Advertise on podcast: The Insight Interviews

An informative discussion with Matthew Pierce, an Associate Professor of Religion, Director of Centre Global, Centre College.Matthew Pierce (PhD, Boston University) is Associate Professor of Religion at Centre College and Director of Centre Global. He is the author of Twelve Infallible Men: The Imams and the Making of Shiʿism (Harvard University Press, 2016), winner of Iran’s Book of the Year Award.Matthew Pierce has lived and studied in Egypt, Yemen, and Iran. He specialized in Islamic history, religion and sexuality, and sectarianism. Pierce has published his work in premier reference volumes, such as The Princeton Encyclopedia of Islamic Political Thought (2012) and the Encyclopedia of Islam (Brill), in edited book volumes such as Women, Leadership, and Mosques: Changes in Contemporary Islamic Authority (Brill, 2012), and in academic journals such as the Journal of Shi’a Islamic Studies. He has three chapters accepted for publication in the upcoming book, Islam in 5 Minutes (Equinox, 2026).Hosted by Dr. Vinay Khetia, this instalment in our series 'The Insight Interviews', promises to be an engaging conversation.The Insight Interviews:An informative series of academic discussions, taking a deeper dive on a variety of unique topics. Learn more at https://shiaresearch.ca/insight-interviewsView the series playlist here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLgu_sYFBPFVV5yBiwTU9snnvMmMlw41gpFollow us on:Instagram: https://instagram.com/ShiaResearchInsTwitter: https://twitter.com/ShiaResearchInsFacebok: https://facebook.com/ShiaResearchInsContribute to the Shi‘a Research Institute to help us continue creating high quality research and content:https://shiaresearch.ca/donate/

An informative discussion with Farhana Mayer, a Qur’anic Hermeneutics scholar from the Laudato Si’ Research Institute (Campion College, Oxford). Farhana is a Qur’anic Hermeneutics scholar. She was formerly a lecturer in Sufism at SOAS, the School of Oriental and African Studies (2010–2012) and at the Institute of Ismaili Studies in London, where she lectured in Qur’anic Exegesis and headed the Graduate Programme in Islamic Studies and Humanities (2012–2015).As LSRI Research Affiliate, Farhana has been working on a new publication entitled An Introduction to Qur’anic Ecology and Resonances with Laudato Si’. This book presents Qur’an-based theological and ethical principles that are applicable to integral ecology and that can be referred to by Muslims in addressing the ethical, ecological and environmental issues faced today. The study demonstrates that significant common ground exists between Qur’anic and Catholic Social Teaching perspectives with regard to these themes, including perceptions of the natural world as a precious part of God’s creation; the interrelatedness of all creation; the understanding of humankind as the being in whom earth and spirit are conjoined; the need for divine guidance; and the need for people to manifest ethical care towards other humans, all living creatures and the earth itself. Conceptual overlaps such as these provide a strong foundation for Catholic-Muslim interfaith partnerships, as we seek to care for our common home.Farhana’s previous publications include: Spiritual Gems: The Mystical Qur’an Commentary Ascribed to Ja`far al-Sadiq (Louisville: Fons Vitae, 2011); Anthology of Qur’anic Commentaries: On the Nature of the Divine with F. Hamza and S. Rizvi (Oxford: Oxford University Press/Institute of Ismaili Studies, 2008). Hosted by Dr. Vinay Khetia, this instalment in our series 'The Insight Interviews', promises to be an engaging conversation.The Insight Interviews:An informative series of academic discussions, taking a deeper dive on a variety of unique topics. Learn more at https://shiaresearch.ca/insight-interviewsView the series playlist here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLgu_sYFBPFVV5yBiwTU9snnvMmMlw41gpFollow us on:Instagram: https://instagram.com/ShiaResearchInsTwitter: https://twitter.com/ShiaResearchInsFacebok: https://facebook.com/ShiaResearchInsContribute to the Shi‘a Research Institute to help us continue creating high quality research and content:https://shiaresearch.ca/donate/

An informative discussion with Dr. Adam Bursi on his book, ‘Traces of the Prophets: Relics and Sacred Spaces in Early Islam’ which explores how early Muslims deployed sacred objects and spaces to inscribe and dispute Islam’s continuities with, and differences from, Judaism and Christianity. The book argues that prophets’ relics ritually and rhetorically shaped Muslim identities in the first centuries of Islam.Adam Bursi is an associate acquisitions editor at Fortress Press. He received his PhD in Near Eastern Studies from Cornell University, and has held research and teaching positions at the University of Tennessee, the Hill Museum and Manuscript Library, and Utrecht University. He coedited the collection ‘His Pen and Ink Are a Powerful Mirror’: Andalusi, Judaeo-Arabic, and Other Near Eastern Studies in Honor of Ross Brann (Brill, 2020), and his articles have appeared in the journals Medieval Encounters, Arabica, Studies in Late Antiquity, and elsewhere.Hosted by Dr. Vinay Khetia, this instalment in our series 'The Insight Interviews', promises to be an engaging conversation.The Insight Interviews:An informative series of academic discussions, taking a deeper dive on a variety of unique topics. Learn more at https://shiaresearch.ca/insight-interviewsView the series playlist here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLgu_sYFBPFVV5yBiwTU9snnvMmMlw41gpFollow us on:Instagram: https://instagram.com/ShiaResearchInsTwitter: https://twitter.com/ShiaResearchInsFacebok: https://facebook.com/ShiaResearchInsContribute to the Shi‘a Research Institute to help us continue creating high quality research and content:https://shiaresearch.ca/donate/

An informative discussion with Dr. Stephennie Mulder on her book, ‘The Shrines of the ‘Alids in Medieval Syria - Sunnis, Shi’is and the Architecture of Coexistence’ which explores the relationship between Sunnis and Shi'is as expressed in the patronage and architecture of shrines, and links them to the wider, pan-Islamic landscape of interconnected pilgrimage sites created from these acts of patronage.Stephennie Mulder is Associate Professor of Islamic Art and Architecture at the University of Texas at Austin. She has conducted archaeological and art historical fieldwork in Syria, Egypt, Turkey, and elsewhere in the region for over 20 years. Dr. Mulder’s book The Shrines of the ‘Alids in Medieval Syria: Sunnis, Shi’s and the Architecture of Coexistence, published in 2014, received numerous awards. She has also published on medieval and contemporary art history, Islamic archaeology, and cultural heritage, including in the Journal of Islamic Archaeology, the International Journal of Islamic Architecture, and The Oxford Handbook of Islamic Archaeology. Mulder is currently lead narrative developer for The White Banner, a historical role-playing game based on her excavation of an 8th century Islamic palatial villa in Syria.Hosted by Dr. Vinay Khetia, this instalment in our series 'The Insight Interviews', promises to be an engaging conversation.The Insight Interviews:An informative series of academic discussions, taking a deeper dive on a variety of unique topics. Learn more at https://shiaresearch.ca/insight-interviewsView the series playlist here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLgu_sYFBPFVV5yBiwTU9snnvMmMlw41gpFollow us on:Instagram: https://instagram.com/ShiaResearchInsTwitter: https://twitter.com/ShiaResearchInsFacebok: https://facebook.com/ShiaResearchInsContribute to the Shi‘a Research Institute to help us continue creating high quality research and content:https://shiaresearch.ca/donate/

An informative discussion with Dr. Alyssa Gabbay on her book, *‘Gender and Succession in Medieval and Early Modern Islam’* which examines episodes in pre-modern Islamic history in which individuals or societies recognized descent from both men and women, including Fatima.Alyssa Gabbay is Associate Professor Emerita of Religious Studies at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Dr. Gabbay received her Ph.D. from University of Chicago’s Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations, specializing in classical Persian literature and medieval Islamic history. Her research interests include women and gender in Islam, Shi‘ism, Sufism in the medieval Persianate world, and the Babi and Baha’i faiths. She is the author of *Islamic Tolerance: Amir Khusraw and Pluralism*(Abingdon: Routledge, 2010) and *Gender and Succession in Medieval and Early Modern Islam: Bilateral Descent and the Legacy of Fatima* (London: I.B. Tauris/Bloomsbury, 2020), as well as several other publications. She is currently working on a critical edition and translation of Amir Khusraw’s preface to the *Full Moon of Perfection* (under advance contract with Murty Classical Library of India, Harvard University Press). Dr. Gabbay is the recipient of a Fulbright fellowship for study in India, a UNCG College Teaching Excellence Award, and the Foundation for Iranian Studies’ Best Ph.D. Dissertation on a Topic of Iranian Studies award, among other honors.Hosted by Dr. Vinay Khetia, this instalment in our series 'The Insight Interviews', promises to be an engaging conversation.The Insight Interviews:An informative series of academic discussions, taking a deeper dive on a variety of unique topics. Learn more at https://shiaresearch.ca/insight-interviewsView the series playlist here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLgu_sYFBPFVV5yBiwTU9snnvMmMlw41gpFollow us on:Instagram: https://instagram.com/ShiaResearchInsTwitter: https://twitter.com/ShiaResearchInsFacebok: https://facebook.com/ShiaResearchInsContribute to the Shi‘a Research Institute to help us continue creating high quality research and content:https://shiaresearch.ca/donate/

An informative discussion with Dr. Sayed Ammar Nakshawani, on the life and times of the famous Iraqi scholar and lecturer, Dr. Shaykh Ahmad al-Waeli (d.2003).Dr. Sayed Ammar Nakshawani is an Islamic Lecturer, Scholar, Historian & Author. Sayed Ammar has previously held the role as Associate and Research Director at the Project on Shi’ism and Global Affairs at Harvard University and was the Inaugural Imam Ali Chair of Shi’a Studies at the Hartford Seminary. He also served as Visiting Scholar at Columbia University’s Middle East Institute and the Department of Islamic Studies at the University of Cambridge. He obtained his doctorate from the University of Exeter where he published his dissertation on authority and leadership in early Islam. Dr. Nakshawani was appointed as a Special Representative to the United Nations promoting women’s rights initiatives, social development, and religious tolerance and is currently listed as one the World’s 500 most influential Muslims.Hosted by Dr. Vinay Khetia, this instalment in our series 'The Insight Interviews', promises to be an engaging conversation.The Insight Interviews:An informative series of academic discussions, taking a deeper dive on a variety of unique topics. Learn more at https://shiaresearch.ca/insight-interviewsView the series playlist here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLgu_sYFBPFVV5yBiwTU9snnvMmMlw41gpFollow us on:Instagram: https://instagram.com/ShiaResearchInsTwitter: https://twitter.com/ShiaResearchInsFacebok: https://facebook.com/ShiaResearchInsContribute to the Shi‘a Research Institute to help us continue creating high quality research and content:https://shiaresearch.ca/donate/

An informative discussion with Dr. Robert Gleave (University of Exeter), on his career path, personal journey, and various impactful works.Robert Gleave is Professor of Arabic Studies in the Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies, University of Exeter, UK. He researches the history of Shīʿī law, with a particular interest in legal hermeneutics. He has led international projects linked to these themes, and currently leads the SDIL project: Schooling and Deschooling Islamic Law, funded by the Gerda Henkel Foundation. He is author of Inevitable Doubt: Two Shīʿī Theories of Jurisprudence (Brill, 2000), Scripturalist Islam: The History and Doctrines of the Akhbārī Shīʿī School (Brill, 2007) and Islam and Literalism: Literal Meaning in Interpretation in Islamic Legal Theory (EUP, 2012). His most recent collaborative publications are (with Kumail Rajani) Shi’ite Legal Theory: Sources and Commentaries (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press/Gibb Memorial Trust, 2023) and (with Omar Anchassi), Islamic Law in Context: A Primary Source Reader (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004).Hosted by Dr. Vinay Khetia, this instalment in our series 'The Insight Interviews', promises to be an engaging conversation.The Insight Interviews:An informative series of academic discussions, taking a deeper dive on a variety of unique topics. Learn more at https://shiaresearch.ca/insight-interviewsView the series playlist here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLgu_sYFBPFVV5yBiwTU9snnvMmMlw41gpFollow us on:Instagram: https://instagram.com/ShiaResearchInsTwitter: https://twitter.com/ShiaResearchInsFacebok: https://facebook.com/ShiaResearchInsContribute to the Shi‘a Research Institute to help us continue creating high quality research and content:https://shiaresearch.ca/donate/

An informative discussion with Dr. Seyed Amir Hossein Asghari (Indiana University Bloomington), on his book, ‘Sufism and Philosophy in the Contemporary Shia Seminary’.SeyedAmirHossein Asghari, Ph.D., is a scholar of Islamic thought whose work explores the intersections of religion, ethics, and culture, with a focus on Shia intellectual and Sufi traditions. He is the author of Sufism and Philosophy in the Contemporary Shia Seminary: Scholars and Mystics (Bloomsbury, 2025), which examines debates over reason, revelation, and spiritual authority in the modern Shia seminary. His current monograph, Natural Law and Interreligious Understanding: Islamic Context (forthcoming), develops a Qur’an-based account of innate and natural-universal moral knowledge to support interfaith collaboration. Dr. Asghari has taught at Indiana University, Butler University, and Baylor University, offering courses on Qur’anic studies, Islamic philosophy, and interreligious ethics, and participates in Shia–Jewish legal reasoning dialogues.Hosted by Dr. Vinay Khetia, this instalment in our series 'The Insight Interviews', promises to be an engaging conversation.The Insight Interviews:An informative series of academic discussions, taking a deeper dive on a variety of unique topics. Learn more at https://shiaresearch.ca/insight-interviewsView the series playlist here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLgu_sYFBPFVV5yBiwTU9snnvMmMlw41gpFollow us on:Instagram: https://instagram.com/ShiaResearchInsTwitter: https://twitter.com/ShiaResearchInsFacebok: https://facebook.com/ShiaResearchInsContribute to SRI to help us continue creating high quality research and content:https://shiaresearch.ca/donate/

An informative discussion with Dr. Tahera Qutbuddin (Oxford University), on her latest publication, her career journey, and what led her to the work of Imam ‘Ali.Since July 2023, Dr. Qutbuddin is the AlBabtain Laudian Professor of Arabic in the Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies at Oxford, and a Professorial Fellow of St John’s College. She teaches classical Arabic literature from its oral beginnings in the 7th century to the cusp of modernity around 1800, seeing it as a direct window into the rich culture and thought of the vast medieval Arabic-speaking world.Hosted by Dr. Vinay Khetia, this instalment in our series 'The Insight Interviews', promises to be an engaging conversation.The Insight Interviews:An informative series of academic discussions, taking a deeper dive on a variety of unique topics. Learn more at https://shiaresearch.ca/insight-interviewsView the series playlist here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLgu_sYFBPFVV5yBiwTU9snnvMmMlw41gpFollow us on:Instagram: https://instagram.com/ShiaResearchInsTwitter: https://twitter.com/ShiaResearchInsFacebok: https://facebook.com/ShiaResearchInsContribute to SRI to help us continue creating high quality research and content:https://shiaresearch.ca/donate/

An informative discussion with Professor Luca Patrizi on his book "In the Presence of the King - Intermediation and Intercession in Islam”Luca Patrizi teaches Islamic Studies at the Department of Historical Studies of the University of Turin, Italy. He has been a Research Fellow at the Universities of Geneva, Sorbonne-Paris, Bonn and Exeter. His interests focus on theological and ethical issues in Islam and the doctrines and practices of Islamic esotericism. He is among the editors of the series ‘Theology and Tradition in Islam’ Studies on prophecy, transmission and spirituality for De Gruyter-Brill. Hosted by Dr. Vinay Khetia, this instalment in our series 'The Insight Interviews', promises to be an engaging conversation.The Insight Interviews:An informative series of academic discussions, taking a deeper dive on a variety of unique topics. Learn more at https://shiaresearch.ca/insight-interviewsView the series playlist here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLgu_sYFBPFVV5yBiwTU9snnvMmMlw41gpFollow us on:Instagram: https://instagram.com/ShiaResearchInsTwitter: https://twitter.com/ShiaResearchInsFacebok: https://facebook.com/ShiaResearchInsContribute to SRI to help us continue creating high quality research and content:https://shiaresearch.ca/donate/

An informative discussion with Dr. Hussein Ali Abdulsater on his books "Shi'i Doctrine, Mu'tazili Theology" and "Al-Jahiz and Religious Knowledge".Hosted by Dr. Vinay Khetia, this instalment in our series 'The Insight Interviews', promises to be an engaging conversation.The Insight Interviews:An informative series of academic discussions, taking a deeper dive on a variety of unique topics. Learn more at https://shiaresearch.ca/insight-interviewsView the series playlist here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLgu_sYFBPFVV5yBiwTU9snnvMmMlw41gpFollow us on:Instagram: https://instagram.com/ShiaResearchInsTwitter: https://twitter.com/ShiaResearchInsFacebok: https://facebook.com/ShiaResearchInsContribute to SRI to help us continue creating high quality research and content:https://shiaresearch.ca/donate/

An informative discussion with Dr. Najam Haider on his books “The Origins of the Shi’a” and “The Rebel and the Imam in Early Islam”Hosted by Dr. Vinay Khetia, this instalment in our series 'The Insight Interviews', promises to be an engaging conversation.The Insight Interviews:An informative series of academic discussions, taking a deeper dive on a variety of unique topics. Learn more at https://shiaresearch.ca/insight-interviewsView the series playlist here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLgu_sYFBPFVV5yBiwTU9snnvMmMlw41gpFollow us on:Instagram: https://instagram.com/ShiaResearchInsTwitter: https://twitter.com/ShiaResearchInsFacebok: https://facebook.com/ShiaResearchInsContribute to SRI to help us continue creating high quality research and content:https://shiaresearch.ca/donate/

An informative discussion on Dr. Thijl Sunier's book “Making Islam Work - Islamic Authority among Muslims in Western Europe” published by Brill Press. Hosted by Dr. Vinay Khetia, this instalment in our series 'The Insight Interviews', promises to be an engaging conversation. The Insight Interviews: An informative series of academic discussions, taking a deeper dive on a variety of unique topics. Learn more at https://shiaresearch.ca/insight-interviews View the series playlist here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLgu_sYFBPFVV5yBiwTU9snnvMmMlw41gp Follow us on: Instagram: https://instagram.com/ShiaResearchIns Twitter: https://twitter.com/ShiaResearchIns Facebok: https://facebook.com/ShiaResearchIns Contribute to SRI to help us continue creating high quality research and content: https://shiaresearch.ca/donate/

An informative discussion with Dr. Mohammed Rustom of Carleton University. Hosted by Dr. Cyrus Zargar, of the University of Central Florida. The Insight Interviews: An informative series of academic discussions, taking a deeper dive on a variety of unique topics. Learn more at https://shiaresearch.ca/insight-interviews View the series playlist here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLgu_sYFBPFVV5yBiwTU9snnvMmMlw41gp Follow us on: Instagram: https://instagram.com/ShiaResearchIns Twitter: https://twitter.com/ShiaResearchIns Facebok: https://facebook.com/ShiaResearchIns Contribute to SRI to help us continue creating high quality research and content: https://shiaresearch.ca/donate/

An informative discussion on Dr. Richard McCallum’s book “Evangelical Christian Responses to Islam” published by Bloomsbury Press. Hosted by Dr. Vinay Khetia, this instalment in our series 'The Insight Interviews', promises to be an engaging conversation. The Insight Interviews: An informative series of academic discussions, taking a deeper dive on a variety of unique topics. Learn more at https://shiaresearch.ca/insight-interviews View the series playlist here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLgu_sYFBPFVV5yBiwTU9snnvMmMlw41gp Follow us on: Instagram: https://instagram.com/ShiaResearchIns Twitter: https://twitter.com/ShiaResearchIns Facebok: https://facebook.com/ShiaResearchIns Contribute to SRI to help us continue creating high quality research and content: https://shiaresearch.ca/donate/