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The Centre for Islamic Shi’a Studies held its first advisory board meeting on Saturday June 12th 2010 at its offices.

The meeting was attended by Professor Charles Tripp (SOAS), Professor Peter Sluglett (University of Utah), Professor Roy Mottahedeh (Harvard University), Dr. Andrew J Newman (University of Edinburgh), Dr Mara Leichtman (Michigan State University), Sayyid Fadhil Bahrululoom (Director, CISS), Sajad Jiyad (Researcher, CISS), Imranali Panjwani (Research Co-ordinator, CISS) and Hadia Saad (Office Manager).

The purpose of the meeting was to discuss the objectives, structure and activities of the CISS with particular emphasis on the scope of Shi’a studies within Western academia and universities. The CISS, based in London, was setup in July 2007 with the aim of offering a scholarly voice on traditional and contemporary issues from the Shi'a Muslim perspective. By serving as a link between the hawzas of Najaf and Qum and Western academia, the CISS endeavours to offer original analysis in a range of fields from heritage and philosophy to politics and bioethics. It is hoped that the centre will contribute for the betterment of Muslims and humanity at large.

The meeting was a great success with many issues tackled from bridging the gap between Shi’a seminaries and Western universities, increasing the recognition and richness of Shi’a studies, mutual projects between the CISS and universities as well as the need for contemporary challenges such as bioethics and human rights to be tackled from the Shi’a perspective. The contributions from the floor were diverse and included perspectives from Middle Eastern, Historical, Legal and Political studies within Shi’ism. The CISS now aims to take on board these suggestions and begin fruitful projects for the centre itself, Shi’a studies and academia in general. It would like to thank the academics that attended and the useful contributions they made on the day.

The CISS Team

20th June 2010