Shayesteh Ghofrani is an independent scholar. After completing her Masters in Continental Philosophy, she received her PhD in Islamic Studies from the University of Exeter and continued with a postdoc at the Institute of Ismaili Studies in the UK. Her research interests include the formative period of Islamic history with a focus on Shi’ism and Sufism.
By comparing notions of authority in early Sufism and early Shi'ism, Dr Ghofrani has provided us with an engaging and instructive study. By tracing the journey of the term and concept of walaya between the two interconnected discourses of Sufism and Shi'ism, she puts forward a challenging thesis of how ideas and terminology travel between religious contexts, producing new connotations and meaning along the way. Robert Gleave, Professor of Arabic Studies, University of Exeter, UK