51勛圖厙 (IIS) hosted Elemental: Ismaili Perspectives on Earth, Water, Air, Fire and Ether. The conference took place at the Aga KhanA title granted by the Shah of Persia to the then Ismaili Imam in 1818 and inherited by each of his successors to the Imamate. Centre, London, on Thursday 26 and Friday 27 March 2026. IIS also webcast the conference online. Professor Zayn Kassam and Dr Wafi Momin convened the programme, bringing together scholars and practitioners from around the world.
Over two days, contributors examined the five classical elements as a cosmological framework. They also treated them as a way of understanding human responsibility towards the natural world. Panels discussed philosophy, jurisprudence, poetry, oral tradition, archaeology, and geography. The case studies covered Fatimid Egypt, medieval Iran, Badakhshan, Chitral, Hunza, SalamiyyaA city in central Syria, which was the residence of several early Ismaili imams in the pre-Fatimid period., and Gilgit-Baltistan.
Two keynote addresses framed the programme. spoke on the environment and climate work of the (AKDNThe Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN) is a contemporary endeavour of the Ismaili Imamat to realise the ethics and social conscience of Islam through institutional action. More). closed with a lecture on ecological aesthetics and lived ethics.
Keynote address by Dr Paul Dhalla | Day 1
Keynote address by Dr Paul Dhalla
AKDN’s Environment and Climate Initiative
Dr Paul Dhalla is Director of Environment, Climate and Sustainability at AKDN. His address set out why the Ismaili Imamat has made environment and climate a priority across AKDN agencies.
Dr Dhalla described the effects of climate change across the regions where AKDN works. These effects include floods, droughts, heatwaves, freshwater depletion, and biodiversity loss. He noted that the poorest communities carry the heaviest burden, with consequences for livelihoods, food security, and health. He then set out the guiding principles behind a system-wide approach that favours practical solutions.
Closing keynote by Dr Amyn Sajoo | Day 2
Closing keynote by Dr Amyn Sajoo
From Ecological Aesthetics to Lived Ethics: Ismaili Pathways
is Scholar-in-Residence at the Centre for Comparative Muslim Studies, , Canada. His lecture examined how ethical reasoning, cultural expression and community engagement shape responses to environmental challenges.
Dr Sajoo contrasted a secular framing of climate policy with a faith-inspired one rooted in Qur尨anic and 廎仟餃蘋喧堯Lit. report or narrative, used for the traditions of the Prophet Muhammad and in Shii Islam also for those of the Imams. teaching and argued for symbiosis rather than opposition. He traced eco-ethics through the Ikhwn al-廜糎f尨, 眶勳紳櫻紳莽, 梁硃廜蘋d硃莽 and farmns, and through Imamat initiatives in development and culture. and the courtyard gardens of diaspora Ismaili Centres served as his working examples.
Explore panels and watch sessions
Maha Yaziji, IIS, UK
Qudsia Shah, IIS, UK
, University of Oxford, UK
Dr Hasan Al-Khoee, IIS, UK
, Harvard University, USA
Dr Shainool Jiwa, IIS, UK
Dr Nourmamadcho Nourmamadchoev, IIS, UK
Rizwan Karim, IIS, UK
Dr Morteza Karimi, International Institute for Islamic Studies, Iran- Echoes in Stone: Natural Resource Management in the Ismaili Fortresses of Iran as a Model for Climate Adaptation
, University of Aberdeen, UK
Dr Wafi Momin, IIS, UK
Dr Orkhan Mir-Kasimov, IIS, UK
, University of North Carolina at Greensboro, USA
Dr Maria De Cillis, IIS, UK
Alia Parveen, Currim Suteria, Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture, Pakistan
, Augustana College, USA
Majida Thobani, Association for the Study of Ginans, UK
Dr Karim Javan, IIS, UK
Nazira BibiA word of East Turkish origin which means old mother or a grandmother. More, Ismaili Tariqa and Religious Education Board for Pakistan- Bridging and Understanding the Interaction between Environmental Geography and Ismaili Demographics
Dr Siddique Ullah Baig, COMSATS University Islamabad, Pakistan
