The History and Role of Liturgical Material in Twelver Shi'ism

Description:

This talk will explore the historical contours of liturgy in the Twelver Shiʿī tradition and briefly explore two principal questions; where did this material arise from and why is it significant? It will be asserted that liturgical material is a form of sacred literature which when practiced correctly it has the potential to result in an efficacious outcome. As a result, it has become a mainstay of Twelver Shiʿī religious identity which serves as a means of social and spiritual cohesion for a minority community among Muslims. The lecture will then explore some instances of this liturgical material in order to provide a few examples of both its content and form which binds the believer not only to God but to the sacred personalities, that is the Prophet and the thirteen infallibles who are believed by Shiʿis to have bestowed this liturgical material upon them.

Speaker:

Dr. Vinay Khetia, Academic Director of the Shia Research Institute, University of Toronto

Vinay Khetia holds a Ph.D. in Religious Studies from McMaster University and an M.A. in History and Philosophy of Religion from Concordia University. He has published in the areas of Islamic law, Qur'anic exegesis and Shi'i intellectual history more broadly. He has previously taught undergraduate and graduate studies at McMaster University and the University of Toronto. He is currently the academic director of the Shia Research Institute located at the Toronto School of Theology in the University of Toronto. His forthcoming book with Brill Publications is entitled: The History and Philosophy of Shiʿī Devotional Literature.

Host or Publisher FIU Mohsin and Fauzia Jaffer Center for Muslim World Studies