Pakistan
Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...
i origin in
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
. She is a historian of
Islam in South Asia
Islam is the second-largest religion in South Asia, with more than 600 million Muslims living there, forming about one-third of the region's population. History of Islam in South Asia started along the coastal regions of the Indian subcontinent a ...
Alvi moved to Canada in January 1967 as a Post-doctoral Fellow at the
University of Toronto
The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution ...
. She accepted a teaching position at the Institute of Islamic Studies,
McGill University
McGill University (french: link=no, Université McGill) is an English-language public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter granted by King George IV,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill Universit ...
,
Montreal
Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...
, in 1972; she taught there for five years and then moved to the
University of Minnesota
The University of Minnesota, formally the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, (UMN Twin Cities, the U of M, or Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Tw ...
in 1977. After receiving tenure and promotion at the University of Minnesota, she returned to McGill University in 1986.
She is the first appointee to an endowed Chair in Urdu Language and Culture (funded by the Government of Pakistan, Department of Multiculturalism, Government of Canada and McGill University), and is a Professor of Indo-Islamic History at McGill University.
Alvi has lectured in Canada and the United States on Islam, aspects of Islamic civilization, and women's issues, and works with the Canadian Council of Muslim Women regarding women's issues. She also worked various Boards of Education in Ontario to support and enhance the instruction of heritage languages programs with special reference to Urdu with funding from the Department of Multiculturalism.
Works
Amongst Sajida Alvi's contributions her efforts to make Mughal sources more accessible has won her scholastic acclaim; these include her critical edition of Aurangzeb's history, ''Mir’at al-‘Alam: History of Emperor Awangzeb Alamgir'' (2 vols); and her translation and edition of a mirror for princes from the reign of the Mughal emperor
Jahangir
Nur-ud-Din Muhammad Salim (30 August 1569 – 28 October 1627), known by his imperial name Jahangir (; ), was the fourth Mughal Emperor, who ruled from 1605 until he died in 1627. He was named after the Indian Sufi saint, Salim Chishti.
Ear ...
''Advice on the Art of Governance: An Indo-Islamic Mirror for Princes'' (Mau‘izah-i Jahangiri) of Muhammad Baqir Najm-i Sani.
She has contributed chapters and brief notes to the ''Encyclopaedia of Islam'', ''Encyclopædia Iranica'', ''The Muslim Almanac: A Reference Work on the History, Faith, Culture, and People of Islam'', ''Encyclopaedia of the Modern Islamic World'', and ''Encyclopaedia of Religion''. Her current two-volume research project in progress is: “Khanqah and Madrasah and Chishtiyya Sufis: Agents of Social Change and Spiritual Rejuvenation in the British Punjab (1750-1850).”
hijab
In modern usage, hijab ( ar, حجاب, translit=ḥijāb, ) generally refers to headcoverings worn by Muslim women. Many Muslims believe it is obligatory for every female Muslim who has reached the age of puberty to wear a head covering. While ...
,Insight Podcast with Jonathan Curie "Should Muslim women wear head covering in public?" ''San Francisco Chronicle'', November 3, 2006. Alvi undertook another major project at the request of the Canadian Council of Muslim Women, and completed it in collaboration with two colleagues from
Concordia University
Concordia University ( French: ''Université Concordia'') is a public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1974 following the merger of Loyola College and Sir George Williams University, Concordia is one of the t ...
as co-editors and contributors along with some graduate students. It culminated in the publication of ''Muslim Veil in North America: Issues and Debates'' in 2003.
Works
*Muhammad Bakhtawar Khan. ''Mir'at al-‘Alam: History of Emperor Awangzeb ‘Alamgir (Political History), vol. 1''. Edited by Sajida S. Alvi. Lahore: Research Society of Pakistan, University of Punjab, 1979.
*Idem.''Mir'at al-‘Alam: History of Emperor Awangzeb ‘Alamgir (The Biographies of the ‘ulama', Sufis, Calligraphers and Poets), Vol. II''. Lahore: Research Society of Pakistan, University of Punjab, 1979.
*"Muhammad Bakhtawar Khan (d. 1685)," an historian of Mughal emperor Awrangzeb. Encycolopaedia Iranica, New York, 1988, vol. 3, 541–42.
*"The Historians of Awangzeb: A Comparative Study of Three Primary Sources." Essays on Islamic Civilization Presented to
Niyazi Berkes
Niyazi Berkes (21 October 1908 – 18 December 1988) was a Turkish Cypriot sociologist.
Early life and education
Berkes was born in Nicosia, the capital of Cyprus, on 21 September 1908, shortly after the Young Turk Revolution in Turkey.
, D.P. Little, ed., (Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1976), 57–73.
*"Tarikh-i Husayniyah: An Unknown Source for the History of Awadh." Der Islam Hamburg, West Germany, 58,1(1981): 136–146.
*''Advice on the Art of Governance: An Indo-Islamic Mirror for Princes (Mau‘izahi Jahangiri) of Muhammad Baqir Najmi Sani Persian Text with Introduction, Translation, and Notes''. Albany: State University of New York Press, 1989.
Articles
*"Mazhar-i Shahjahani and the Mughal Province of Sind: A Discourse on Political Ethics." ''Islam and Indian Regions, Texts'', Beitrage zur Sudasienforschung Sudasien-Institut Universitat Heidelberg, 145, Anna.L. Dallapiccola and Stephanie Z. Lallemant, eds. Franz Steiner Verlag Stuttgart, 1993. Vol. 1, 239–258.
*"Shi‘ism in India During Jahangir's Reign: Some Reflections." Journal of the Pakistan Historical Society Karachi, Pakistan, 27, 1(1979): 39–65.
*"Religion and State During the Reign of Mughal Emperor Jahangir (1605-27): Nonjuristical Perspectives." Studia Islamica, Paris, France, 69(1989): 95-119.
*"Qazi Sana'-Allah Panipati, An Eighteenth-Century Indian Sufi-‘Alim: A Study of His Writings in Their Sociopolitical Context." ''Islamic Studies Presented to Charles J. Adams'', W. Hallaq and D. Little, eds., (Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1991), 11–25.
*"The ''Mujaddid'' and ''Tajdid'' Traditions in the Indian Subcontinent: An Historical Overview." Journal of Turkish Studies, 18 (1994): 1-15.
*"Islam in South Asia." The Muslim Almanac: A Reference Work on the History, Faith, Culture, and Peoples of Islam, Azim Nanji, ed. Gale Research Inc., 1995, 55–72.
*"Foreword," Islam: Its Roots and Wings, A Primer, V. S. Behiery and A. M. Guenther. Canadian Council of Muslim Women: 2000, i-ix.
*"The Naqshbandi Mujaddidi Sufi Order’s Ascendancy in Central Asia Through the Eyes of its Masters and Disciples (1010s-1200s/1600s-1800s)". ''Reason and Inspiration in Islam: Theology, Philosophy and Mysticism in Muslim Thought, essays in Honour of Hermann Landolt'', Todd Lawson, ed., (London: I. B. Tauris, 2005), 418–431.
*''The Muslim Veil in North America: Issues and Debates'', co-edited with
Homa Hoodfar
Homa Hoodfar ( fa, هما هودفر) is a Canadian-Iranian sociocultural anthropologist and professor emerita of anthropology at Concordia University in Montreal. While she is most widely known for her work on Western perceptions of the veil or ...
and Sheila McDonough. Toronto: Women's Press, 2003.
*“Unpacking the symbolism of the Muslim Veil,” co-authored with Sheila McDonough, Ecumenism (Women of Faith in the World's Religion), No. 115, September (1994).
*“Muslim Women and Society,” (comprises an introduction and editing of two excerpts taken from Fatima Mernissi's The Forgotten Queens of Islam, and Ruth Moore's Ph.D. dissertation, “Women and Warriors@in An Anthology of Islamic Studies, Howard M. Federspiel, ed. (Montreal: Institute of Islamic Studies, 1996), vol. 2, 235-285.
*“Evidence, Inheritance, “Hudud”: Introduction and Comparative Perspective" in the Proceedings, International Conference on Islamic Laws and Women in the Modern World>/cite>,1996. (Islamabad n. d.): 96–97, 129–132, 147–149, 165.
*“Career Development of Women in Indonesian Society: A Study of Highly Successful Career Women,” co-authored with Sabir Alvi, in Women in Indonesian Society: Access, Empowerment, Opportunity: Conference Proceedings, Jakarta, Indonesia. (Yogyakarta: 2002), 111–133.
*“The Canadian Council of Muslim Women: A Chapter in the History of Muslim Women in Canada,” co-authored with Sheila McDonough, The Muslim World, nos. 1&2 (Spring 2002): 79–98.
*“Muslim Women and Islamic Religious Tradition: A Historical Overview and Contemporary Issues,” The Muslim Veil in North America: Issues and Debates, co-edited with Homa Hoodfar and Sheila McDonough, (Toronto, Canadian Scholar's Press, 2003), 145–180.
*“Buzurg Alavi’s Writings from Prison.” The Muslim World. Hartford Seminary Foundation, 67,3(1977): 205 222. Reprinted in Critical Perspectives on the Literature of Iran, Thomas M. Ricks, ed., and compiler (Washington, D. C., Three Continents Press, 1984), 274 291.
*“Urdu Literature from Prison: Some Reflections on the Writings of Pakistani Prisoners of War in India.” Journal of the Research Society of Pakistan. Lahore, Pakistan, 19, 3(1982): 43 54.
Pedagogy and Textbooks
*''Urdu for Children: Book One, Junior and Senior Kindergarten & Grade One'', comprising (Two textbooks, Teacher's Manual, Workbook & two Audio cassettes), editor and project director, McGill-Queen's University Press, 1997.
*''Urdu for Children: Book Two, Grades Two and Three'' comprising (Two textbooks), Let's Read Urdu, 2 volumes, Teacher's Manual, Workbooks, 2 volumes & two CDs, editor and project director, McGill-Queen's University Press, 2004.