In this episode, Rustin and Ali are joined by Professor Najam Haider, Professor of Religion at Barnard College, to talk about his recent book, The Rebel and the Imām in Early Islam: Explorations in Muslim Historiography. The lack of contemporary sources for the first century of the Islamic period poses many challenges for historians past and present. Engaging with many of the impasses that still animate the study of early Islam, Professor Haider proposes that one way forward is to explore the rules that governed historical writing among early Muslims as well as their intended audiences. Instead of remaining preoccupied with 19th century European standards of historical writing, such as the search for veracity, he argues that the historians of the early Islamic period worked in continuity with the traditions of Late Antiquity. They were not interested in what “really happened,” but rather, they played with known narratives to make competing claims for contemporary audiences. After a personal anecdote about his own interest in the subject, Haider walks us through the example of the seventh Twelver-Shi’i Imam, Musa al Kadhim, explaining how sources over the centuries have told and retold his biography in keeping with their own theological and political concerns. ...
In this episode, Kamyar and Rustin welcome back Dr. Stefan Williamson Fa to talk about the extraordinary life and music of Sufi-Flamenco star, Aziz Balouch. Stefan has re-issued Balouch's EP, *Sufi Hispano-Pakastani*, originally produced in 1962, with [Death is Not the End Records ](https://deathisnot.bandcamp.com/album/sufi-hispano-pakistani) in 2020. Dr. Williamson Fa traces Aziz's biography, from a young boy born in Baluchistan in 1910, to studying in Sindh at a sufi shrine, before making his way to Gibraltar and falling in love with Flamenco music. Balouch became a student of legendary Flamenco master, Pepe Marchena, and spent the rest of his life exploring the deep connections between Andalusian music and mystical Islam. To learn more about Dr. Willamson Fa's research on Aziz Balouch and to listen to his songs in their entirety, visit the accompanying article, "[From Sindh to Andalusia: The Life and Times of Sufi-Flamenco Star Aziz Balouch](https://ajammc.com/2021/01/11/sufi-flamenco-aziz-balouch/)" on the Ajam Media Collective website. ...
In this episode, Rustin and Ali interview Alireza Doostdar, Assistant Professor of Islamic Studies and the Anthropology of Religion at the University of Chicago. He is the author of [The Iranian Metaphysicals: Explorations in Science, Islam, and the Uncanny](https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691163772/the-iranian-metaphysicals), published by Princeton University Press in 2018. Dr. Doostdar explores the neglected aspects of religion and spirituality in Iran, specifically practices that are often categorized in the realm of superstition, magic, and the occult. The interview opens with a discussion of two different yet entangled traditions that engage with the immaterial world in contemporary Iran: the "strange" or "hidden" sciences ('ulum-e qaribeh or 'ulum-e khafiyeh) that developed in Iran and nearby regions, and the esoteric sciences imported from Europe in the nineteenth century. These two lineages include beliefs and practices such as sorcery, alchemy, astrology, spiritism, mesmerism, and theosophy. Dr. Doostdar explains that these traditions form the foundations of Iranian metaphysics and serves as a testament to the plurality and ambiguity of religious practice in the Islamic Republic. Towards the end of the episode, Dr. Doostdar discusses his own perceived run-in with the unseen world during his fieldwork. ...
