Islamic & Middle Eastern Studies, University of Edinburgh

04/02/2026

Event Highlights | 2 February 2026

Thank you to all who attended “Making Colonisation Humanitarian: A Genealogy of Settler Humanitarianism in Palestine/Israel” by Dr Pietro Stefanini (University of Edinburgh) at 40 George Square.

The talk offered a sharp and timely analysis of how humanitarianism has been historically intertwined with settler colonialism in Palestine/Israel, from British rule to the present moment. Drawing on archival and ethnographic research, it highlighted how humanitarian practices have operated during moments of crisis to sustain settler society while facilitating Palestinian dispossession.

Co-badged with the Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities (IASH).
📸 Images from the talk below.

02/02/2026

We were honoured last Monday 26 2026 to host award-winning Palestinian filmmaker and academic Azza El Hassan, who joined us online to discuss her acclaimed book The Afterlife of Palestinian Images (2024).

Azza explored how colonial violence reshapes visual objects and how artistic engagement with surviving photos and films can reframe memory, loss, and cultural identity.

📷 Here are some pictures taken during the event.

Thank you to everyone who joined this powerful and thought-provoking session.

02/02/2026

Join us today for a hybrid seminar by Dr Pietro Stefanini (University of Edinburgh) in which he will discuss tracing a genealogy of the relationship between humanitarianism and settler colonialism, from the period of British imperial rule in Palestine to present-day.

Date - 2 February 2026

Venue - Room LG.09, 40 George Square

Speakers - Dr Pietro Stefanini (University of Edinburgh)

Title - Making Colonisation Humanitarian: A Genealogy of Settler Humanitarianism in Palestine/Israel

Pietro Stefanini will discuss a book manuscript project, which deploys archival and ethnographic methods to trace a genealogy of the relationship between humanitarianism and settler colonialism, from the period of British imperial rule in Palestine, through the 1948 Nakba and 1967 Naksa, to the contemporary conjuncture and the genocide in Gaza.

The book illustrates a settler colonial modality of humanitarianism along two main axes: enabling the continuous reproduction of the settler society; and providing a mechanism for the dispossession of the Palestinian people. It demonstrates how, rather than constituting a constant dynamic throughout a century-long historical arc, the settler form of humanitarianism gains particular prominence during moments of crisis, disruptions of populations (both settler and native), and peaks in colonial violence.

The event is co-badged with The Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities (IASH).

https://llc.ed.ac.uk/islamic-and-middle-eastern-studies/imes-seminar-series-260202

26/01/2026

Join us today for a hybrid seminar by Professor Azza El Hassan (Doha Institute for Graduate Studies - Qatar) exploring the role of visual objects as they alter and change through exposure to colonial violence.

- 26 January 2026
- Venue - Room LG.09, 40 George Square
- Speakers - Professor Azza El Hassan (Doha Institute for Graduate Studies - Qatar)
- Title - The Afterlife of Palestinian Images: Visual Remains and the Archive of Disappearance

About the event
Award-winning Palestinian filmmaker and academic Azza El Hassan will discuss key artistic and methodological concepts from her recently published and much-acclaimed book 'The Afterlife of Palestinian Images' (2024).

In this creative study, El Hassan demonstrates how colonial violence alters and changes visual objects, which in turn affects how a society and culture relates to its own images. Based on her practice-based creative methodology, the filmmaker explores the re-use and re-appropriation of photos, film, and media equipment that have survived looting and destruction, objects which become a constant reminder of what was and what has been lost.

El Hassan goes beyond using these visual remains as simple evidence, demonstrating how artistic engagement can reconfigure them into new narratives and establish a renewed sense of cultural identity.

Please note that both speakers in this event will be joining online.

Join us for a hybrid seminar by Professor Azza El Hassan (Doha Institute for Graduate Studies - Qatar) exploring the role of visual objects as they alter and change through exposure to colonial violence.

12/01/2026

Join us today in our first IMES research seminar

🗣️ Delivered by Professor Tahrir Hamdi (Arab Open University – Jordan), and Louis Brehony (writer and musician) – Guest speakers will be joining online

Title: Discussion of the speakers’ much-acclaimed edited book Ghassan Kanafani: Selected Political Writings (2024)

📅 Date: Mon 12 Jan 2026

📍 Location: Online or University of Edinburgh (LG.09, 40 George Square)

Type of Event : Hybrid (The speakers will be joining online, but attendance is both online or in person.)

🕝 Timing: from 17:15-18:30

The event is co-badged and sponsored by The The Edinburgh Alwaleed Centre
School of Literatures, Languages and Cultures, University of Edinburgh

Abstract: Revolutionary Palestinian thinker, journalist and political thinker Ghassan Kanafani is well-known for his ground-breaking novels such as Men in the Sun (1962) and Returning to Haifa (1969), among many others. But in this new book, Hamdi and Brehony compile and analyze, for the first time in English
and with dozens of contributors, Kanafani’s impactful writings on politics, history, national liberation, and the media. Kanafani’s writings produced in the 1960s
and early 1970s (before his assassination by the Israeli Mossad in 1972) provide powerful historical and political contexts for the continuing Israeli occupation
of Palestinian land. His work remains vital for revolutionary Palestinian struggle and anti-colonial thought.

See you soon, and do reach out if you require the Zoom link 🙂
To find out more →

Join us for a hybrid seminar by Professor Tahrir Hamdi (Arab Open University, Jordan), and Louis Brehony (writer and musician), discussing their recent publication 'Ghassan Kanafani: Selected Political Writings' (2024).

21/11/2025

Our next and final research seminar for this semester is on Monday, 24 November

Borderlands and Kurdology: From Imperial to Post-Soviet Perspectives

Venue: 40 George Square, Room LG.11

Delivered by (1) Denizcan Dede, PhD Student, IMES

& (2) Tahsin Yurttas, Ankara Yıldırım Beyazıt University, Turkey (Visiting Scholar)

The Science of Balāga in the Ottoman Madrasa System and the Influence of Abu Yaqub Al-Sakkāki's Miftāḥ Al-Ulūm (Ottoman Bosnia-Herzegovina)

14/11/2025

Join us in this year's William Montgomery Watt Lecture organised by IMES on

Monday 17th Nov (week 10) [Meadows Lecture Theatre, University of Edinburgh]

Delivered by Prof. Emily Selove, University of Exeter

Medieval Arabic Magic between Historical Cartoons and Philological Inquiry

This lecture explores key themes in the study of Medieval Islamic occult texts, focusing especially on jinn and other unseen entities invoked in Arabic grimoires such as Sirāj al-Dīn al-Sakkākī’s (d. 1229) Kitāb al-Shāmil wa-baḥr al-kāmil. We will examine the methods by which sorcerers, philosophers, and other thinkers of the age studied the nature of these beings and the best way to interact with (or avoid) them. We will also explore the relationship of illusion and trickery to magic and the esoteric in this historical context. Each topic is illustrated with a historical cartoon from Popeye and Curly: 120 Days in Medieval Baghdad. Thus we will walk the line between seriousness and play (jidd wa hazl) in approaching the study of Medieval Arabic literature in general, and the Islamic Occult in particular.

13/11/2025

We were delighted to host Prof. Mohd Radhi Ibrahim (Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia, Visiting Scholar) for a thought-provoking seminar on
“The Integration of Knowledge: An Islamic Worldview”
🗓️ Monday 10 November

Prof. Radhi explored how integrating diverse streams of knowledge through an Islamic epistemological lens can help address contemporary challenges faced by the Muslim community.

💡 His insights on Aqidah, philosophy, and civilisation inspired rich discussion and reflection among attendees.

Stay tuned for more upcoming seminars and scholarly exchanges at IMES!

06/11/2025

We were delighted to host Prof. Nacim Pak-Shiraz for an engaging talk on “Staging Masculinity: Hegemony and Patriarchy in 1990s Iranian Popular Cinema.”

An inspiring session exploring how Iranian cinema reflected shifting cultural and political identities of the 1990s.

Swipe through for photo highlights!

06/11/2025

Join us in our next research seminar on Mon 10 Nov (Week 9)
Venue: 40 George Square, Room LG.11

The Integration of Knowledge: An Islamic Worldview

Delivered by : Prof. Mohd Radhi Ibrahim, Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia (Visiting Scholar)

Integration of knowledge is the process of combining diverse perspectives, experiences, and types of knowledge to generate more inclusive, equitable, and innovative outcomes. It is part of the epistemological discussion in philosophy. This paper aims to explain the concept of integration of knowledge according to the Islamic worldview. It is also an attempt to offer an integrated perspective on how to see current challenges faced by the Muslim community and explore potential solutions to address them.
Mohd Radhi Ibrahim is a professor in Islamic Theology and Philosophy at the Programme of Aqidah and Religious Studies, Faculty of Leadership and Management, Islamic Science University of Malaysia. He obtained a Bachelor of Usuluddin (Aqidah and Philosophy) from Al-Azhar University, Egypt, in 1996, a Master of Usuluddin (Aqidah and Islamic Thought) from the University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, in 2000, and a PhD (Islamic Studies) from the University of Edinburgh, in 2019. Among his published works are: Integration of Knowledge According to Islamic Epistemology, Aqidah and the Development of Civilisation, Aqidah Management in Muslim Life, and The Human Development of Muslim Students.

His research interests include the Management of Aqidah, Islamic Theological Epistemology, Ethical Education and Islamic Philosophy of Science.