This publication supports the transmission of the qasida traditions to English-speaking contexts while opening their meaning and performance to Ismailis from diverse cultural backgrounds.

Read & Reflect is a new publication series by Äñ´ó´óÓ°Ôº designed to make key aspects of Islamic, including Ismaili, intellectual and cultural heritage accessible to general, non-specialist audiences.

In this book, Wen-chin Ouyang shows how our experience of adab stories has the power to transform both our personal relationships and society. She draws on classic Arabic stories from the famous Thousand and One Nights and compares them with tales from the canonical Chinese novels Three Kingdoms, The Journey to the West, and Water Margin. The book demonstrates how these stories tell us about ourselves, allowing us to define, test and refine our ethics of living. More than this, they have the power to help us experience a profound contemplation of our lives on earth, linking us to our shared humanity and showing us how to live meaningfully.

The author charts her rediscovery of the origins of the East African Jamats, the emergence of community infrastructures and the building of Jamatkhanas during the Imamats of Mawlana Sultan Mahomed Shah, Aga Khan III, and Mawlana Shah Karim al-Husayni, Aga Khan IV. Recounting journeys of migration, including under the very challenging circumstances of the Ugandan expulsion and Tanzanian exodus, she invites readers to explore the evolving role of Jamati institutions that continue to support the Ismaili community.

This illustrated rendering of East African Ismaili history from the 19th century to the present day spotlights the rich heritage of Jamatkhanas as pillars of the Ismaili community. It will appeal to Ismailis worldwide, weaving together stories of faith, resilience and unity.

Paperbacks available to order now via your ITREB.
(ITREBs may place orders directly by contacting us.)

In this unique and personal account, Shiraz Kabani takes us on a journey of celebration and self-reflection. Relating accounts of festivals from his own lived experience as an Ismaili, the author shares some of his most compelling memories, questions and insights. We learn about his days as an inquisitive schoolboy in Pakistan, as well as his more recent experiences as a well-travelled alwaez, including late-night contemplative drives across Texas on Laylat al-Qadr, and vibrant Imamat Day festivities in the heart of London. Through these lively stories and reflections, Ismaili Festivals presents a novel approach to these auspicious occasions and their traditions, highlighting just how powerful they are in uniting and reaffirming the identity of the diverse global Jamat.

Paperbacks available to order now via your ITREB.
(ITREBs may place orders directly by contacting us.)

This book continues the story of the Fatimids from their newly founded capital of Cairo. Introducing the figures who moulded the empire, Shainool Jiwa charts the Fatimid expansion, the reasons behind its ultimate fall by the hand of Saladin, and the legacy that continues with the living Ismaili communities today. This lively and engaging work, including maps and colour images, draws on a broad range of primary sources to lead readers through two centuries that witnessed the triumphs and trials of the only sustained Shi‘i caliphate to rule across the medieval Islamic world.

This accessible history, the first of two volumes, tells the story of the birth and expansion of the Fatimid Empire in the 10th century. Drawing upon eyewitness accounts, Shainool Jiwa introduces the first four generations of Fatimid Imam-caliphs – al-Mahdi, al-Qa’im, al-Mansur, and al-Mu‘izz – as well as the people who served them and those they struggled against. Readers are taken on a journey through the Fatimid capitals of Qayrawan, Mahdiyya, and Mansuriyya and on to the founding of Cairo. In this lively and comprehensive introduction, readers will discover various milestones in Fatimid history and the political and cultural achievements that continue to resonate today.

The Prophet Muhammad presents an illuminating portrait of Muhammad in his capacity as God’s messenger and an exemplary figure to Muslims. Revealing the challenges and triumphs of prophecy, Stephen Burge examines how prophets have inspired faith communities’ relationship with the Divine, and one another. In doing so, this engaging account elucidates the enduring influence of prophecy and the profound legacy of the Prophet Muhammad.

In this book, Rizwan Mawani encounters diverse communities and their sites of worship, including the mosque, husayniyya, khanaqah and jamatkhana. Readers are introduced to a variety of Muslim spaces, modest and elaborate: their distinct structures and the rituals practised within them, as well as the purposes they serve as community centres and markers of identity. This illuminating survey reveals architectural responses to evolving community needs and local environments, from Senegal and China to Iran and India. Beyond the Mosque is a celebration of the significant pluralism that characterises the living Muslim tradition today.