Session 1 – An
Overview of the Scholarly Study of Ashura and the Life of Imam Hussain
**REVIEW: Shi’a Islam and Politics Workshop at Harvard Video Lectures (Included Below)**
Lecturer: Payam Mohseni, Director of the Project on Shi’ism & Global Affairs, Harvard Divinity School (affiliation at the date recorded)
Duration: 2 hours
Date Recorded: July 2022
Subject: This session provides a broad overview of the field of Ashura studies from both an Islamic approach as well as a Western academic approach. It consists of discussions of historiography of the event of Ashura, the sayings of Imam Hussain and the Ahl al-Bayt, the philosophy of Ashura and the Imam’s stand, the rituals and practices of mourning for Imam Hussain and Muharram culture, and more.
Readings:
Read the 2 short stories (Burning Every Day and When All the Horses Cried) that can be found below in the Immersive Learning section.
Mahmoud Ayoub, Redemptive Suffering in Islam: A Study of the Devotional Aspects of Twelver Shi’ism (Mouton: The Hague, 1978). Read: “Ch. 2: The Proofs of God,” 53-68; “At the Pool of al-Kawthar,” 197-229; “Appendix: The Master of the Youths of Paradise,” 241-245. Also see the selection: “The Sigh of the Sorrowful,” 141-196. PDFs can be found by going to the Shi'a Islam and Politics review section in Session 2.
For further review and information, please refer to the video lecture and reading list from of the Harvard Shi’a Islam and Politics Workshop.
REVIEW: Shi’a Islam and Politics Workshop at Harvard Video
Lectures
Studying Shi’a Islam in Academia – SPACE Conference (November, 11th, 2023)
Session 1 of 15: Islam and the Emergence of Shi’a Islam
(click on a reading to access it)High Priority Readings