Keble College
University of Oxford
OX1 3PG
Oxford

Clerical Authority in Shi’ite Islam: Studying the Hawza

A conference of the “Clerical Authority in Shi’ite Islam” project
Sponsored by the British Academy,
The British Institute of Persian Studies,
The British Society for Middle Eastern Studies
Project Director: Robert Gleave (University of Exeter)

28th-30th March 2012


Day 1 - Wednesday 28th March 2012

10.30 Coffee/Tea

11.00 Introduction and Welcome: Robert Gleave (Hawza Project Director and President of the British Institute of Persian Studies); Alistair Newton (President of the British Society for Middle Eastern Studies)

11.30 Keynote address: Professor Augustus Richard Norton (Boston University, University of Oxford, Centre for Islamic Studies): Irshad (guidance) not Quietism: the Hawza in contemporary Iraq

12.30 Lunch

13.30 Jasim Husain, The future of Shia religious authority: the impact of modern technologies and the need for professionalisation

14.00 Morgan Clark, Scholarly legacies and cumulative change within the Shi‘i tradition: The example of Ayatollah Fadlallah

14.30 Mirjam Kunkler, The transnational network of Jami’at al-Zahra

15.00 Muhammad Reza Tajri, The Decentralisation of the Hawza System and the Disintegration of A‘lamiyyah

15.30 Tea/Coffee

16.00 Toby Matthiesen, Local Hawzas and Local Marajiʿ in al-Ahsa, Qatif, Bahrain and Kuwait

16.30 Samer El-Karanshawy, The Hawza, and the Evolution of Majalis al-Aza’.

17.00 Sajjad Rizvi, Charisma and Authority in the Contemporary Gulf: The Shaykhīya in Kuwait

17.30 Massimiliano Fusari, Behind a camera in front a Hawza. Constructing a Visual Ethnography of the Hawza

18.00 Close

19.00 Evening Meal


Day 2 - Thursday 29th March 2012

09.30 Keynote address: Professor Sabrina Mervin (CNRS): Organising disorder : The Hawza and marja‘iyya as institutions

10.30 Tea/Coffee

11.00 Hamid Maghsoodi, The “Non-political” Iranian Hawza: A Disappearing Entity

11.30 Mohammadreza Jalaiepour, Prospects of Nine Units in the Organizational Structure of Modern Hawza at Qom

12.00 Julien Pelissier, Islamic banking and the Hawza of Qom during the last 40 years

12.30 Lunch

13.30 Fatemeh Masjedi, Female religious leaders in Qom

14.00 Ahmad Snobar, Reform through Tradition in the Hawza of Qom: Grand Ayatollah Sanee’s Approach to Women’s Issue in Fiqh

14.30 Mariam Rutner, Women’s religious training in contemporary Iran

15.00 Tea/coffee

15.30 Robert Riggs, The globalization of religious authority as a challenge to the contemporary Hawza?

16.00 Bashir Damji and Alihusain Datoo, The dawn of new Najaf: iMaraja, modernity and traditional leadership: opportunities and challenges

16.30 Babak Rahimi, The Networked Hawza: How the Internet is changing Shia Islamic Authority

17.00 Ali Hussain Al-Hakim, The challenges of remaining independent with a view to emerging Mujtahids and Maraje’

17.30 Close

19.00 Evening Meal


Day 3 - Friday 30th March 2012

09.00 Keynote address: Professor Roy Mottahedeh (Harvard University) : title TBC

10.00 Tea/Coffee

10.20 Zackery M. Heern, Origins of the First Shi‘i Seminary (Hawza) in Najaf, Iraq

10.50 Nobuaki Kondo, Development of Hawzas in Qajar Tehran

11.20 Miriam Younes, Ideological transformation processes in the hawzas of Najaf in the early 20th century: Reformist writings in the Shi’ite journal al-‘Irfan

11.50 Mohammad Mesbahi, Maraje Thalath and collective leadership

12.20 Mohammadjavad Ardalan, University of Oxford Religio-educational renaissance in the hawzah: Ayatollah Burujirdi’s administration in Qum (1944-1911)

12.50 Closing remarks: Robert Gleave

13.00 Lunch

14.00 Participants depart


Non-speakers are welcome to attend the Hawza conference. The rates are:
£345 - includes accommodation and dinners on Wednesday and Thursday nights
£60 - for an additional night's bed and breakfast on Tuesday night
£60 - day rate including lunch
Free - attendance at sessions (though advance booking is essential), not including lunch

Bookings must be made in advance by contacting Ms Jane Clark (Jane.Clark@exeter.ac.uk)

Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies
University of Exeter
EX4 4ND
Exeter


Wednesday, December 14th, 2011

Second workshop on

The Future and Prospects of the Hawza

10.00 Arrival, Coffee/Tea, Opening Remarks (Robert Gleave)

10.20 Rutner, Maryam: Opportunities for women’s religious training in contemporary Iran

10.50 Research Report: Bianka Speidl (Exeter)

11.10 Teas/Coffee

11.40 Husain, Jasim: The future of Shia religious authority: the impact of modern technologies and the need for professionalization

12.20 Fusari, Massimiliano: Visual Anthropology and imaging the Hawza

13.00 Lunch

14.20 Damji, Bashir and Datoo, Alihusain: The dawn of new Najaf: iMaraja, modernity and traditional leadership: opportunities and challenges

15.00 Al-Hakim, Ali Hussain: The challenges of remaining independent with a view to emerging Mujtahids and Maraje’

15.40 Tea/Coffee

16.10 Research Report: Hayder Al-Khoie (London)

16.30 Riggs, Robert: The globalization of religious authority as a challenge to the contemporary Hawza?

17.10 Close

There is no charge for attending the workshop, but registration in advance is necessary and catering numbers for lunch need to be finalised. To register, contact the Hawza Project Administrator, Ms Jane Clark (jane.clark@exeter.ac.uk). For enquiries about the Hawza Project generally, contact Professor Robert Gleave (gleave@thehawzaproject.net).

British Academy
10 Carlton House Terrace
London
SW1Y 5AH

Tuesday 14th June 2011

Dr Laurence Louër (Science Po Paris)

Shi’a Religious Authority in the Gulf

5.00pm onwards: Tea will be served

6.00pm-7.30pm: Lecture

All are welcome. There is no charge for admission.

The British Academy
10 Carlton House Terrace
London
SW1Y 5AH

Wednesday 15th June 2011

First workshop on

Challenges and Prospects for the Hawza

09.45am Opening Remarks (Robert Gleave)

10.00am Morgan Clark, “Scholarly legacies and cumulative change within the Shi‘i tradition: The example of Ayatollah Fadlallah”

10.30am Katheleen Foody, “Remembering the Just Ruler: thinking the problem of the state from within Shi’i traditions of learning”

11.00am Tea/Coffee

11.30am Maryam Rutner, “Opportunities for women’s religious training in contemporary Iran”

12.00pm Robert Riggs, “The globalization of religious authority as a challenge to the contemporary Hawza?”

12.30pm Ali al-Hakim, “The challenges of remaining independent with a view to emerging Mujtahids and Maraje”

1.00pm Lunch

2.00pm Jasim Hussain, “The future of Shia religious authority: the impact of modern technologies and the need for professionalisation”

2.30pm Bashir Damji and, Alihusain Datoo, “The dawn of new Najaf: iMaraja, modernity and traditional leadership: opportunities and challenges”

3.00pm Tea/Coffee

3.30pm Sean Seymour, “Philosophy and anti-philosophy in the seminaries of Syria”

4.00pm Omid Ghaemmaghami, “The debate over contact with the Hidden Imam at the Hawzas of Qum and Damascus

4.30pm: Closing remarks (Robert Gleave)

5.00pm Close

7.30pm Workshop Meal (places are limited)

There is no charge for attending the workshop, but registration in advance is necessary and catering numbers for lunch need to be finalised. To register, contact the Hawza Project Administrator, Ms Jane Clark (jane.clark@exeter.ac.uk). For enquiries about the Hawza Project generally, contact Professor Robert Gleave (gleave@thehawzaproject.net).