This lecture will be held online (via Zoom) and begin promptly at 17.00 BST.
Since their compilations in the tenth and eleventh centuries CE, the four hadith books, al-Kāfī, al-Faqīh, al-Tahdhīb, and al-Istibṣār, have left an indelible mark on Shiʿi religiosity. The present study takes as its starting point the earliest instance in which these four compilations were collectively referred to as the Four Books (al-kutub al-arbaʿa). Dr Amin Ehteshámi investigate major developments in the period between the inception of this phrase in the fifteenth century and its consolidation as the demarcator of a unique Imami hadith corpus in the seventeenth century. Following the introduction, each section will focus on a figure whose ideas contributed to this consolidation process before summarizing the findings of the previous sections and reflect on the notion of hadith canonicity within the context of Imami jurisprudence during the period under study.
Islamic History and Thought Lecture Series (IHTLS) 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. IHTLS is hosted by the Institute of Ismaili Studies (London) and convened by Dr Orkhan Mir-Kasimov since November 2023 (previously Dr Fârès Gillon).
Learn more
Speakers
Amin Ehteshámi
Amin Ehteshámi, PhD, is a postdoctoral fellow at the Humboldt University of Berlin. He received his doctorate in Islamic Studies from the University of California, Berkeley where he wrote his dissertation on the scriptural thought of Fayż Kāshānī. He works on Islamic intellectual history, with a particular focus on theology, hadith, historiography, and legal hermeneutics.
Robert Gleave
Professor
Robert Gleave, is Professor of Arabic Studies in the Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies at the University of Exeter. From January 2023 until January 2026 he will be British Academy/Wolfson Professor with the research project “The Foundations of Modern Shi’ism: The End of Akhbarism and the Beginnings of Usulism”. He authored many publications. His research focuses on Islamic legal theory and practice, particularly legal hermeneutics, and the history of Shi’ite legal thought and institutions. He has directed a number of international research projects over the past 20 years exploring these issues.
Please note filming and photography may take place during the event, and be used across our website, newsletters and social media accounts. These could include broad shots of the audience and lecture theatre, speakers during the talk, and of audience members participating in Q&A.
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 image: Frontispiece to the fourth volume of Sultan Baybars' monumental Qurʾan. Cairo, 1304-6 (BL Add MS 22409, ff. 1v-2r). Public domain.