مجموعة المكتبة الطبية الحديثة

Editing key texts of the Later Middle and Early Modern Periods of Islamicate Intellectual History

This call for applications pursues a novel approach to one of the fundamental problems of Islamicate History, and Islamicate intellectual history in particular: With the support of the Alexander von Humboldt Kolleg of the Islamicate Intellectual History of the Later Middle and Early Modern Periods at the University of Bonn, scholars are invited to submit a proposal for the critical edition and/or translation into English of a key text of this period. With an estimated 85% of the texts of the Later Middle and Early Modern periods remaining unpublished, basic research ("Grundlagenforschung") is required to make accessible key texts. In the case of Islamic Studies such basic research means indeed preparing critical editions of primary texts based on a careful selection and comparison of the extant manuscript witnesses of relevant texts.

In a time and world where critical editions are not the stuff that attract financial support, this is a unique opportunity for those scholars for whom solid philological work means something. Applications for the completion of an edition that has already been begun are also welcome.

With this, first, call for applications, we invite scholars to apply for two different strands of residential fellowships, one (i) for an already identified work that we believe deserves publication, and one (ii) bottom-up proposal for the preparation and publication of a critical edition of a text freely chosen and proposed by the applicant. The texts should pertain to the period 1200-1600 and can be written in Arabic, Persian, or Ottoman or Chagatay Turkish.

(i) Call for applications to prepare a critical edition of one of the unpublished parts of Ṣadr al-Sharīʿa’s (d. 747/1347) Taʿdīl al-ʿulūm. Applications are particularly encouraged from such scholars who have previously worked on Ṣadr al-Sharīʿa and/or have already started preparing a (partial) edition, though entirely new projects are equally welcome. The length of the fellowship depends on the reasoned timeline proposed in the application.

(ii) Call for applications to prepare a critical edition and/or English translation of a relevant text freely chosen and suggested by the applicant.

Eligibility: Scholars of all nationalities are eligible to apply. Applicants should hold the Ph.D. or equivalent in hand by the time of the start of their scholarship, usually in October of each year, and must prove excellent knowledge of the academic field, historical context, and literary language in which was composed the work they propose to edit, together with a thorough understanding of, and preferably prior experience in, reading and editing Islamic manuscripts according to the latest academic standards.

Duration: While Fellowships at the Alexander von Humboldt Kolleg are usually for the duration of 9 months, the length of the fellowships can be adjusted to the actual time needed for the critical edition of a given text, depending on the time necessary for completing such a project as reasoned in the proposal.

Fellowship: In addition to a monthly stipend, this research fellowship will provide successful applicants with working space as well as access to the various libraries and other research facilities at the University of Bonn. We shall also be happy to facilitate contact with other colleagues and research institutions in Bonn and in Germany. Depending on the experience of the applicant, a stipend equivalent to in the amount of an Alexander von Humboldt Post-doctoral Research Fellowship (2.650 Euro/month) or Alexander von Humboldt Senior Research Fellowship (for scholars with a university post or equivalent) plus travel to and from Germany, and financial support to acquire the relevant manuscripts will be awarded. Information about support needed for the acquisition of relevant manuscripts should be provided together with a reasoned budget at the time of application.

The Sanaa Palimpsest: The Transmission of the Qur'an in the First Centuries AH provides a new annotated edition of the two layers of the "Sanaa Palimpsest," one of the oldest Qur'an manuscripts yet discovered. It features a critical introduction that offers new hypotheses concerning the transmission of the Qur'an during the first centuries of Islam. The palimpsest contains two superimposed Qur'anic texts within two layers of writing, on thirty-eight leaves of parchment collectively numbered MS 01.27-1 in the Dar al-Makhtutat, Sanaa, Yemen. The palimpsest's lower text, which has been dated to the first century of Islam (seventh century CE), was subsequently erased and the parchment was later reused for writing another Qur'anic text, which remains visible in natural light. This upper text is thought to date from the second century of Islam (eighth century CE). The two layers were imaged in 2007 by a French-Italian mission.

Wordpress All-In-One for Dummies
Lisa Sabin-Wilson
Set up your WordPress site today!

WordPress is a state-of-the-art blog publishing platform with a focus on aesthetics, web standards, and usability. The latest version of WordPress.org will be replaced in the fall of 2018 with WordPress 5.0. This will include a major change with the addition of new editor Gutenberg.

BRAIS 2017 Call for Papers

Fourth Annual Conference of the British Association for Islamic Studies

Tuesday 11 April (5pm) - Thursday 13 April (5pm) 2017

Chester Centre for Islamic Studies, University of Chester

Call for panels and papers

Following BRAIS’s successful conferences in Edinburgh (April 2014) and London (April 2015 and April 2016), the organisers invite proposals for whole panels or individual papers on any aspect or sub-discipline of Islamic Studies, for the Fourth Annual Conference of BRAIS. Islamic Studies is broadly understood to include both Muslim-majority and Muslim-minority contexts as well as historical, textual, and contemporary anthropological and sociological approaches.

Pre-arranged panels are particularly welcome on themes within the subject area, such as:

Qur’anic studies
Sociology of Islam
Law
Muslims in Britain/Europe/North America and other minority contexts
History, Medieval and Modern
History of Science
Philosophy and Theology
Muslims in Africa and Asia
Intellectual History
Islamic Art and Architecture
Diversity within Islam
Economics and Finance
Education
Gender Studies
Islam in the Media
Interreligious Relations
Individual proposals will also be considered, and, if accepted, will then be grouped with similar submissions by the conference organisers.

How to submit you panel/paper proposal

For panels, a 200-word outline of the theme of the panel, together with 200-word abstracts of each paper and the details of each presenter, should be submitted using the form which is available HERE. Please save the document as follows: "Surname of panel chair_first name of panel chair_panel". Example: "Smith_John_panel".

For individual papers, a 200-word abstract of the paper should be submitted using the form which is available HERE. Please save the document as follows: "Your surname_your first name_paper". Example: "Smith_John_paper".

ALL PANEL AND PAPER SUBMISSIONS MUST BE IN ENGLISH. SUBMISSIONS IN LANGUAGES OTHER THAN ENGLISH WILL NOT BE CONSIDERED.

All completed forms should be sent by email attachment to brais@ed.ac.uk by 5pm (UK time) on Wednesday 30th November 2016. You will receive an email notification confirming the receipt of your form.

IF YOU DO NOT RECEIVE A NOTIFICATION RECEIPT, PLEASE CONTACT US.

All panel and individual paper proposals will be reviewed (double blind) by two members of the BRAIS Conference Committee. We will contact you at the end of January 2017 to inform you as to whether your panel/paper has been accepted.

If you have any questions, please contact the Conference Committee on: brais@ed.ac.uk.

Plenary sessions at the conference

The conference committee is very pleased to announce that plenary lectures at the conference will be delivered by Prof Bryan Turner (Australian Catholic University) on ‘Can there be a “Sociology of Islam”?’; Profs Humayun Ansari (Royal Holloway, London) and Ron Geaves (Cardiff University) on ‘The History of Muslims in Britain’; and Profs Everett Rowson (New York University) and Gudrun Krämer (Free University of Berlin) on the new edition of The Encyclopaedia of Islam (kindly sponsored by Brill).

Travel to/from Chester

Chester is easily accessible, either by train from London Euston (2 hours) or via Manchester Airport and Liverpool John Lennon Airport.

Part 2/3

An understanding between the world view of Purely Science, and of the outlook of a Religious worldview (Tauhid)

🌾Disadvantages of an Only Pure Scientific Outlook:

📍"Science is like a powerful searchlight in the long winter night, illuminating a certain area without disclosing anything beyond its border" (pg. 69).

📍"The scientist's world view is like the knowledge about the elephant gained by those who touched it in the dark. The one who felt the ear supposed the animal is to be shaped like a fan; the one who felt it's leg supposed it to be shaped like a column; and the one who felt it's back supposed it to be shaped like a throne" (pg. 69).

📍"From the viewpoint of science, the face of the world changes from day to day because science is based on hypothesis and experiment, not on rational and self-evident principles. Hypothesis and experiment have a provisional value; so the scientific world view is shaky and inconsistent and cannot serve as a foundation for faith" (pg. 69).

📍"The (only) scientific world view conduces to action by giving man the power and capacity to 'change' and to 'control' nature; it allows him to render nature subservient to his own desires" (pg. 72).

Reference 📚
-"Fundamentals of Islamic Thought: God, Man, and the Universe" by Shaheed Ayatollah Murtudha Mutahari

@AbodeOfWisdom

Robert Jastrow, the famous astrophysicist, and one of the leading NASA scientist of his time stated:

"At this moment it seems as though science will never be able to raise the curtain on the mystery of creation. For the scientist who has lived by his faith in the power of (only) reason, the story ends like a bad dream. He has scaled the mountains of ignorance; he is about to conquer the highest peak; as he pulls himself over the final rock, he is greeted by a band of theologians who have been sitting there for centuries".

References:
• 'God and the Astronomers' by Robert Jastrow, pg. 107
-----also found in----
• 'The Language of God' by Francis S. Collins, pg. 66

🍃🌸🍃🌸🍃🌸🍃🌸🍃🌸🍃🌸🍃🌸
Spiritual Wayfaring Topic 1:

💠 Awakening (Yaqzah): The first step in spiritual wayfaring

🍃 The state of repentance is an extremely noble state and it is important that the weak and sinful servant of Allah continually be in such a state before Him.

🍃 This state is normally achieved after a form of awakening with regards to one’s actions. The scholars of ethics and spirituality say that for self-reform and wayfaring on the path of self-struggle, it is important for one to develop a sense of awareness in the beginning, which is known as “Yaqzah” or the awakening.

🍃 In order to acquire this state, man must pay attention to his position in existence, and deliberate the nature of the relationship between Allah and himself.

🍃 Of course, such states are acquired by everyone during their lives and the sense of awareness is created; however, it is important that man benefit from this awareness on the path of servitude.

🍃 Allah says in a Hadith e Qudsi to Prophet Dawud

💠“Verily, there are breezes for your Lord throughout the days of your life. Beware, and lie in wait for them, and do not refrain (distance yourself) from them."

🍃 One of the forms of awareness is paying attention to learning the Quran from the teachings of the Imams such that one must benefit from them in the best manner, value his time, and alongside acquiring their teachings, take steps toward self-reform.

📚*Ayatullah Tahriri*, Commentary on Munajat e Taibeen, pg 31

📱@AbodeofWisdom

Part 2/3

An understanding between the world view of Purely Science, and of the outlook of a Religious worldview (Tauhid)

🌾Disadvantages of an Only Pure Scientific Outlook:

📍"Science is like a powerful searchlight in the long winter night, illuminating a certain area without disclosing anything beyond its border" (pg. 69).

📍"The scientist's world view is like the knowledge about the elephant gained by those who touched it in the dark. The one who felt the ear supposed the animal is to be shaped like a fan; the one who felt it's leg supposed it to be shaped like a column; and the one who felt it's back supposed it to be shaped like a throne" (pg. 69).

📍"From the viewpoint of science, the face of the world changes from day to day because science is based on hypothesis and experiment, not on rational and self-evident principles. Hypothesis and experiment have a provisional value; so the scientific world view is shaky and inconsistent and cannot serve as a foundation for faith" (pg. 69).

📍"The (only) scientific world view conduces to action by giving man the power and capacity to 'change' and to 'control' nature; it allows him to render nature subservient to his own desires" (pg. 72).

Reference 📚
-"Fundamentals of Islamic Thought: God, Man, and the Universe" by Shaheed Ayatollah Murtudha Mutahari

@AbodeOfWisdom