Embodied Imamate

What do you think we are missing? Do you know of any significant works on al-Ṣādiq (in any language) that do not get enough attention. Let us know!

We've collected all the encyclopedia entries we are familiar with (the various Encyclopaedia of Islam's, the Encyclopædia Iranica, the Dāʾirat al-Maʿārif-i Buzurg-i Islāmī etc) as well as studies by Buckley, Modarressi, Crow, Algar, and others.

We are starting by compiling a bibliography on Zotero of all the works we can find on al-Ṣādiq across multiple languages. We hope to make this publicly available in the future.

Our first team meeting of the new year saw us stick to our aim of spending a month on each of the Twelve Imams. We're beginning with the sixth Imam, Jaʿfar b. Muḥammad al-Ṣādiq (d. 148/765).

We’ll keep you updated on what we get up to and all the exciting things we find. If you are working on similar things and would be interested in chatting to us about it, we’d love to hear from you.

Throughout 2026, our team will be focusing on one of the twelve Imāmī Imams each month, starting with the sixth Imam, Jaʿfar b. Muḥammad al-Ṣādiq.

We’ll use this as an opportunity to produce bibliographies, read material related to each Imam, and talk to scholars who have worked on them.

Let us know if you have an idea for a paper as part of the two panels Leone Pecorini Goodall are convening at BRAIS.

We invite proposals which consider such interactions and elucidate the mechanisms used to encourage or discourage them. (2/3)

While it is taken for granted that interactions between those belonging to various religious and sectarian groups, and across the hierarchical spectrum occurred, a clear picture does not yet exist of the various means by which such interactions were regulated. (2/2)

Panel 2: Beyond Boundaries: Cross-Communal Interactions in Early Islam

This panel aims to encourage attention on the social history of Early Islam, focusing specifically on interactions between groups of different persuasions. (2/1)

the ensuing demonstration of the validity of the historiographical corpus, they are no longer ubiquitous in historical studies of the period. This panel aims to demonstrate alternative historical sources and methodologies into how we tell the history of Early Islam. (1/3)

... reconstruct the history of early Islam. Poetry, genealogical sources (ansāb) and biographical dictionaries (ṭabāqāṭ) were once mainstays of the historian’s toolkit but in the past decades, given the revisionist turn following Crone and Cook’s Hagarism (1977) and... (1/2)

Panel 1: Beyond Historiography: Alternative Sources for Early Islamic History

This panel is intended to promote investigation into the sources and methodologies outside of traditional tawārīkh (anecdotal historiography) that can be employed by historians to study and... (1/1)

Each panel will be made up of four speakers, and we have a couple of slots free on each. The panels will then be subject to selection by BRAIS.

The call for papers from BRAIS outlines all the conference details including fees: www.brais.ac.uk/conferences/.... There is no help with fees or costs.

If you have an idea for a paper which would fit into the themes of one of these panels, they’d love to hear from you before the 15 December 2025. Please send an email to both at: l.f.pecorini.goodall@hum.leidenuniv.nl and a.a.a.h.ramadhan@hum.leidenuniv.nl.

Are you attending the 2026 BRAIS conference in London? If so, Embodied Imamate team members Leone Pecorini Goodall and Adam Ramadhan are convening two panels dedicated to the history of early Islam which they are inviting expressions of interest for. The details of each panel are below.

A reminder that the first lecture in the Reflections on Shiʿi Studies lecture series will take place on Monday 4 November.* For further details and the link to register, see the following link: www.shiistudies.net/events/abdul...

*Please note the corrected times on the poster and link.

I am pleased to announce the call for papers for a workshop Edmund Hayes and I are organising as part of the Embodied Imamate project: "The Social Dynamics of Communal Affiliation in Early Islam," to be held between 11–12 June 2026 at Leiden University.

www.universiteitleiden.nl/en/events/20...

Check out the call for papers for our next workshop!

To attend, please register by emailing a.santi@hum.leidenuniv.nl or sending us a DM. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email with instructions on how to join.

The first lecture of the season will take place on:
Wednesday, September 10 | 15:30 CET
Robert Hillenbrand (Universities of Edinburgh & St Andrews)
“What makes Qum special in the architecture of Ilkhanid Iran?”

We are delighted to announce the autumn program of our online lecture series Material Culture, Art, and Architecture of Pre-Safavid Shīʿism. The series brings together scholars of early Shīʿism with specialists in Islamic material culture, art, architecture, and archaeology.

It's been a while in the making, but I'm delighted to announce the launch of the the Shii Studies Network which I am running with my colleague Fatima Zaraket.

Follow us for updates on the exciting events and initiatives we have coming up.

We are so excited to announce the launch of the Shii Studies Network, a space for PhD students researching Shiism to forge personal and professional connections, share their research with and learn from each other, and push the field forward.

On June 4, our workshop Motherhood and Unfreedom took place at the Allard Pierson Museum, 8 powerful papers, 20+ participants, and rich discussions from poetry to concubines to afterlife slavery. Grateful to @socmedimedit.bsky.social, Juynboll Foundation & our museum partners!

MEM at the International Medieval Congress

Full details can be found here: www.middleeastmedievalists.com/mem-at-the-i...

Session 220: Embodied Imamate II: Tracing Networks Across Islamicate 'Worlds of Learning', featuring Ed Hayes @aramadhan.bsky.social, and @lpecos.bsky.social from our project, and Jeremy Farrell (Leiden)

Our team will be presenting over two panels:

Session 120: Embodied Imamate I: Bodies of Knowledge, featuring Aila Santi and Zahra Azhar from our project and Simon O'Meara (SOAS) and George Warner (Institute of Ismaili Studies)

MEM at the International Medieval Congress

Are you attending the International Medieval Congress in Leeds (@imc-leeds.bsky.social) next month?

We've compiled a handy list of all the panels addressing key themes in the medieval Islamic world including the panels we are sponsoring.

www.middleeastmedievalists.com/mem-at-the-i...

Just over two weeks until the International Medieval Congress (@imc-leeds.bsky.social) in Leeds where we are sponsoring a number of panels!

We will be having a reception on Tuesday 8 July between 13:00 and 14:00 in the Little Woodhouse Room of University House. Come by and say hello!