UPCOMING EVENTS

To be announced shortly.

PAST EVENTS

July 1 2022, Academy Building Utrecht

Conference ‘Rumi on Faith, Piety and Religious Philosophy’

We had an inspiring Rumi day filled with wonderful lectures in which several aspect of Rumi’s religious philosophy were discussed, ranging from piety, didacticism, his views on senses, bacchanalia, his reception in modern times, his musicality, and several other topics. The prominent translator of Rumi, Professor Alan Williams (Manchester University) opened the meeting by focusing on Rumi’s magnum opus, the Spiritual Couplets, followed by lectures by Professor Christian Lange, Maarten Holtzapffel, Assistant Professor Pooyan Tamimi Arab, Emeritus Professor Rokus de Groot and Professor Asghar Seyed-Gohrab. For more info on the programme click here.

June 25 2022, Huis de Pinto, Amsterdam

‘Kritische bespiegelingen over Hafez in schilderkunst, muziek en Sji’itische rituelen’ (lecture in Dutch by Asghar Seyed-Gohrab at the launch of the Dutch scholarly journal ZemZem: Tijdschrift over het Midden-Oosten, Noord-Afrika en islam).

During this lecture, Asghar Seyed-Gohrab discussed the question of why Hafez has been continuously popular in the Persian cultural area for more than six hundred years. What makes his poems as emblems of Islamic piety for some people, while other readers see them as a rejection of orthodox Islam?     How can his poems about wine, homoerotic poetry and the criticism of the holiest Islamic principles be seen as the heart of Islam? In this lecture, Asghar Seyed-Gohrab examined Hafez’s reception history through a few examples to demonstrate his popularity as a poet for people from all walks of life.

Location: Huis de Pinto, Sint Antoniesbreestraat 69, Amsterdam
Date: Saturday June 25, 10:30 AM

Also have a look at https://www.zemzemtijdschrift.nl/ for more details about the launch of this new journal.

April 11 2022, Utrecht University

‘The Shāh-Nāme: A Treasury for Persian Heroic Traditions’ (lecture by Dr M.J. Yahaghi)

The ERC team Beyond Sharia had an informative and enlightening meeting with Dr Mohammad-Jaʿfar Yahaghi of Ferdowsi University in Mashhad last Monday 11 April 2022. After his inspiring lecture in Persian entitled The Shāh-Nāme: A Treasury for Persian Heroic Traditions, we discussed at length about the Greater Khorasan as a fertile ground for the rise of non-conformist movements such as ʿAyyār (“vagabond”) and Javānmard (“young man,” a kind of “knight”) brotherhoods, and their social, cultural and religious ethos, which connected them with mystical movements such as Karrāmiyya, Malāmatiyya and Qalandariyya.

March 28 2022, Muiderkerk Amsterdam

‘De religie van de liefde’ als een alternatief ethisch stelsel en geloofsbelijdenis (lecture by Asghar Seyed-Gohrab)

March 10 2022, TU Delft

‘Sufism: Following the Footsteps of Mystic Poet Rumi’ (lecture by Asghar Seyed-Gohrab)

Asghar Seyed-Gohrab gave a lecture on Rumi on March 10 2022 between 12:40 PM – 1:30 PM at TU Delft Library. The famous Persian poet Rumi (d. 1273) has inspired both Muslims and non-Muslims over the world with his mystical poems and his “religion of love”. In this lecture, Asghar Seyed-Gohrab explored how Rumi has been able to inspire so many people, even today, with his mystical thoughts. For more information and registration click here