Professor
Rula Jurdi Abisaab is Professor of Islamic History at the Institute of Islamic Studies, McGill University, where she has worked since 2004. She teaches in all areas of Islamic-Shi`ite history and is especially interested in the transformation of juristic thought, the `ulama鈥檚 legal authority and relations of power in Shi`ite society during sixteenth and seventeenth century Iran.
Her previous research focused on religion and power in Safavid Iran, exploring the interface of the shari`a with Sufism and heterodoxy. This research was presented in her book Converting Persia: Religion and Power in Safavid Iran (2004) and several articles. Her current research has focused on public religion and militancy in modern Shi`ite society, which built upon her interest in Marxism, Islamism and postcolonial Shi`ite thinkers. This research is reflected in her forthcoming book, co-authored with Malek Abisaab, The Shi`ites of Lebanon: Modernism, Communism and Hizbullah鈥檚 Islamists and in articles such as, 鈥淒econstructing the Modular and the Authentic: Husayn Muroeh鈥檚 Early Islamic History,鈥� (2008); 鈥淟ebanese Shi`ites and the Marja鈥檌yya: Polemic in the late 20th Century,鈥� (2009). The Shi`ites of Lebanon stresses the importance of communal and revolutionary ideology to the reshaping of the political sphere in Lebanon. It delineates the pervasiveness of particular secular ideas and processes and their complex interface with religion and sect.
In addition to her academic research and writing on Islamic Shi`ite history, Rula also is a poet whose poems appeared in Iraqi, Lebanese, and American journals and newspapers. Her first collection of poetry, Ghil膩f al-Qalb (The Heart鈥檚 Peel) (October 2014) is currently being translated into English and French. Her novel Al-Kath膩fa: Qi峁ａ梗at 岣rb Lubn膩niyya (Thick Air: a Lebanese war story) (Dar Nelson: Lebanon & Sweden, 2007) weaves together three stories from the Lebanese civil war marked by displacement, death and futility. Her second collection of poetry, Mithl墨 aw Ka-al-Mudun al-Khamsa (Like Me or Like the Five Cities) will appear Fall 2014. She also published articles on Emile Habibi鈥檚 novel Al-Waq膩鈥檌` al-Ghar墨ba f墨 Ikhtif膩鈥� Sa`墨d Ab奴 al-Na岣 al-Mutash膩鈥檌l (The Secret Life of Saeed the Pessomptimist) in 补濒-峁琣谤墨辩 and Edebiyat; 鈥淎rabic Poetry and the Public Sphere: a Conversation between Abbas Baydoun and Rula al-Jurdi,鈥� al-Jadid.听
Teaching and Research Interests
Social and intellectual history of medieval and pre-modern Islamic societies; Twelver Shi`ite jurisprudence and political thought; the Safavid Empire and Twelver Shi`ism; Clerical leadership, public religion and the state in modern Shi`ite society.
Current Projects
Co-authored with Malek Abisaab, The Shi`ite Islamists in Lebanon: Modernism, Communism, and Hizbullah鈥檚 Civil Arena (forthcoming). This study examines the modern socio-political and intellectual history of the Lebanese Shi`ites. I am also preparing an article titled,"Skepticism and God's Law in Safavid Iran: the mujtahids under attack," which focuses on the shifts in the Shi`ite juridical tradition during the Safavid period as part of a larger research project investigating the social processes and historical conditions shaping streams of akhbarism in the seventeenth century.
Representative Publications
The Shi`ites of Lebanon: Modernism, communism, and Hizbullah's Islamists. Co-authored with Malek Abisaab. Syracuse, New York: Syracuse University Press, 2014.
Converting Persia: Religion and Power in the Safavid Empire听(2004).
Three poems from Ghilaf al-Qalb (The Heart鈥檚 Peel), translated by Michelle Hartman: , April 2014.
Three poems on Jadaliyya:听, April 2014.
One poem on Shaabi: , December 2013.
Three Poems: "Al-Salahif Tadhak", "Ashhad", "Ru'ya Mukarrara" al-Safir, June 2011.
"The Shi`ite `ulama, the madrasas, and Educational Reform in the Late Ottoman Period," Journal of Ottoman Studies (2010) 36, 155-183.
"Lebanese Shi`ites and the Marja`iyya: Polemic in the Late Twentieth Century," British Journal for Middle Eastern Studies (2009) 36 (2), 215-239.
"Deconstructing the Modular and the Authentic: Husayn Muroeh's Early Islamic History,"听Critique: Critical Middle Eastern Studies,17:3 (2008): 239 鈥� 259.
Al-Kathafa, a novel, 2007.
"New Ropes for Royal Tents: Shaykh-i Baha'i and the Imperial Order of Shah 'Abbas,"听Studies on Persianate Societies, 1 (2003): 29-56.
"The Pessoptimist: Breaching the State's da'wa (sacred creed) in a Fated Narrative of Secrets,"听Edebiyat, no. 1, 13 (2003): 1-10.
Poems
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From: The Heart's Peel
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"Into a sky of clay she stepped out
She curved her only child
Like rising dough
And released him like a handkerchief
He flew around her hair and sang
He was neither a man nor a girl
He was a martyr
So she offered him letters
And took away all the heavens
She dragged her hair in clay
He said: This is a pomegranate for me and for you
So she let him go"
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From: "Fi-al-Mukhayyam bi-Intiz膩r al-Mak膩n"(In the Camp Waiting for Place)
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爻兀購賯賱賾賽丿購 賳賻乇賵噩賷賾丞賸 賮賷 氐賵乇丞賽 丕賱噩賵丕夭賽
孬賲賾賻 兀賯丿賾賽賲 孬睾乇賸丕 亘丕爻賲賸丕 賱賱噩賱賷丿
爻兀賯賷賾賽丿購 丨噩丕乇丞賻 丕賱賲禺賷賾賻賲賽听 亘兀賯丿丕賲賽 丕賱亘丕亘
兀卮丿賾購 賵孬丕賯賻賴丕
賰賷賱丕 鬲賱丨賯賻 亘賷
賴賷 賵丨亘賷亘賷 廿賱賶 兀賵爻賱賵
爻兀毓賷丿購 鬲乇爻丕賳丞賻 丕賱丌賱丕賲賽听 廿賱賶 睾爻丕賳 賰賳賮丕賳賷
賵兀乇丨賱
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爻兀夭賵賾賽丿購 丕賱賯購丿爻賻听 亘丕賱丨購亘賾賽
兀丿賯賾購 噩乇爻賸丕 賮賷 賰賳賷爻丞賺 丿丕禺賱賻賴丕
丿丕禺賱賷
賵兀賲卮賷 賵乇丕亍 賲爻丕亍賺 廿爻賿賰賻賳丿賽賳丕賮賽賷賺 賱丕 賷毓鬲賰乇
爻賻賷賰購賮賾 毓賳賷 睾爻丕賳 賰賳賮丕賳賷
听賵賯丿 賷毓賮賵
丨賷賳 兀爻鬲丿賮卅 亘丕賱賲禺賷賾賻賲賽 賮賷 丕賱孬賱噩 丕賱亘丕賴乇
賵賲賳 兀丨囟丕賳賽 丕賱亘賱丕爻鬲賷賰 兀購賳賯賽匕購賴
廿匕 賴賵 兀賲丕賲 亘賷鬲賷 賷賳鬲馗乇 丕賱鬲賰乇賷乇
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