Sara Verskin

I'm looking for a color-coded map showing the Christian & Islamic world anytime between 967-1096. Ideally, it would have a separate color scheme for Christian and Muslim dominated areas but also have different shades within that division for distinct ruling powers. e.g. Fatamids

I first came across this song 11 years ago. It's even funnier now that I'm actually in a department where there are multiple NMC philologists. youtube.com/watch?v=3x2Svq…

I'm teaching a dream course next semester: "Getting Justice: Women, Slaves, and Religious Minorities in the Courts of the pre-Modern M.E." Send me your favorite legal documents. This one, published by Zoe Griffith, is one of mine: islamiclaw.blog/2022/09/13/163…

I'm attending my first IMC conference in Leeds. I'm thinking of combining it with a last-vacation-before-university trip for my 17-y.o. kids, who like medieval history. Has anyone brought their family members to Leeds and set them free to explore? Is this a terrible idea?

@LiranYadgar This is great. Thank you so much!

@SaraVerskin C. E. Bosworth, "Ṣanawbarī's Elegy on the Pilgrims Slain in the Carmathian Attack on Mecca (317/930)," Arabica, 19, 3 (1972): 222-239; and on the Qarmati attacks on Baghdad: N. Hurvitz, "The Qarāmiṭa Scare," Journal of Abbasid Studies, 9, 1-2 (2022): 161-182.

More recommendations requested: a scholarly article or chapter in English on the Qarmati sack of Mecca and theft of the Black Stone

Requesting suggestions for some academic, well-footnoted articles on the hajj of Mansa Musa, or Mansa Musa's Islamic program more generally.

@mindofzaii Hi Zainab! Who is the translator for this edition? Would it be possible for you to email me 1 sample page so I can compare it with the Arabic and the Farah translation and see if it works for me? I'm so glad to learn of your family's store!

@SaraVerskin My family owns a bookstore and this is just one of the translations that we carry! firdousbooks.ca/the-proper-con…

What is the most accurate, unabridged English translation of the "Adab al-nikah" section of Ghazali's "Ihya"? Every year I assign the Farah translation because it's so easily available and it always introduces problems. I'm trying to be more proactive this year. Recommendations?

Looking for short, accessible readings for students on women's mawlid rituals and Shi'ite women's Muharram rituals. For an undergrad Islam and Gender class. Ideally 20-30 pages on each topic. Any time period. Can't assign a whole book. Must be in English.

@BanisterMustafa This is so cool! Thank you!

@SaraVerskin I like asking students to play hajjtrail.com and then getting them to discuss the problems they faced.

I'm prepping a course exploring Islamic history using the hajj as a lens. What are your favorite (clearly written basics and/or interesting specifics) articles and primary sources on the hajj? I have lots but always appreciate more. Non-English recommendations gladly accepted.

I have a new article published! Let me know if you are interested in reading it but do not have institutional access. For instructors: the istiftas translated here are very "teachable."

I just read maqama 32 "Jury-Rigged" of Michael Cooperson's "Impostures" (Translation of al-Hariri) and the translation is just astoundingly clever. What a virtuosic piece of scholarship!

Add "uninvited talks" to your academic CV - when you shared your research with a person against their will

@LiranYadgar Thanks!

@SaraVerskin Avner Giladi, Infants, Parents and Wet Nurses: Medieval Islamic Views on Breastfeeding and Their Social Implications, chapter 3; Peter Parkes, "Milk Kinship in Islam: Substance, Structure, History," Social Anthropology, 13, 3 (2005): 307-329.

Recommendations requested for a well-written English-language article on milk kinship, for an Islamic family law course.

@AaronRockSinger Not consciously but, now that I think about it, probably yes. This particular class won't be unified by knowledge of Arabic though, so the assignment will have to work for English too. Secondary scholarship rabbit holes can be fun too.

@SaraVerskin Was this inspired by the premise of Cook's Introduction to the Islamic Scholarly Tradition course?

I'm interesting in creating an assignment called "footnote rabbit hole" for an intro GRADUATE seminar, formalizing the "chase down something in the footnotes of an article until you find something cool" process. Does anyone have such an assignment to share?