Ismaili.NET - Heritage F.I.E.L.D.

Contents: Foreword/Christopher Shackle. A bio-bibliography of Zawahir Moir/Wafi A. Momin. Preface/Tazim R. Kassam and Francoise Mallison. 1. Introductory Essay: Reframing Ginanic studies: thoughts on multiple positions and heuristic tropes/Tazim R. Kassam. 2. A brief note on the Bujh Niranjan/Ali S. Asani. 3. Ginans and the management of the religious heritage of the Ismaili Khojas in Sindh/Mchel Boivin. 4. Some Ginans common to Barmati Panthi and Satpanthi traditions/Mohan Devraj Thontya and Francoise Mallison. 5. Ginans attributed to unknown composers/Balvant S. Jani. 6. A thematic study of a Satpanthi Ginan and a Mahapanthi Bhajan/Urmila B. Jani. 7. Creating a database of Ginans and related materials/Pyarali Jiwa. 8. Rewriting the Ginans: revolution and resistance among the Imamshahis/Dominique-Sila Khan. 9. The myth of Nagadamana in the Dasa-avataras and other Ginans/Francoise Mallison. 10. Sribuddha's gracious rescue of the Pandavas in Buddhavatar/Teena Purohit. 11. Religious traditions and early Ismaili history in Western India: some historical perspectives on Satpanthi literature and the Ginans/Samira Sheikh. 12. The entanglement of the Ginans in the Khoja governance/Amrita Shodhan. 13. 'Kalam-i Maula': notes on an Indian Ismaili Text/Iabal Surani. 14. The concept of 'GOD beyond God' in the Khat Nirinjan of Pir Sadardin: a personal exegesis/Nagib Tajdin. 15. Ta'wil and Ginanic literature: knowledge discourse and spiritual experience/Aziz Talbani and Parveen Hasanali. Index.

"The Satpanth Ismaili Muslims of South Asia have a beautiful tradition of religious poetry called Ginans which they have sung for many centuries in daily rituals. This small Shi'a community has spread from India to other continents, but it has held fast to the practice of singing Ginans.

Composed in Indian languages and idiom, the Ginans illustrate how Muslims were influenced by the surrounding cultures and philosophies, and created new ways of expressing their beliefs and values. Although this living tradition of religious songs is central to Ismaili practice, only a handful of studies have dealt with the subject.

This collection of essays on the Ginans by academic scholars and community enthusiasts is written in honour of Zawahir Moir, one of the earliest scholars of the Ginans. She has dedicated her life to their study and spent many years preparing a catalogue of Ginan manuscripts housed at the Institute of Ismaili Studies, London." (jacket)