Dr Maria De Cillis

Monograph

• Ismaili Thought in the Mediterranean: Intellectual Trends in Renaissance Italy. (Forthcoming).

• Salvation and Destiny in Islam: The Shiʿi Ismaili Perspective of Ḥamīd al-Dīn al-Kirmānī. (I. B. Tauris and the Institute of Ismaili Studies, London and New York, 2018). 

• Free Will and Predestination in Islamic Thought. Theoretical Compromises in the Works of Avicenna, al-Ghazālī and Ibn ʿArabī, (Routledge, London and New York, 2014). This monograph has been translated into Arabic as:  

• Bayna al-ḥurriyya al-insāniyya wa’l-qadar al-ilahiyya fi’l-fikr al-islāmiyya. Translated by Muḥammad Salāḥ (The National Centre for Translation, Cairo, 2019).  

Co-Edited Volume

• Esotérisme shi’ite, ses racines et ses prolongements. Shiʿi Esotericism: Its Roots and Developments, Amir-Moezzi, De Cillis, De Smet, Mir-Kasimov, eds., (Brepols, Turnhout, 2016).

• “Intellectual Import of the Ismaili dāʿīs in Central Asia: Al-Kirmānī, al-Sijistānī and al-Rāzī on Nature and the significance of their discussions in the Fatimid Context”, in D. Dagiev (ed.), Tajiks: History, Religion, Culture and People. (Forthcoming, 2023).
• “The Aristotelian Concept of Quinta Essentia and its Perception in Shiʿi Islam”, in Mélanges d’études shi’ites et islamologiques offertes au Professeur Mohammad Ali Amir-Moezzi / Shi’i and other Islamic Studies in Honour of Professor Mohammad Ali Amir-Moezzi, Bibliothèque de l’Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes, Brepols in association with the Institute of Ismaili Studies. (Forthcoming, 2023).
• ‘Ḥamīd al-Dīn al-Kirmānī and Muʿtazilism: An Enquiry into an Opaque Relationship’, in Raison et quête de la sagesse Hommage à Christian Jambet, (Brepols, Turnhout, 2020), pp. 229-257.
• ‘A Preliminary Study on the Significance of Qaḍāʾ and Qadar in the Eighth Chapter of al-Kirmānī’s Kitāb al-Riyāḍ’ in Esotérisme shi’ite, ses racines et ses prolongements: Shiʿi Esotericism: Its Roots and Developments, Amir-Moezzi, De Cillis, De Smet, Mir-Kasimov, eds., (Brepols, Turnhout, 2016), pp. 345-368.   

• ‘Al-Kirmānī’s Perspective on Spiritual Assistance and the Accomplishment of Prophethood in the Story of Moses and Shuʿayb’. (Forthcoming).
• ‘La Questione del libero Arbitrio nel pensiero Islamico Classico’. Rivista Fondazione Oasis. Cristiani e Musulmani nel Mondo Globale 26 (2017). In Italian. Translated into English as ‘Muslims and Free Will’ in Oasis. Christians and Muslims in the Global World, 26 (2017). https://www.oasiscenter.eu/it/i-musulmani-e-il-libero-arbitrio
• ‘Discussions on Love, Determinism and Providence in Ibn Sina (Avicenna) and al-Kirmani’ Conference Proceedings (International Conference of Arabic and Islamic Studies), Venice, June 13-14, 2016.
• ‘Avicenna on Matter, Matter’s Disobedience and Evil: Reconciling Metaphysical Stances and Qur’anic Perspectives, Transcendent Philosophy 12 (2011), pp. 147-168.

8 Encyclopaedia Entries for the Biographical Dictionary of Islamic Civilisation and Culture, Mustafa Shah and Abdel Haleem, ed. (I. B. Tauris, 2022).

• Abū Ya'lā Ibn al-Farrā
• Abū'l-Mu'īn al-Nasafī
• Ishāq ibn Hunayn
• Abū Ishāq al-Isfarāyīnī
• Izz al-Dawla Ibn Kammūna
• Ja'far al-Barmakī
• Al-Kharrāz
• Al-Khāzin

1 Entry (Hamid al-Din al-Kirmani) for the Encyclopaedia of the Ismailis (The Institute of Ismaili Studies, London), 2022.

• Özgür Koca Islam, Causality, and Freedom. From the Medieval to the Modern Era (Cambridge University Press, 2020). Pp. 287. in the Religious Studies Journal, CUP, forthcoming, 2021.
• Seyfeddin Kara, In Search of Ali ibn Abi Talib’s Codex: History and Traditions of the Earliest Copy of the Qur’an. The Review of Qur'anic Research, the online companion to the International Qur'anic Studies Association (IQSA). (14 July 2019) https://members.iqsaweb.org/page-18221 

• Annotated Introduction and English Translation of M. A. Amir-Moezzi, La Preuve de Dieu. La mystique shi’ite à travers l’œuvre de Kulaynî (ixe-xe siècle), In collaboration with Dr Orkan Mir-Kasimov. (Forthcoming, 2023).
• Translation from the French of the Introductory paper by Prof M. Yahia featuring in The Study of Shi‘i Islam. History, Theology and Law, F. Daftary and G. Miskinzoda, ed., (London, 2014), pp. 253-270.

• Co-organizer for the Book Launch of Janis Esots’ Patterns of Wisdom in Safavid Iran. The Philosophical School of Isfahan and the Gnostic of Shiraz, Aga Khan Centre, London, 26 May 2022.
• Guest Speaker at Central Eurasian Studies Society, Annual Conference (CESS, 2022), Hosted by Indiana University, Bloominghton, Indiana. Paper to be presented: “Intellectual Contributions of the Ismaili dāʿīs in Central Asia during the Fatimid Time”. Forthcoming, October, 2022.
• Guest Speaker at The 2nd International Symposium on Diversity and Unity in Transnational Shi’a Islam organised by Harvard University in collaboration with the Institute of Ismaili Studies, London. (Online, 9-13 May 2022). Talk presented: “Shiʿi Islam, Philosophy and the Greek Intellectual Legacy”.
• Guest Speaker at The International Conference Fatimid Cosmopolitanism: History, Material Culture, Politics, and Religion, organised by the Institute of Ismaili Studies (London, 6-9 December 2021). Paper presented: “Al-Kirmānī’s Contribution to Intellectual Cosmopolitanism in the Fatimid Age”. 
• Chair Panel: Philosophical and Theological Debates related to Ismaili Doctrines for the IIS International Conference Islamic Traditions in ‘Greater Khurāsān’: Ismailis, Sufis and Sunnis (24-27 February 2021)
• Chair for the Institute of Ismaili Studies Second PhD Seminar 
  Chairing the panel for: The Conceptual History of Wilaya: Shared World View of Shi’ism and Sufism by Shayesteh Ghofrani, University of Exeter; The Use of Hadith Literature in Reinforcing Shi'i Identity in the Safavid Period by Zarangez Karimova, University of Exeter; The Development of the Mystical Theology and Ethics of Rindi in Persian Poetry from the Eleventh to Fifteenth Centuries by Rafiq Ajani, University of Exeter.
• Guest Speaker at the 10th International Colloquium for the Societé Internationale d’Histoire des Sciences et de la Philosophie Arabes et Islamiques SIHSPAI (Science, Philosophy and Kalām in Islamic Civilization: The Old and the New) (Naples, 9-11 September 2019). Paper presented: Kalām and Falsafa in al-Kirmānī’s Discourse: an Ismaili Insight on the Intellect, Soul and the Human Acquisition of Salvation. 
• Book Launch and Lecture: Salvation and Destiny in Islam: Sketching Ḥamīd al-Dīn al-Kirmānī’s Views on the qaḍāʾ wa’l-qadar Debate (13 May 2019), The Aga Khan Centre, London.  
• Guest Speaker at the Muhiddin Ibn ʿArabi Society (MIAS LATINA):   Presented paper: “Immutabilità e Perfezione nell’Unicità dell'Esistenza: Un’Analisi Comparativa tra Sufismo e Neoplatonismo  Con accenni alla Teoria Ismailita”. Turin, Italy (22-23 September 2018).
• Guest Speaker at the 34th International Symposium for the Muhiddin Ibn ʿArabi Society: Presented paper: ‘Free Will and Predestination in Ibn ʿArabī's Thought. Between Philosophy and Mysticism’, SOAS (6 May 2017).
• Conference paper: BRAIS (British Association for Islamic Studies): Presented paper: ‘Al-Kirmānī’s Perspective on Spiritual Assistance and the Accomplishment of Prophethood in the Story of Moses and Shuʿayb’, University of Chester (11-13 April, 2017)
• Chair of the panel on Sufi-Ismaili Relationships for the Conference ‘Intellectual Interactions in the Islamic World: The Ismaili Tread’ (Convenor. O. Mir-Kasimov), The Institute of Ismaili Studies, London, 19-21 October 2016.
• Participation to the Workshop 'Introduction to Arabic Manuscript Studies' (Led by Prof Adam Gacek), The Institute of Ismaili Studies, 4-8 April, 2016.
• Conference paper: ‘Discussions on Love and Providence in Avicenna and al-Kirmani’, International Conference of Arabic and Islamic Studies, Venice, Italy, 13-14 June, 2016.
• Lecture ‘Al-Kirmani's Philosophy’ for ITREB, The Institute of Ismaili Studies, London, October, 2012.
• Lecture: ‘Ibn Sina and al-Kirmani on God, Creation, Emanation and Origination’, The Institute of Ismaili Studies, London, July 2011.