Year 2 - Studies on the History and Development of the Hawza

In the second year of the Hawza project, sponsored research programmes examined the history of the development of the hawza from mythic beginnings to its 20th century development. The Research Programmes cover a variety of geographic areas, but with a focus on the development of the hawza in Qum and Najaf. The sponsored Research Programmes in year two are listed below, and will form the basis for the second collected volume of the Project’s publications.



The Breathing Period between two Dictatorships: 1941 – 1953 Hawza of Qum

Mohammad Mesbahi and Mohammad Samiei (ICAS)
A study of the interesting period when the Qum hawza was run by a triumvirate of Ayatallahs, and in which their relationship with the Iranian state developed in ways which had an influence well beyond the period under examination. For more details, click here.



The History of the Teaching of Financial and Economic Matters at the Hawzas of Qum and Najaf
Julien Pelissier (Université de Toulouse)
An examination of the introduction of financial teaching in the hawza – with a particular emphasis on the thought of Muhammad Baqir al-Sadr and his influential work Iqtisaduna. For more details, click here.



The Quest for Religious Self- Sufficiency: The Ethnic Hawzas
Bashir Damji (University of Exeter)
A history or the relationship between Khoja learning in East Africa, the struggle to establish an “ethnic” hawza there and its relationship to the centres of Shi’i learning in Iraq and Iran. For more details, click here.



Shaykhī and Akhbārī Learning in Eastern Arabia
Sajjad Rizvi (Unvirsity of Exeter)
An analysis of the development of so-called “heterodox” hawzas in Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait in the modern period. For more details, click here.


Myth or History? The Foundation of the Hawza in Najaf
Zachery Heern (University of Utah)
An examination of the story of the founding of the Hawza in Najaf by al-Shaykh Muhammad b. Hasn al-Tusi (d.460/1067), and its status as a “myth of origins” for subsequent Shi’i seminary developments. For more details, click here.


The Study and Teaching of Islamic Philosophy during the Modern Reformations Period in the Seminary of Najaf from 1920-2010
Ahab Bdaiwi (University of Exeter)
A case study of how the acceptance or rejection of philosophy within the Najaf hawza curriculum reflects wider developments within the hawza and the relationship between different scholars and parties within Najaf. For more details, click here.


Tracing the Financial Underpinnings of the Hawza system in Iraq
Robert Riggs (University of Pennsylvania)
A study examining the financial operations of Iraqi hawzas in the 19th and 20th Centuries, looking particularly at khums collection and distribution in theory and in practice. For more details, click here.



Establishing Najaf as the Shi’a Hawza: Shaykh Tusi’s role in the history and development of the seminary
Sajad Jiyad (CISS)
A qualitative study of how modern Najafi hawza students and scholars view their past, and in particular view the legacy of Muhammad b. Hasan al-Tusi (d.460/1067), the “founder” of the Najaf hawza. For more details, click here.