Alberto Tiburcio, ‘Interreligious Polemics, Anti-Sufism and Shī‘ī Intellectual History in Late Safavid Iran: The Contribution of ‘Alī Qulī Jadīd al-Islām’

Interreligious polemics, especially those from the post-classical period, are often dismissed as formulaic and unoriginal, with no more than a fringe testimonial value. In this talk, Alberto Tiburcio will argue that the polemical work of the Portuguese-born convert ‘Alī Qulī Jadīd al-Islām offers us a unique window into various facets of religious, political and intellectual life in late Safavid Iran. This lecture proposes a reconsideration of the genre, in light of scholarly debates on the nature of sectarianism and the relation between religion and power in the early modern Middle East.

Alberto Tiburcio works in the Center for Near and Middle East Studies at Phillips-University Marburg, located in Germany.

Contact Tracey Cave for questions. Sponsored by the Department of Religious Studies.