Join us on Sunday, March 31st, at 2pm EST for an informative discussion with Dr. Alessandro Cancian, on his book “The Emergence of Shi’i Sufism – Sultan ‘Ali Shah Gunabadi and His Commentary on the Qur’an”
Hosted by Dr. Vinay Khetia, this instalment in our series ‘The Insight Interviews’, promises to be an engaging conversation.
View a recording below, or listen on your favourite platform:
Dr Alessandro Cancian is Senior Research Associate at the Institute of Ismaili Studies, London, where he works on Shiʿi Sufism, Qur’anic Exegesis and the intellectual and religious history of early-modern Iran.
A historian of religions and anthropologist by formation, he has published books and articles on religious education in Shiʿi Islam, Shiʿi Sufism and Qur’anic exegesis. He edited Approaches to the Qur’an in contemporary Iran (Oxford University Press, 2019), and his monograph on early modern The Emergence of Shi’i Sufism was published in 2023 (Oxford University Press).
He is an amateur perfumer, and among other projects he has created a bespoke fragrance for the exibition The Quran: Form, Fragrance & Feeling (London, The Aga Khan Centre, 22 September 2023 – 20 May 2024), and he is translating a 19th century treatise on perfume-making written by an Iranian Shaykhi master.
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