Shafique Virani - Research and Publications

Research and Publications

Shafique Virani received his BA in Religious Studies and MA in Islamic Studies in 1992 and 1995 respectively, from McGill University in Montreal. He received his PhD from Harvard University in 2001, where he presented his doctoral thesis, "Seekers of Union: The Ismailis from the Mongol Debacle to the Eve of the Safavid Revolution" to much acclaim, winning the prize for "Best Dissertation of the Year" from the Foundation for Iranian Studies. He also earned the Ilse Lichtenstadter Memorial Publication Prize, and was awarded an Honorable Mention by the Malcolm Kerr Dissertation Award committee, who cited his dissertation as “a path-breaking work of Islamic history.” It was also named International Book of the Year by the government of Iran, which invited him to Tehran as an official guest of state for the awards ceremony.

He has published extensively on topics related to Islamic history and culture, with a focus on Islamic philosophy, Sufism, Twelver and Ismaili Shiism, and Arabic, Persian, and South Asian literatures. His articles have appeared in the Journal of the American Oriental Society, the Encyclopedia of Religion, and the Annual of Urdu Studies. He has also served on the board of editors for the Harvard Middle Eastern and Islamic Review. In 2007, his largest work “The Ismailis in the Middle Ages: A History of Survival, A Search for Salvation” was published by the Oxford University Press. The book examines the spiritual and intellectual legacy of Ismaili communities during the Middle Ages, especially as they endured the Mongol invasions of the 13th century.