This lecture will focus on Ibn Arabs writings on the black light of the night. We will explore Ibn Arabs notions of the night serving as the source of knowledge, power and protection for the spiritual seekers known as the Nightfolk ( ahl al-layl ) and identify the possible origins and parallels of these teachings in Persianate Sufism. Dunja Rai is a Sufi scholar and the author of The Written World of God (Anqa Publishing, 2021), Bedeviled (State University of New York Press, 2024), The Nightfolk (University of California Press, 2025) and Azrael (Penn State University Press, 2027). Her research interests revolve around philosophical Sufism, philosophy of language, Sufi cosmology and the school of Ibn Arab.

Approximately one century ago, on 3 March 1924, the grand National Assembly of Ankara decided to abolish the Ottoman caliphate. While protests were limited and short-lived, the decision sparked a lively intellectual debate. This lecture addresses some of the controversies preceding and following the decision to abolish the caliphate, the debates within pan-Islamic congresses concerning the fate of the institution, and British policymakers perceptions of caliphal authority. These are some of the issues explored by the book The Abolition of the Ottoman Caliphate, 1924: Debates and Implications [https://www.routledge.com/The-Abolition-of-the-Ottoman-Caliphate-1924-Debates-and-Implications/Giunchi-Melis/p/book/9781032613376] (Routledge, 2024) edited by Elisa Giunchi and Nicola Melis.

The seminar will explore one of the most enchanting, soulful, and transcendent art forms in the world Qawwali. For centuries, this musical tradition has been a medium for expressing love, devotion, and the spiritual connection between the human soul and the Divine. Encompassing everything from the early modern performance of 13th/14th-century Persian poetry of Amir Khusraw and Sadi Shirazi, to its modern-day development by world-renowned artists like Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and Abida Parveen, and to Coke Studio, the medium has been mesmerizing audiences for centuries. Photography and videography by SAMA Arts Network may be taking place during this event. For more information, visit the event page on the IIS website [https://www.iis.ac.uk/events/echoes-of-devotion].