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On Friday 26 September 2025, ¹ú²úÊÓÆµ (IIS) and the Aga Khan University’s Institute for the Study of Muslim Civilisations (AKU-ISMC) held their third annual Graduate Conference at the Aga Khan Centre in London. Across five panels, graduate researchers from the GPISH and STEP programmes and AKU-ISMC examined how intellectual inquiry, creative expression and ethical frameworks shape the futures of Muslim societies — from people’s action committees in Gilgit-Baltistan and digital »å²¹Ê¿·É²¹ in Pakistan to Mughal court politics, the didactic poetry of Nasir-i Khusraw and the Alamut of a video game.

Welcome address | Professor Zayn Kassam

Conference Panels


  • Haider Ali (AKU-ISMC 2026)
  • The Position of the Ismaili Imamat in International Diplomacy: Present and Future
    Moiz Rajwani (GPISH 2026)

  • Noor Mansour (GPISH 2026)

  • Gulguncha Lalbekova (GPISH 2025)

  • Saad Barcha (GPISH 2025)

  • Mohsin Ali Baig (GPISH 2027)

  • Ameeqa Qureshi (GPISH 2027)
  • Imagining Inclusive Futures: Intersectionality and Queer Muslim Youth in Educational Curricula
    Nabila Esmail (STEP 2025)

  • Mehrullah Hussaini (STEP 2024)

  • Kiran Rehmat (GPISH 2026)

  • Imad Ali Khan (STEP 2026)
  • The Transition of Ismaili Doctrine from Neoplatonic Metaphysics to Contemporary Ethical Pragmatism
    Mubashir Shah-Artas (GPISH 2027)
  • From Pirs to Institutions: Navigating Identity and Tension in Transnational Ismailism in Afghanistan
    Nazeer Rasouli (GPISH 2026)

  • Saeedeh Kardan (GPISH 2025)

Now in its third year, the Graduate Conference gives aspiring researchers a shared platform to present work in progress and test ideas across disciplines. The 2025 edition drew on history, education, anthropology, political theory and the arts, reflecting the breadth of enquiry within the two institutes and the questions shaping Muslim societies today.

The 2026 conference, Muslim Lives in Transition: Continuity and Change in Contemporary Times, takes place on 28 September at the Aga Khan Centre and online. Registration is now open.