthodox” Islam, their sources may provide a different perspective and contribute additional evidence or arguments about the textual history of the Qur’ān. One of the advantages of studying the Shiʿi view is that if there was an irregularity in the text of the Qur’ān, the Shiʿis would have disputed the authenticity of the text that was adopted by their rivals.
Oxford University Press , 2019
Book Reviews by Seyfeddin Kara
Talks by Seyfeddin Kara
Harvard Divinity School, 2024
Ali ibn Abi Talib is one of the most important figures in the textual history of the Qur'an. In a... more Ali ibn Abi Talib is one of the most important figures in the textual history of the Qur'an. In addition to being one of the Prophet’s scribes, he is reported to have played a key role in compiling the Qur'an into a single book shortly after the Prophet’s death. As the fourth caliph, Ali ibn Abi Talib copied the Uthmanic codex and distributed it across Muslim lands. It is also reported that his codex contained Qur'anic exegesis in the margins, meaning he was the first exegete of the Qur'an. According to Muslim accounts, Ali ibn Abi Talib recorded, preached, interpreted, and embodied the Qur'an from a young age until his death, which occurred from wounds he sustained while reciting the Qur'an in prayer. Known for his profound reverence for the Qur'an, his archenemy, Muawiya, used the Qur'an against him during the Battle of Siffin, which indicates that even his enemies acknowledged his close bond with the Qur'an and sought to test it. Aside from the Prophet, perhaps no other figure in Islamic history had a life so deeply entwined with the Qur'an. Yet, his contributions are rarely highlighted in studies on the textual history of the Qur'an. This presentation will explore Ali ibn Abi Talib's relationship with the Qur'an and the legacy he left behind.
University of Toronto, 2023
Hosted by: Department for the Study of Religion, University of Toronto and Centre for Theology an... more Hosted by: Department for the Study of Religion, University of Toronto and Centre for Theology and Religious Studies, Lund University
Date: 27-29th April 2023
Location: The University of Toronto, ON, Canada (In-person) • Jackman Humanities Building, 170 St. George Street, Toronto, ON M5R 2M8 (Map)
Organising Committee: Dr Seyfeddin Kara, Prof Walid Saleh, Prof Suleyman Dost and Prof Karen Ruffle
Keynote speaker: Professor Marion H Katz, New York University
This conference is jointly hosted by the Department for the Study of Religion, the University of Toronto and the Centre for Theology and Religious Studies, Lund University. It is a three-day conference and will take place between 27-29th of April 2023. It is primarily funded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie grant agreement, SSHRC Connection Grant and funds from the University of Toronto and Lund University. Please see below for detailed information about the conference and its theme.
It brings together diverse and exciting voices in the field of Islamic studies to challenge existing disciplinary boundaries and traditional conventions of the field. We approach Islamic studies as an integrative field, where the Muslim tradition is taken as a whole in its complexity, be it confessional, material or historical. Therefore, the conference does not privilege any approach but brings scholars from various fields and confessional specialities. We are particularly attuned to creative methods and unexplored sources investigating new questions within multiple frameworks. We are hoping to have a fresh conversation to catch up with new, invigorating scholarship in the field and take stock of the new realities imposed on us in the last two dramatic years.
On the face of it, this would seem to be a rather natural approach if only because of Sunnism's religious, social and political achievements. Yet, given the global nature of the academic inquiry today, and the availability of a host of heretofore unknown and therefore unstudied sources, many scholars have questioned this tendency towards Sunni bias, pointing to the very fertile and rich dimensions of the Shiʿi tradition (Twelver, Ismaʿili, and Zaydi), and other historically significant expressions of Islam, such as Ibadism. Yet this broader perspective on the Islamic tradition’s key and underrepresented sources also runs the risk of creating an academic silo in which, for example, such a major dimension of Islam as Shiʿism becomes a subfield of Islamic studies rather than actually breaking into the mainstream of Islamic studies per se.
In the face of such a challenge, there is also a unique third position, which entails a more holistic approach to studying Islam and Muslim sources. The point of emphasis here is to not see Sunni sources as determinative of the categories of Islamic studies or other important Muslim traditions such as the Shiʿi as a distinctive and therefore confined sub-unit of Islamic studies, but, rather, both Sunni and Shiʿi approaches (along with Ibadism) as all informative, and thus (to the extent possible) normative expressions of the Islamic tradition’s vast pre-modern traditions. Approaching the Islamic tradition in this manner is sure to yield promising results for the field, especially for the scholars of the formative period of Islam whose research has often been adversely affected due to scarcity of sources.
This conference aims to bring a more holistic study of the formative period of Islam front and centre. “Holistic study” refers to the comprehension of various manifestations of Islam as intimately interconnected and explicable only by reference to the whole. In this sense, the conference wants to illustrate, among other things, how one should not look at Islamic studies in Sunni and Shiʿi (along with Ibadism) contexts separately but see their connections, interaction and influence.
Selected conference papers will be published as an edited volume (details TBD). Please contact the Conference Coordinators, Seyfeddin Kara: seyfeddin.kara@utoronto.ca or Suleyman Dost: suleyman.dost@utoronto.ca for further information.
Funding: This project is primarily funded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie grant agreement No: 101022180 — TIQ.
Panels
Panel 1: Islamic Studies in Global Perspective
Chair: Amira Mittermaier, U of T
Chiara Formichi, Cornell University, Ithaca NY
Brannon Ingram, Northwestern University, Chicago IL
Youssef Carter, UNC Chapel Hill
Jazmin Graves, UNC Greensboro
Panel 2: The Qur’an
Chair: Walid Saleh, U of T
Devin Stewart, Emory University
Asma Hilali, Université de Lille
Tahseen Thaver, Princeton University
Marijn Van Putten, Leiden University
Panel 3: Hadith: Sunni and Shi’i Constellations
Chair: Arafat A. Razzaque, U of T
Andreas Goerke, University of Edinburgh
Ash Geissinger, Carleton University, Ottawa, ON
Ed Hayes, Radboud University, Nijmegen
Seyfeddin Kara, U of T and Lund University
Panel 4: Islamic Law Between History and Praxis
Chair: Mohammad Fadel, U of T
Robert Gleave, Exeter University
Ersilia Francesca, Napoli University
Josie Hendrickson, University of Alberta
Aun Hasan Ali, University of Colorado Boulder
Panel 5: Gender and Sexuality in Islam
Chair: Ari Schriber, U of T
Serena Tolino, Professor, University of Bern
Yafa Shanneik, Lund University
Shelina Khoja-Moolji, Georgetown University
Panel 6: Material Culture and Islam
Chair: Suleyman Dost, U of T
Richard McGregor, Vanderbilt University
Teren Sevea, Harvard University
Eleonore Cellard, Collège de France
Adam Bursi, Postdoctoral Fellow, Utrecht University
Panel 7: Race and Identity from Classical to Modern Islam
Chair: Natalie Rothman, U of T
Najam Haider, Barnard College Columbia University
Tobias Matthiesen, Stanford University
Katherine Merriman, University of Detroit-Mercy
Panel 8: Sufism and Alid Devotion
Chair: Shuaib Ally, U of T
Cyrus Zargar, University of Central Florida
Ayesha Irani, University of Massachusetts Boston
Nebil Husayn, University of Miami
Vinay Khetia, McMaster University
Panel 9: New direction in Shiʿi Studies
Chair: Karen Ruffle, U of T
Tahera Qutbuddin, Chicago University
Deborah Tor, University of Notre Dame
Oliver Scharbrodt, Lund University
Olly Akkermann, Freie Universität Berlin
The notion of the distortion of the Qur'an has been one of the thorniest topics in the academic s... more The notion of the distortion of the Qur'an has been one of the thorniest topics in the academic study of the Qur'an. Although it has been mainly attributed to Shiʿis, since very early on, Shiʿi theologians have denounced such a possibility, taking a firm position on the textual integrity of the Quran. Nevertheless, several reports, mainly attributed to the fifth and sixth Shiʿi Imams, indicate that the original Quranic text was distorted. In this lecture, I will discuss the findings of my ongoing research that, for the first time, traces the origins of some of these Shiʿi reports.
University of Toronto, 2021
The Qur’an is the central text in Islam and 1.9 billion Muslims around the world strive to shape ... more The Qur’an is the central text in Islam and 1.9 billion Muslims around the world strive to shape their lives according to the principles and rulings derived from it. Yet the textual integrity of the Qur’an has largely been taken for granted and some aspects of it have not been investigated, especially the idea of the falsification (tahrif) of the quranic text. Since the 2nd century AH, a group of Muslim traditionalists have claimed that certain verses were removed from the quranic text after the death of the Prophet, making the present quranic text incomplete. Sunni traditionalists (Hashwiyya) advocated the existence of this falsification (in the form of omission of some of the verses of the Qur’an) within a legal framework, while Shi'i traditionalists (Akhbaris) perpetuated the concept to support the succession of the Prophet and sanctity of the Twelver Shi'i Imams. The limited existing studies on the subject are mostly reviews of the opinions of past and present scholars. Further, while the falsification has been advocated by both Muslim groups in different ways, the notion has been largely attributed to the Shi'is. As a result, to this day, it has been a cause of tension between Sunni and Shi'i communities due to the firmly established view regarding the integrity of the Qur’an. Dr Seyfeddin Kara’s primary goal is to uncover the historical origins of a neglected aspect of the textual history of the Qur’an through undertaking a multidisciplinary study combining quranic studies, hadith studies, Islamic law and biblical studies. “Uncover” means to date the relevant Muslim traditions and reveal the interaction/influence between the Sunni and Shi'i traditionalists in the development of the notion of falsification from the 2nd to the 5th centuries AH. In his previous study on Ali b. Abi Talib’s quranic codex, SK tested new suitable methods and theories to study the textual history of the Qur’an.
Uploads
Books by Seyfeddin Kara
JSTOR: https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.3366/jj.15478459
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Search-Ali-ibn-Talibs-Codex/dp/3959940548/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1527591413&sr=1-1
Journal Articles by Seyfeddin Kara
Upon examining the variants of the relevant traditions the paper, I conclude that with the aid of the traditions attributed to Ibn Sīrīn, the narrative on ʿAlī b. Abī Ṭālib’s collection of the Qur’ān can be dated back to as early as the first decade of the second century. This is the earliest date to which the history of the text of the Qur’ān can be traced through analysing Muslim traditions. In addition, in the analysis of a tradition recorded in Kitāb Sulaym b. Qays al-Hilālī, I find that the traditions concerning ʿAlī’s collection of the Qur’ān were not only transmitted orally but also recorded in written form, within the first half of the second century.
One can also apply this argument to the sources related to the life of ʿAlī b. abī Ṭālib. There is ample ground for bias on the subject. Although ʿAlī b. abī Ṭālib was not the founder of the religion and therefore did not occupy an equal status in the eyes of Muslims in general, he is believed by the Shīʿites to be the first divinely appointed Imām of their faith and thus has certainly been a central figure in their religion. Hence, the same bias that ‘the traditions tried to create a specific theology of history’ might fit well in case of the traditions concerning him.
In the same pattern of thought, it could well be argued that the collection of the Qur’ān by ʿAlī b. abī Ṭālib soon after the demise of the Prophet would have been an appealing idea to some Shī’ites who could have used it as further proof of ʿAlī’s merits and proximity to the Prophet. Likewise, the tradition that all the other caliphs either commissioned or possessed their own copies of the Qur’ān, hence depriving ʿAlī of the same privilege, would have certainly diminished the Shī’ite claim for ʿAlī’s divine right for political and religious leadership or Imāma.
Considering the political and religious profits that some early caliphs accumulate through compiling a personal copy of the Qur’ān, some followers of ʿAlī must have been troubled by the lack of similar esteemed status. Consequently, it is conceivable that some concerned Shī’ites would have responded to this by fabricating traditions. Nevertheless, without a rigorous study of the traditions, it is impossible to prove or disprove these hypotheses.
of rijāl deal with problematic isnāds through engaging in a thorough
examination of the isnād patterns. It focuses on a sample model
that has been undertaken to identify an informant of the renowned
Shiʿi hadith collector Abū Jaʿfar Muḥammad ibn Yaʿqūb ibn
Isḥāq al‑Kulaynī (329/941), recorded in his magnum opus, al‑Kāfī
fī ʿIlm al‑Dīn. Upon identifying the problem through examining
the variants of the tradition, the paper then tries to ascertain the
identity of the problematic reporter in the sanad by first looking into
classical rijāl works such as those written by Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd
Allāh al‑Asadī al‑Najāshī (d. 450/1058) and Muḥammad ibn al‑Ḥasan
al‑Ṭūsī (385/996-460/1067). After exhausting these classical sources, it
examines how the more recent prominent Shiʿi scholars of rijāl, such
as Ḥusayn ibn Muḥammad Taqī Nurī al‑Ṭabarsī (d. 1902), Sayyid
Ḥusayn Ṭabāṭabāʾī Borūjerdī (d. 1961), Ayatollah al‑Sayyid Mūsā
al‑Shubayirī al‑Zanjānī, and Ayatollah Muḥammad ṣif al‑Muḥsinī
deal with the issue. Finally, the paper undertakes an additional study
of the isnād patterns mentioned in al‑Kāfī in order to assess the
findings of Shiʿi scholars of rijāl.
Book Chapters by Seyfeddin Kara
Book Reviews by Seyfeddin Kara
Talks by Seyfeddin Kara
Date: 27-29th April 2023
Location: The University of Toronto, ON, Canada (In-person) • Jackman Humanities Building, 170 St. George Street, Toronto, ON M5R 2M8 (Map)
Organising Committee: Dr Seyfeddin Kara, Prof Walid Saleh, Prof Suleyman Dost and Prof Karen Ruffle
Keynote speaker: Professor Marion H Katz, New York University
This conference is jointly hosted by the Department for the Study of Religion, the University of Toronto and the Centre for Theology and Religious Studies, Lund University. It is a three-day conference and will take place between 27-29th of April 2023. It is primarily funded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie grant agreement, SSHRC Connection Grant and funds from the University of Toronto and Lund University. Please see below for detailed information about the conference and its theme.
It brings together diverse and exciting voices in the field of Islamic studies to challenge existing disciplinary boundaries and traditional conventions of the field. We approach Islamic studies as an integrative field, where the Muslim tradition is taken as a whole in its complexity, be it confessional, material or historical. Therefore, the conference does not privilege any approach but brings scholars from various fields and confessional specialities. We are particularly attuned to creative methods and unexplored sources investigating new questions within multiple frameworks. We are hoping to have a fresh conversation to catch up with new, invigorating scholarship in the field and take stock of the new realities imposed on us in the last two dramatic years.
On the face of it, this would seem to be a rather natural approach if only because of Sunnism's religious, social and political achievements. Yet, given the global nature of the academic inquiry today, and the availability of a host of heretofore unknown and therefore unstudied sources, many scholars have questioned this tendency towards Sunni bias, pointing to the very fertile and rich dimensions of the Shiʿi tradition (Twelver, Ismaʿili, and Zaydi), and other historically significant expressions of Islam, such as Ibadism. Yet this broader perspective on the Islamic tradition’s key and underrepresented sources also runs the risk of creating an academic silo in which, for example, such a major dimension of Islam as Shiʿism becomes a subfield of Islamic studies rather than actually breaking into the mainstream of Islamic studies per se.
In the face of such a challenge, there is also a unique third position, which entails a more holistic approach to studying Islam and Muslim sources. The point of emphasis here is to not see Sunni sources as determinative of the categories of Islamic studies or other important Muslim traditions such as the Shiʿi as a distinctive and therefore confined sub-unit of Islamic studies, but, rather, both Sunni and Shiʿi approaches (along with Ibadism) as all informative, and thus (to the extent possible) normative expressions of the Islamic tradition’s vast pre-modern traditions. Approaching the Islamic tradition in this manner is sure to yield promising results for the field, especially for the scholars of the formative period of Islam whose research has often been adversely affected due to scarcity of sources.
This conference aims to bring a more holistic study of the formative period of Islam front and centre. “Holistic study” refers to the comprehension of various manifestations of Islam as intimately interconnected and explicable only by reference to the whole. In this sense, the conference wants to illustrate, among other things, how one should not look at Islamic studies in Sunni and Shiʿi (along with Ibadism) contexts separately but see their connections, interaction and influence.
Selected conference papers will be published as an edited volume (details TBD). Please contact the Conference Coordinators, Seyfeddin Kara: seyfeddin.kara@utoronto.ca or Suleyman Dost: suleyman.dost@utoronto.ca for further information.
Funding: This project is primarily funded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie grant agreement No: 101022180 — TIQ.
Panels
Panel 1: Islamic Studies in Global Perspective
Chair: Amira Mittermaier, U of T
Chiara Formichi, Cornell University, Ithaca NY
Brannon Ingram, Northwestern University, Chicago IL
Youssef Carter, UNC Chapel Hill
Jazmin Graves, UNC Greensboro
Panel 2: The Qur’an
Chair: Walid Saleh, U of T
Devin Stewart, Emory University
Asma Hilali, Université de Lille
Tahseen Thaver, Princeton University
Marijn Van Putten, Leiden University
Panel 3: Hadith: Sunni and Shi’i Constellations
Chair: Arafat A. Razzaque, U of T
Andreas Goerke, University of Edinburgh
Ash Geissinger, Carleton University, Ottawa, ON
Ed Hayes, Radboud University, Nijmegen
Seyfeddin Kara, U of T and Lund University
Panel 4: Islamic Law Between History and Praxis
Chair: Mohammad Fadel, U of T
Robert Gleave, Exeter University
Ersilia Francesca, Napoli University
Josie Hendrickson, University of Alberta
Aun Hasan Ali, University of Colorado Boulder
Panel 5: Gender and Sexuality in Islam
Chair: Ari Schriber, U of T
Serena Tolino, Professor, University of Bern
Yafa Shanneik, Lund University
Shelina Khoja-Moolji, Georgetown University
Panel 6: Material Culture and Islam
Chair: Suleyman Dost, U of T
Richard McGregor, Vanderbilt University
Teren Sevea, Harvard University
Eleonore Cellard, Collège de France
Adam Bursi, Postdoctoral Fellow, Utrecht University
Panel 7: Race and Identity from Classical to Modern Islam
Chair: Natalie Rothman, U of T
Najam Haider, Barnard College Columbia University
Tobias Matthiesen, Stanford University
Katherine Merriman, University of Detroit-Mercy
Panel 8: Sufism and Alid Devotion
Chair: Shuaib Ally, U of T
Cyrus Zargar, University of Central Florida
Ayesha Irani, University of Massachusetts Boston
Nebil Husayn, University of Miami
Vinay Khetia, McMaster University
Panel 9: New direction in Shiʿi Studies
Chair: Karen Ruffle, U of T
Tahera Qutbuddin, Chicago University
Deborah Tor, University of Notre Dame
Oliver Scharbrodt, Lund University
Olly Akkermann, Freie Universität Berlin
JSTOR: https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.3366/jj.15478459
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Search-Ali-ibn-Talibs-Codex/dp/3959940548/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1527591413&sr=1-1
Upon examining the variants of the relevant traditions the paper, I conclude that with the aid of the traditions attributed to Ibn Sīrīn, the narrative on ʿAlī b. Abī Ṭālib’s collection of the Qur’ān can be dated back to as early as the first decade of the second century. This is the earliest date to which the history of the text of the Qur’ān can be traced through analysing Muslim traditions. In addition, in the analysis of a tradition recorded in Kitāb Sulaym b. Qays al-Hilālī, I find that the traditions concerning ʿAlī’s collection of the Qur’ān were not only transmitted orally but also recorded in written form, within the first half of the second century.
One can also apply this argument to the sources related to the life of ʿAlī b. abī Ṭālib. There is ample ground for bias on the subject. Although ʿAlī b. abī Ṭālib was not the founder of the religion and therefore did not occupy an equal status in the eyes of Muslims in general, he is believed by the Shīʿites to be the first divinely appointed Imām of their faith and thus has certainly been a central figure in their religion. Hence, the same bias that ‘the traditions tried to create a specific theology of history’ might fit well in case of the traditions concerning him.
In the same pattern of thought, it could well be argued that the collection of the Qur’ān by ʿAlī b. abī Ṭālib soon after the demise of the Prophet would have been an appealing idea to some Shī’ites who could have used it as further proof of ʿAlī’s merits and proximity to the Prophet. Likewise, the tradition that all the other caliphs either commissioned or possessed their own copies of the Qur’ān, hence depriving ʿAlī of the same privilege, would have certainly diminished the Shī’ite claim for ʿAlī’s divine right for political and religious leadership or Imāma.
Considering the political and religious profits that some early caliphs accumulate through compiling a personal copy of the Qur’ān, some followers of ʿAlī must have been troubled by the lack of similar esteemed status. Consequently, it is conceivable that some concerned Shī’ites would have responded to this by fabricating traditions. Nevertheless, without a rigorous study of the traditions, it is impossible to prove or disprove these hypotheses.
of rijāl deal with problematic isnāds through engaging in a thorough
examination of the isnād patterns. It focuses on a sample model
that has been undertaken to identify an informant of the renowned
Shiʿi hadith collector Abū Jaʿfar Muḥammad ibn Yaʿqūb ibn
Isḥāq al‑Kulaynī (329/941), recorded in his magnum opus, al‑Kāfī
fī ʿIlm al‑Dīn. Upon identifying the problem through examining
the variants of the tradition, the paper then tries to ascertain the
identity of the problematic reporter in the sanad by first looking into
classical rijāl works such as those written by Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd
Allāh al‑Asadī al‑Najāshī (d. 450/1058) and Muḥammad ibn al‑Ḥasan
al‑Ṭūsī (385/996-460/1067). After exhausting these classical sources, it
examines how the more recent prominent Shiʿi scholars of rijāl, such
as Ḥusayn ibn Muḥammad Taqī Nurī al‑Ṭabarsī (d. 1902), Sayyid
Ḥusayn Ṭabāṭabāʾī Borūjerdī (d. 1961), Ayatollah al‑Sayyid Mūsā
al‑Shubayirī al‑Zanjānī, and Ayatollah Muḥammad ṣif al‑Muḥsinī
deal with the issue. Finally, the paper undertakes an additional study
of the isnād patterns mentioned in al‑Kāfī in order to assess the
findings of Shiʿi scholars of rijāl.
Date: 27-29th April 2023
Location: The University of Toronto, ON, Canada (In-person) • Jackman Humanities Building, 170 St. George Street, Toronto, ON M5R 2M8 (Map)
Organising Committee: Dr Seyfeddin Kara, Prof Walid Saleh, Prof Suleyman Dost and Prof Karen Ruffle
Keynote speaker: Professor Marion H Katz, New York University
This conference is jointly hosted by the Department for the Study of Religion, the University of Toronto and the Centre for Theology and Religious Studies, Lund University. It is a three-day conference and will take place between 27-29th of April 2023. It is primarily funded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie grant agreement, SSHRC Connection Grant and funds from the University of Toronto and Lund University. Please see below for detailed information about the conference and its theme.
It brings together diverse and exciting voices in the field of Islamic studies to challenge existing disciplinary boundaries and traditional conventions of the field. We approach Islamic studies as an integrative field, where the Muslim tradition is taken as a whole in its complexity, be it confessional, material or historical. Therefore, the conference does not privilege any approach but brings scholars from various fields and confessional specialities. We are particularly attuned to creative methods and unexplored sources investigating new questions within multiple frameworks. We are hoping to have a fresh conversation to catch up with new, invigorating scholarship in the field and take stock of the new realities imposed on us in the last two dramatic years.
On the face of it, this would seem to be a rather natural approach if only because of Sunnism's religious, social and political achievements. Yet, given the global nature of the academic inquiry today, and the availability of a host of heretofore unknown and therefore unstudied sources, many scholars have questioned this tendency towards Sunni bias, pointing to the very fertile and rich dimensions of the Shiʿi tradition (Twelver, Ismaʿili, and Zaydi), and other historically significant expressions of Islam, such as Ibadism. Yet this broader perspective on the Islamic tradition’s key and underrepresented sources also runs the risk of creating an academic silo in which, for example, such a major dimension of Islam as Shiʿism becomes a subfield of Islamic studies rather than actually breaking into the mainstream of Islamic studies per se.
In the face of such a challenge, there is also a unique third position, which entails a more holistic approach to studying Islam and Muslim sources. The point of emphasis here is to not see Sunni sources as determinative of the categories of Islamic studies or other important Muslim traditions such as the Shiʿi as a distinctive and therefore confined sub-unit of Islamic studies, but, rather, both Sunni and Shiʿi approaches (along with Ibadism) as all informative, and thus (to the extent possible) normative expressions of the Islamic tradition’s vast pre-modern traditions. Approaching the Islamic tradition in this manner is sure to yield promising results for the field, especially for the scholars of the formative period of Islam whose research has often been adversely affected due to scarcity of sources.
This conference aims to bring a more holistic study of the formative period of Islam front and centre. “Holistic study” refers to the comprehension of various manifestations of Islam as intimately interconnected and explicable only by reference to the whole. In this sense, the conference wants to illustrate, among other things, how one should not look at Islamic studies in Sunni and Shiʿi (along with Ibadism) contexts separately but see their connections, interaction and influence.
Selected conference papers will be published as an edited volume (details TBD). Please contact the Conference Coordinators, Seyfeddin Kara: seyfeddin.kara@utoronto.ca or Suleyman Dost: suleyman.dost@utoronto.ca for further information.
Funding: This project is primarily funded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie grant agreement No: 101022180 — TIQ.
Panels
Panel 1: Islamic Studies in Global Perspective
Chair: Amira Mittermaier, U of T
Chiara Formichi, Cornell University, Ithaca NY
Brannon Ingram, Northwestern University, Chicago IL
Youssef Carter, UNC Chapel Hill
Jazmin Graves, UNC Greensboro
Panel 2: The Qur’an
Chair: Walid Saleh, U of T
Devin Stewart, Emory University
Asma Hilali, Université de Lille
Tahseen Thaver, Princeton University
Marijn Van Putten, Leiden University
Panel 3: Hadith: Sunni and Shi’i Constellations
Chair: Arafat A. Razzaque, U of T
Andreas Goerke, University of Edinburgh
Ash Geissinger, Carleton University, Ottawa, ON
Ed Hayes, Radboud University, Nijmegen
Seyfeddin Kara, U of T and Lund University
Panel 4: Islamic Law Between History and Praxis
Chair: Mohammad Fadel, U of T
Robert Gleave, Exeter University
Ersilia Francesca, Napoli University
Josie Hendrickson, University of Alberta
Aun Hasan Ali, University of Colorado Boulder
Panel 5: Gender and Sexuality in Islam
Chair: Ari Schriber, U of T
Serena Tolino, Professor, University of Bern
Yafa Shanneik, Lund University
Shelina Khoja-Moolji, Georgetown University
Panel 6: Material Culture and Islam
Chair: Suleyman Dost, U of T
Richard McGregor, Vanderbilt University
Teren Sevea, Harvard University
Eleonore Cellard, Collège de France
Adam Bursi, Postdoctoral Fellow, Utrecht University
Panel 7: Race and Identity from Classical to Modern Islam
Chair: Natalie Rothman, U of T
Najam Haider, Barnard College Columbia University
Tobias Matthiesen, Stanford University
Katherine Merriman, University of Detroit-Mercy
Panel 8: Sufism and Alid Devotion
Chair: Shuaib Ally, U of T
Cyrus Zargar, University of Central Florida
Ayesha Irani, University of Massachusetts Boston
Nebil Husayn, University of Miami
Vinay Khetia, McMaster University
Panel 9: New direction in Shiʿi Studies
Chair: Karen Ruffle, U of T
Tahera Qutbuddin, Chicago University
Deborah Tor, University of Notre Dame
Oliver Scharbrodt, Lund University
Olly Akkermann, Freie Universität Berlin