This conference will take place on 26–27 March 2026 at the Aga KhanA title granted by the Shah of Persia to the then Ismaili Imam in 1818 and inherited by each of his successors to the Imamate. Centre and online.
Conference themes
The conference brings into focus the rich heritage of Ismaili traditions through the lens of the elements—earth, water, air, fire and ether. It seeks critically to examine philosophical, literary, poetic and artistic expressions, alongside accounts of lived experience drawn from diverse historical and contemporary contexts. In foregrounding the elemental as both metaphor and cosmological framework, the conference aims to generate innovative research that reconsiders the relationship between religious understandings of the created world and the many dimensions of climate change and environmental degradation that call for a renewed commitment to mitigation efforts.
Addressing a notable gap in scholarship at the intersection of religious cosmology and material existence, the conference offers a platform for generative dialogue on how these elements have been imagined, articulated and interpreted across varied expressions of thought within Ismaili and related traditions. Such inquiry also invites reflection on how elemental conceptions may be situated within broader environmental and ethical frameworks informed by Muslim, humanistic and civilisational perspectives.
Over two days, scholars representing a wide range of disciplines and historical periods will engage discursive, poetic and literary sources, as well as contemporary writings, stories, folklore and action-oriented initiatives. Through their diverse methodological and disciplinary approaches, participants will collectively explore the elemental theme and its enduring intellectual, spiritual and ethical resonances.
Elemental: Music, Dance and Reflection
Experience an evening of music, dance and reflection live on Ismaili TV from the Ismaili Centre London, presented by The Institute of Ismaili Studies. Inspired by the Elemental conference, this performance brings together artistic traditions from across the Muslim world.
Watch with us live on on 25 March 2026 at 8:30pm GMT.
Panels and Speakers
Day One
Welcome note and Introductory Remarks Professor Zayn Kassam, Director of The Institute of Ismaili Studies
Turfah and environmental memory: a reflection on Salamiyyan literature and stories Ѳ Yᾱ, The Institute of Ismaili Studies, UK
From Rain Amulets to Running Showers: Elemental Crisis and Moral Economy in Hunza Qudsia Shah, The Institute of Ismaili Studies, UK
Blessings of the Common Land (Muzhayo): Conceptions of Earth and Stewardship among Ismaili Communities of Chitral
, Oxford University, UK
Keynote Address: AKDN’s Environment and Climate Initiative
, AKDNThe Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN) is a contemporary endeavour of the Ismaili Imamat to realise the ethics and social conscience of Islam through institutional action. More
ʿĀlam-i Saghīr or the Relationship of Nature, Habitat and Human Being among the Ismaʿilis of Badakhshan Dr Nourmamadcho Nourmamadchoev, The Institute of Ismaili Studies, UK
Sing to the Fish and the Mountains will listen: Ecopoetry and the Prophecy of Environmental Loss in Burushaski Rizwan Karim, The Institute of Ismaili Studies, UK
The Sacred Ecology of Water and Soil in Ismāʿīlī Jurisprudence: Insights from Daʿāʾim al-Islām
Dr Morteza Karimi, University of Tehran, Iran
Echoes in Stone: Natural Resource Management in Ismaili Fortresses as a Model for Climate Adaptation
, University of Aberdeen, UK
The Ginān Literature and the Elements Dr Wafi Momin, The Institute of Ismaili Studies, UK
Natural Elements and Alchemy of Knowledge in the Works of Faḍl Allāh Astarābādī (d. 796/1394) Dr Orkhan Mir-Kasimov, The Institute of Ismaili Studies, UK
Elemental Geographies of the Sacred in Nāṣir-i Khusraw’s Safarnāma
, University of North Carolina, USA
The Concepts of Aether or Quinta Essentia from the Greek Heritage to the Islamic Context: The Cosmological Views of the Ikhwān al-ṢafāʾFrom Arabic, lit. ‘Brethren of Purity’, a group of learned scholars who were based in Basra and Baghdad around the last quarter of the t10th century CE. It is more…, Abū Ya ʿqūb al-Sijistānī, and Ḥamīd al-Dīn al-Kirmānī Dr Maria De Cillis, The Institute of Ismaili Studies, UK
Ether as Spirit/Space that “Holds”
Dr Alia Parveen, Eurofins – Ireland, and Currim Suteria – Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture, Pakistan
Neoplatonic Nature: Ismaili Philosophical Views of the Elements
, Augustana College, USA
Ismaili perspectives on Earth, Water, Air, Fire and Ether in the Ginan tradition
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Mapping the Ismaili Social Landscape: Environmental Narratives from Alamūt to Anjudān Dr Karim Javan, The Institute of Ismaili Studies, UK
Integration of Traditional Ecological Knowledge into Ismaili Religious Education in Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan: A Pedagogical Approach to Environmental Stewardship
Nazira BibiA word of East Turkish origin which means old mother or a grandmother. More, ITREB – Pakistan
Bridging and understanding the interaction between environmental geography and Ismaili demographics
Siddique Ullah Baig, COMSATS University, Pakistan
Ecological Aesthetics to Lived Ethics: Ismaili Pathways
, Simon Fraser University, Canada
Please note filming and photography may take place during the event, and be used across our website, newsletters and social media accounts. These could include broad shots of the audience and lecture theatre, speakers during the talk, and of audience members participating in Q&A.
Views expressed in this conference are those of the presenting scholars, not necessarily of ҹ糡, the Ismaili community or leadership. Promotion of this lecture is not an explicit endorsement of the ideas presented.
