The Philosophy of Religion Seminar (Department of Philosophy) is pleased to invite you to attend the online lecture of Prof. Todd Lawson (University of Toronto) : Enchanted Cosmos: The Development of Neo Shi’ism in Safavid Iran.

This talk examines the transformation of Twelver Shiʿism under the Safavids, focusing on how its elevation to a state religion reshaped its doctrines, symbols, and modes of authority. It explores the emergence of a distinctly Persian-inflected “Neo-Shiʿism,” marked by new forms of theological imagination and scriptural hermeneutics, particularly in exegetical traditions that reconfigure Qurʾānic revelation around the authority of the Imams. Through this lens, the Safavid period appears as the site of a paradoxical “enchanted cosmos," in which political consolidation and metaphysical speculation converge to produce new configurations of prophecy, spiritual authority, and sacred history.

Biography

Todd Lawson is Professor Emeritus of Islamic Thought at the University of Toronto. A leading scholar of Shiʿi and Qurʾānic studies, his work focuses on early Islamic exegesis, messianism, and the development of Shiʿi thought. He is the author of several influential books, including The Crucifixion and the Qurʾan and Gnostic Apocalypse and Islam, and has published widely on the Qurʾān, tafsīr, and the intellectual history of Islam.

The lecture will take place online on April 29, 2026 7pm till 8:30pm (Beirut Time) via Microsoft Teams. 

Click here to attend the lecture.

Meeting ID: 394 371 942 724 713

Passcode: FK3B8uE9