Inaugural Event: Ashura and Contemporary Shi'a Thought

Speaker: Dr. Seyed Ammar Nakhjavani, Associate, Project on Shi'ism and Global Affairs, Harvard University

Ashura, the commemoration of the tragic massacre of Imam Hussein, the grandson of the Prophet, and many of his family members and followers in the year 681 CE, is a defining event in Shi'a history and a foundational moment in Shi'a collective memory. From popular devotional rituals and mass pilgrimage to contemporary poltical mobilization and revolutionary thought, the Ashura paradigm deeply informs Muslim practices and thought in the modern era. How can we think about understanding and analyzing the event of Ashura for contemporary Muslims? What role does Ashura and Imam Hussein play within the wider Islamic world? Join us for the Inaugural Event of the Project on Shi'ism and Global Affairs at Harvard University's Weatherhead Center for International Affairs with Dr. Sayed Ammar Nakhjavani for a talk on this important subject.

Moderated by Dr. Payam Mohseni, Director of the Project on Shi'ism and Global Affairs

Dr. Seyed Ammar Nakhjavani focuses on Islamic political and intellectual thought, Shi'ism in the West and the global Shi'a diaspora, and sectarian conflict and peace building in the Middle East. Dr. Nakhjavani is a historian and specialist of Islamic intellectual history and was the Inaugural Imam Ali Chair in Shi’a Studies and Dialogue among Islamic Legal Schools at Hartford Seminary. View Sayed Ammar Nakhjavani's full profile here.