Seventh Annual Kazimi Lecture in Shi’i Studies

The Shi’a Muslim Mandate for Peace

Shi’a Muslim contains a strong emphasis on peace, without ignoring the demands of justice. Most Shi’a jurists forbid aggressive warfare, allowing only the defense of the community. In the law of this tradition, even defensive warfare is bound by strict rules of conduct, including a prohibition on harming innocent noncombatants, and therefore against the use of weapons of mass destruction. Shi’a millenarianism dreams of a harmonious world filled with justice.

Thursday | Feb. 5, 2026 | 7 p.m.

Anderson-Clarke Center, Hudspeth Auditorium, Rice University
Open to all members of the Rice community and public
 

Juan R. I. Cole
Juan Cole

Juan Cole, the Richard P. Mitchell Distinguished University Professor of History at the University of Michigan, has devoted his career to understanding the Middle East and the Muslim world more generally and to critically evaluating its relationship with the North Atlantic states.

Cole’s latest publication, “Rethinking the Qur’ān in Late Antiquity,” was released in early 2025. He edited "Peace Movements in Islam" and is the author of several other books, including “The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam: A New Translation from the Persian”, “Muhammad: Prophet of Peace Amid the Clash of Empires” and “The New Arabs: How the Millennial Generation is Changing the Middle East.” Cole conducts his research in Arabic, Persian and Urdu and Turkish as well as several European languages. He knows both Middle Eastern and South Asian Islam. He lived in various parts of the Muslim world for more than a decade, and continues to travel widely there.

Past Kazimi Lectures