Faculty Research Fellow
Shafique N. Virani (UTM Historical Studies; Ph.D. Harvard University, 2001) is Professor of Islamic Studies and was founding Director of the Centre for South Asian Civilizations. His scholarly interests include Sufism, Ithna-‘ashari and Ismaili Shiism, Quranic studies, Islamic history and philosophy, and Muslim literatures in Arabic, Persian and South Asian languages. His scholarly work includes books, a documentary film, multimedia productions, a registered invention, a proposal to the Unicode Consortium, entries in the Encyclopaedia of Islam and the Encyclopaedia of Religion and numerous peer reviewed articles. His most recent book, In Search of Salvation (Dar justuju-yi rastagari), was published in Persian in 2020. Translated into over 20 languages, he has received awards and recognition from the American Academy of Religion, the Middle East Studies Association, the Foundation for Iranian Studies, Farabi International, the British Society for Middle East Studies, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, and two Iranian presidents. An avid volunteer around the world, he has consulted for projects by Cirque du Soleil, the History Channel, Lord Cultural Resources, Google, and numerous governmental and other organizations. Describing him as “a visionary,” UNESCO honored him for dedicating his efforts “to the cause of extending the frontiers of knowledge and the welfare of humankind.”
What I'm working on: Sensual and Spiritual: Pleasure in the Thought of Nasir-i Khusraw
This project is an examination of the philosophy of pleasure and happiness in the works of Nasir i Khusraw, and those of his Fatimid peers. The famous traveller, poet and thinker, who lived a millennium ago in the Near East, led an intemperate life his first forty years until a dream vision called him to seek pleasure in the pursuit of knowledge. For the remainder of his life he wrote extensively about sensual and intellectual pleasure (lazzat-i ḥissī and lazzat-i ʿaqlī), elaborating an extensive philosophy couched in Neoplatonic vocabulary of how the Universal Soul’s quest for pleasure will eventually lead it to the eternal happiness and beatitude that transpires when it reunites with the Universal Intellect.