Source: The Islamic Monthly by Khalil Andani
If Islamophobia means fear and misunderstanding of Muslims, one could say Ismaili Muslims have suffered similar effects throughout their storied history, mostly at the hands of other Muslims. After an eventful thousand years of persecution, polemics and targeted propaganda by other Muslims, Ismaili Muslims and their hereditary Imams have emerged today onto the global public sphere with a message of hope based on acts of compassion and pluralism. And yet, the general public and other Muslims’ basic knowledge of Ismaili Islam remains fraught with misunderstanding and myths. This year marks a milestone in the centuries-old history of Ismaili Muslims and presents an opportunity to become better acquainted with this minority branch of Shia Islam, which has made significant intellectual and cultural contributions to Islamic civilization in the past, and continues to do so today.
Read more – Dated: July 6, 2017
The Islamic Monthly (TIM) is an independent, nonreligious, U.S. based hybrid print and digital publication that fosters discussion on a broad range of issues and concerns related to the modern world and has been he recipient of several awards. TIM’s editor-in-chief is Amina Chaudary and its Advisory Board includes Karen Armstrong, Noah Feldman, and Sherman Jackson.
Khalil Andani is a SSHRC Fellow and doctoral (Ph.D) candidate in Islamic studies at Harvard University focusing on Islamic theology, philosophy, and intellectual history and holds a Master of Theological Studies degree (MTS 2014) from Harvard Divinity School. His publications include a forthcoming article about the Ismaili influence on al-Ghazali’s cosmology in the Oxford Journal of Islamic Studies, two peer reviewed articles on the Survey of Ismaili Studies in Religion Compass, a chapter on Nasir-i Khusraw’s Ismaili philosophy in the The Oxford Handbook of Islamic Philosophy, and two articles comparing Ismaili cosmology and the Christian metaphysics of Meister Eckhart in Sacred Web. Khalil is also a Chartered Professional Accountant (CA-CPA) and has completed Bachelor of Mathematics (BMath) and Master of Accounting degrees at the University of Waterloo (2008).
Related
