Sayyid al-Khabbaz Visit – Discussion with Professor Juan Cole at U of M, Ann Arbor

December 5, 2015

In collaboration and coordination with I.M.A.M., Professor Juan Cole, of the Near and Middle East department at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor and a specialist in Shia matters of the last century, welcomed in his office His Eminence Sayyid Monir Alkhabaz along with His Excellency Sayyid M. B. Kashmiri.

The conversation revolved around various intellectual subjects and the influence of the Persian, Indian, and Arabic cultures on the Imamia school of thought. Dr. Cole was pleased and enthusiastic by the views and ideas of Sayyid Alkhabaz, and invited him to a class session with students who were studying a book about a particular Shia group.

His Eminence Sayyid Alkhabaz accepted the invitation and visited the classroom to answer the students’ questions. Most of the questions were about the theory of the Providence of the Jurist and the view of the great religious authority, Grand Ayatollah Sayyid Ali al-Sistani regarding permissible types of government and power in Islam.

Dr. Cole concluded the session by thanking Sayyid Alkhabaz and hoping for a repeat visit in the future.