Dr. Christian Sahner gives a fluent and concise introduction to Christian life prior and after the Arab-Islamic conquests of the Levant including the phenomenon of conversion and martyrdom of executed Christian converts from Islam.
?EP017 Dr. Laury Silvers on her Abbasid crime fiction quartet The Sufi Mysteries
We really enjoyed our conversation with Dr. Silver, historian-turned-novelist. Dr. Silvers shows how the move from academic historian to novelist requires the same imagination that the study of history demands.
Review by listener Mohammed Amin
One of our valued listeners, Mohammed Amin, a retired PwC partner, wrote this review for his personal website.
Do have a shufti and tell us what you think.
?Dr. Sohaib Saeed on Fakhr al-Dīn al-Rāzī (d. 1210): life, works and legacy as exegesist
Very pleased to share our latest episode!
?New episode drops: Dr. Salman Younas on Abu Hanifa (d.767CE): Life, Works and Legacy
Listen here:
?Forthcoming conversation with Dr. Salman Younas on the Life, Works and Legacy of Sunni jurist, Abū Ḥanīfah (d.767CE)
We’re pleased to announce our forthcoming conversation with Dr. Salman Younas on the life, works and legacy of Abu Hanifa (d.767CE), the jurist and eponym of the Hanafi school of Sunni law.
Reply or email your questions before Saturday 15th August 10am BST.
?New episode drop: Dr. Khalil Andani on a brief history of Ismailism
Dr. Khalil Andani gives perhaps the most succinct introduction to the history of Ismailism. We cover their beginnings, understanding of revelation, the Qaramatians, the Fatimid caliphate and sub-sects.
It was a great pleasure to speak with Dr. Andani.
Sponsored by IHRC bookshop. Visit shop.ihrc.org.
Listen on your podcast platform of choice or here:
?Something unusual: our script for a forthcoming show plus an invite for your questions
We’re doing something we haven’t done before. We’re sharing the script for our forthcoming show. We’re doing this because we’re stuck for our fourth question before the final promo question. This month we’re interviewing Dr. Khalil Andani on an introduction to the history of Ismailism.
So here’s our script so far which we will modify with your questions. We want to stay in our golden zone of 30 minutes.
[intro jingle] Hello and welcome to episode 13 of the Abbasid History Podcast: an audio platform to examine premodern Islamic(ate) history and a global medieval past. We are sponsored by IHRC bookshop. Visit IHRC bookshop at shop.ihrc.org. I am your host, Talha Ahsan, a 1st year PhD student at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London. Now onto the show.
Ismailism, a branch of Shia Islam, attribute themselves to Ismail, who died in 762CE, the eldest son of the 6th Shia Imam Jaʿfar al-Ṣādiq. Ismailism rose at one point to become the largest branch of Shīʻism, climaxing as a political power with the Fatimid Caliphate in the tenth through twelfth centuries.
To discuss with me today an introduction to the history of Ismailism is Dr. Khalil Andani. Dr. Andani completed his PhD at Harvard before his current role as Assistant Professor of Religion at Augustana College.
Welcome Dr. Andani.
Let’s start at the beginning to distinguish Ismailism from Twelver Shi’ism and Sunnism. Twelver Shias believe the legitimate successor to Imam Jaʿfar al-Ṣādiq is his younger son, Mūsā al-Kāẓim. Sketch for us the reason for this split and the subsequent development in their different understandings of revelation and the Prophet’s spiritual and temporal legacy.
In the year 930, a group known as the Qaramatians, or in Arabic Qarāmiṭah, stole the black stone from the Kaʿbah in Mecca. They are often thought of being a manifestation of Ismailism. To what extent is this true.
[midtro jingle]
The high point for Ismailism comes with the Fatimid empire. Time doesn’t permit the fuller exposition required. Trace for us an outline of the rise and fall of this remarkable dynasty with sources for further reading and research.
[Listeners’ questions]
As we come to an end, tell us about your current and forthcoming work. You are active on social media and you share your lessons on YouTube.
Dr. Andani, thank you for being our guest.
[Outro jingle]
Send your questions before Wednesday 15th July 1am BST
?New episode drops: Dr. Eric Hanne on the Buyid Dynasty 934-1062CE: Rise, Fall and Legacy?
It was a great pleasure to speak with Dr. Hanne: funny, candid and insightful. He makes an impassioned call to avoid simple Sunni-Shia sectarian and Arab-Persian ethnic identities when looking at 10th century Baghdad.