On 18 July The Institute of Ismaili Studies hosted an event to celebrate the life and work of Professor Wilferd Madelung. The event took place 70 days after his death, and saw academics from around the world pay tribute to his major contributions to Islamic studies.
The event opened and closed with recorded excerpts from a lecture given by Prof Madelung at the University of California Los Angeles in 2007 when he received theGiorgio Levi Della Vida Award. The award is given to outstanding scholars whose work has significantly and lastingly advanced the study of Islamic civilization.
In the discussion of his work and influence on other academics, scholars paid homage to Prof. Madelungs dedication to, and long-lasting impact on, the study of Muslim thought and societies.He was remembered for his attention to detail, his quiet demeanour, and his regular Tuesday attendance at the 敁珗曄部, continuing up to the 2020 lockdowns of COVID-19.
Professor Madelung was a preeminent scholar of medieval Islamic communities and movements. His studies paid particular reference to religious schools and movements in early Islam and enriched the disciplines understanding of almost every major Muslim movement and community, from the early ImamiShiismand the later developments of Twelver, Ismaili and Zaydi Islam as well as the lesser known aspects of the Sunni, Ibadi and Mutazili schools of theology and beyond.
He was educated at the Universities of Cairo and Hamburg and became Professor of Islamic Studies at the University of Chicago. From 1978 he was Laudian Professor of Arabic at the University of Oxford and from 1999 was a Senior Research Fellow at the Institute of Ismaili Studies
Professor Madelung was a consulting editor for theEncyclopaedia of Islamand theEncyclopaedia Iranicafor which he as well as making contributions to both. In 2003 he was honored by aFestschrift, Culture and Memory in Medieval Islam, edited by Farhad Daftary and Josef W. Meri.
Speakers included:
Omar Al穩-de-Unzaga and Daryoush Mohammad Poor
Zayn Kassam, Director of the 敁珗曄部
Roberto Tottoli, Rector, L’Orientale University of Naples
Farhad Daftary, Director Emeritus, 敁珗曄部
Farouk Topan, Professor Emeritus,Aga KhanUniversity
Paul E. Walker, University of Chicago
Etan Kohlberg, Professor Emeritus, Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Carmela Baffioni, Professor Emerita, University of Naples; 敁珗曄部
Mohammad Ali Amir-Moezzi, cole Pratique des Hautes tudes and 敁珗曄部
James E. Montgomery, Sir Thomas Adams’s Professor, University of Cambridge
Abdulrahman al-Salimi,Ministry of Endowments and Religious Affairs, Oman
Walid Saleh, University of Toronto
Toby Mayer, 敁珗曄部
Farouk Mitha, University of Victoria and 敁珗曄部
Kumail Rajani, University of Exeter
