Hidden Empires and Muslim Sectarian Identities: The Emergence of Shi’a Sects in Early Islam (7th - 10th Centuries CE)
Date and Time
Location
Hidden Empires and Muslim Sectarian Identities: The Emergence of Shi’a Sects in Early Islam (7th - 10th Centuries CE) | Date & Time: Monday, November 15th 3:00PM EST (Online Zoom Webinar; Registration Required)
Abstract:
When and how did different sects or denominations emerge within Shi’ism? While Shi’ism as a general belief in the spiritual-political supremacy of Ali b. Abi Talib and the Ahl al-Bayt was an early phenomenon rooted in the immediate aftermath of the Prophet Muhammad’s demise in 11/632, Shi’ism as a distinct denomination with socio-political institutions did not emerge until later and neither did the diverse sectarian movements under Shi’ism, including Zaydi, Ismaili, Qarmati, Nusayri, and Twelver Shi’ism, among others. This talk will explore the role that underground revolutionary movements played in Shi’a sectarian formation in the early Islamic period from the uprising of al-Mukhtar b. Abi ʿUbayd (d. 67/687) through to the beginnings of the “Shiʿi Centuries” at the turn of the 4th Hijri/10th Common Era century that saw several Shi’a states emerge in rapid succession to establish transregional imperial projects across West and Central Asia as well as North Africa and the Eastern Mediterranean.
Speaker:
Mohammad Sagha, Humanities Teaching Fellow, University of Chicago
To register for the event, click here.
Speaker Bio:
Mohammad Sagha (PhD, University of Chicago) is a postdoctoral Division of Humanities Teaching Fellow at the University of Chicago and teaches undergraduate and graduate courses on Islam, history, and politics at both the University of Chicago and Harvard University. He is also a Faculty Affiliate at the Center for the Study of Race, Politics and Culture (CSRPC) at the University of Chicago. Sagha’s research focuses on the origins of Muslim sectarian identity and political institutions, the historical development of Islamic political theology, social network analysis and digital humanities, and the dynamics between imperial organization and transregional rebellions in early Islam. For more on his work and research, read here.