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This event will begin promptly at 17.00 BST
Based on a synthesis of decades of scholarship in numerous languages, The Caliph and the Imam: The Making of Sunnism and Shiism, is the first truly global and longue dur茅e history of Sunni-Shi士i relations. Moving chronologically, his book outlines how over the centuries Sunnism and Shi士ism became Islam鈥檚 two main branches, and how Muslim Empires embraced specific sectarian identities. Focussing on connections between the Indian subcontinent and the Middle East, it reveals how colonial rule and the modern state institutionalised sectarian divisions and at the same time led to pan-Islamic resistance and Sunni and Shi士i revivalism.
It is based on fieldwork across the Islamic world, including in the Gulf States, Lebanon, Iraq and India, and a wide range of primary and secondary sources. It seeks to draw out the connections between different periods and regions, especially the instrumentalisation of memories of earlier conflict in the modern era. It also looks at the impact of printing and editing of Islamic 鈥渃lassics鈥� in Arabic and Persian on the establishment of more rigid sectarian identities. As Matthiesen shows, however, though Sunnism and Shiism have had a long and at times antagonistic history, most Muslims have led lives characterised by confessional ambiguity and peaceful co-existence. Tensions arise when sectarian identity becomes linked to politics. In this talk, Matthiesen will outline his motivations for writing the book as well as some of the challenges he faced in the process. He will furthermore explain how the book contributes to and departs from earlier work and how it can contribute to discussions of religion and politics more broadly, especially in the early modern period.
Islamic History and Thought Lecture Series
Hosted by the Institute of Ismaili Studies (London) and convened by Dr Orkhan Mir-Kasimov, 迟丑别听Islamic History and Thought Lecture Series听is designed to invite scholars of various international academic institutions, specialising in intellectual, social and political aspects of medieval and early modern Islamic societies, to present and discuss their research. Watch previous lectures on our听.
Speakers
Toby Matthiesen
Lecturer
Toby Matthiesen is Senior Lecturer in Global Religious Studies (Islam) at the Department of Religion and Theology of the University of Bristol and has previously held fellowships at the Universities of Oxford, Venice, Stanford, Cambridge, and the LSE. He is the author of (Stanford University Press, 2013), and (Cambridge University Press, 2015).听 was published by Oxford University Press in 2023.
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Faisal Devji
Professor
Faisal Devji is Professor of Indian History and Director of the Asian Studies Centre at St. Antony鈥檚 College, University of Oxford. He has held faculty positions at the New School in New York, Yale University and the University of Chicago, from where he also received his PhD in Intellectual History. He is a Fellow at New York University鈥檚 Institute of Public Knowledge and Yves Otramane Chair at the Graduate Institute in Geneva.听Recent publications include听Islam After Liberalism,听The Impossible Indian: Gandhi and the Temptation of Violence,听and听Muslim Zion: Pakistan as a Political Idea.
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Views expressed in this lecture are those of the presenting scholars, not necessarily of IIS, the Ismaili community or leadership. Promotion of this lecture is not an explicit endorsement of the ideas presented.
Cover photo: Coyau听/听听/听