‘Open access’

There were several occasions over the past decade for scholars with different specialities to interpret rather than describe the historical and cultural phenomenon of the Fatimids. At the time of the great colloquium celebrating Cairo's first millennium, the late Gustav von Grunebaum, Professor Bernard Lewis, and I in a more limited sense, sought to identify the reasons for Fatimid successes, failures, or simply cultural or historical peculiarities.

Qur'an as a source of dialogue amongst different belief systems. Through deft exegesis of various Qur'anic verses, in Sufi tradition, the claim is made that the Qur'an not only supports, but also wholeheartedly encourages the pluralism of faiths in today's world while vehemently opposing religious nationalism and fanaticism.

In establishing their sovereignty across the North African stretch of the Mediterranean, the Fatimids (909-1171 CE) faced an essential challenge: how was a Shiʿi dynasty to enjoy political respect and legitimacy in an overwhelmingly Sunni setting.

This article by Dr Shafique N. Virani focused on how Persian historians, following Ata-Malik Juwayni's eyewitness accounts in "The History of the World Conqueror", record the complete annihilation of the Shi'i Ismaili community, centred at Alamut, in the thirteenth century Mongol invasions that devastated the Muslim world.

Eight members of the Class of 2007 were honoured at a graduation ceremony at the Ismaili Centre in London on the afternoon of 10 September 2007. Prince Rahim Aga Khan was the Chief Guest and delivered the commencement address at the graduation. In attendance were over 250 guests, including Prince Hussain Aga Khan, Princess Khaliya Aga Khan, governors, faculty, staff and students of the IIS, senior leaders of the Ismaili Community in the UK as well as donors and supporters of the IIS.

The second publication in the Institute’s new World of Islam series, Beyond the Mosque: Diverse Spaces of Muslim Worship, is a first person exploration of sacred spaces across the breadth of the Muslim world.

Shainool Jiwa charts the Fatimids’ expansion, the reasons behind their ultimate fall by the hand of Saladin, and the legacy that continues with the living Ismaili communities today.