Rethinking Islamic History | IIS AKU-ISMC Graduate Conference 2023

Welcome to the inaugural Graduate Conference, a joint venture between the Institute of Ismaili Studies and the Aga Khan University’s Institute for the Study of Muslim Civilisations. Learn more about the conference here: www.iis.ac.uk/...
This panel, chaired by Dr Shainool Jiwa, reviews the changing perspectives of Islam, as it’s viewed by internal and external lenses. George Beck outlines the evolving notions of leadership and statehood in the Islamic world from the perspective of premodern Western sources. Muhammad Ali Sohail examines texts describing the hospital, under Abbasid Caliph Harun ar-Rashid, dismantling historical assumptions of its connection with Christian, Syrian hospitals. Uzair Ibrahim explores the overlap of historical and metaphysical accounts of the early development of Islam.
00:00 Introduction - Aqil Visram
00:24 Panel Introduction - Dr Shainool Jiwa
00:57 A System of International Relations in the Precolonial Islamic World - George Beck (AKU-ISMC 2023)
22:51 First Islamic Hospital: Myth or Reality? - Muhammad Ali Sohail (IIS - GPISH 2025)
38:34 Time Out of History: Islam and the Ghayb - Uzair Ibrahim (IIS Doctoral Scholarship Recipient, University of Exeter)