Syed Muhammad Naqavi
Historian of Early Islam · Numismatist · Manuscript Researcher
Director, Murtazavi Library and Research Center, Karachi
I am a historian of the early Islamic world, with particular interests in political and religious history, the history of Shiʿism, Islamic historiography and the transmission of historical traditions. My work draws extensively on Arabic historical, biographical, theological and religious literature, alongside Persian and Urdu sources where relevant.
Alongside textual research, I work with Islamic coins, Qurʾanic manuscripts, inscriptions and other documentary and material evidence. My wider interests include Muslim intellectual history and philosophy, Islamic numismatics, early Qurʾanic manuscripts and Arabic palaeography, epigraphy, bibliography, book history and historical collections.
Research
Full research profile →My research ranges across the political, religious and intellectual history of the early Islamic world, with particular attention to Shiʿi history, historiography and the ways in which historical traditions were transmitted, interpreted and reshaped. I work with Arabic textual sources as well as Persian and Urdu materials, and I am also interested in the intellectual history of Muslim societies and Islamic philosophy.
Material and documentary evidence forms a complementary strand of this work. Coins, Qurʾanic manuscripts, inscriptions, rare books and historical collections provide independent evidence for chronology, authority, religious identity, writing practices and cultural transmission. Much of my manuscript and collection-based research has developed through the Murtazavi Library and Research Center.
Latest from the Notebook
Notebook →An unexpected book in Karachi
Karachi is a very surprising city. You can find different kinds of surprises on every step, be it a mudhole, a crack on the road, or a book. The last one happened to me a week ago, when I was wandering around in a very famous chain bookstore in Karachi. Usually, bookstores in Pakistan have strict selection rules; you can’t find all types of books here. Some years ago, I asked the same bookstore for a book from Oxford, but it was denied because of its content. That’s why it surprised me to find this book on the shelf. Despite its […]
Read →Selected Articles & Publications
Complete record →درآمدی به رویکرد فرهنگی و مذهبی آل بویه با توجه بر مراسم عید غدیر
An Introduction to the Buyids’ Cultural and Religious Approach with Regard to the Eid al-Ghadir Ceremony. In غدیر در گستره تاریخ (مجموعه مقالات), 2026.
Imām ʿAlī Library (المكتبة الروضة الحيدرية): 1
Syed Hussain Murtaza / S. Muhammad Naqavi. Digital facsimile edition of MS 1, Library of the Holy Shrine of Imam ʿAli, Najaf. Manuscripta Coranica, Corpus Coranicum, ed. Michael Marx, 2024.
History of the Musafirid Dynasty Based on Numismatic Evidence
Historicus 71, no. 4 (2023): 23–46.
أصول الإسلام الشيعي وتطوره المبكر
S. H. M. Jafri, The Origins and Early Development of Shiʿi Islam. Arabic translation, introduction and editing with Emad al-Helali. Baghdad: Dar Adnan Publications, 2024.
Selected Conferences
Complete conference record →Religious Geography of Iran Based on the Coinage of the Ilkhanid and Timurid Periods
International Workshop on Material Culture Studies in Historical Research, University of Zanjan, 13 July 2026.
The Significance of Numismatic Studies in the Reconstruction of Islamic History, with a Focus on the Development of Shiʿism
Specialized Symposium, Central Library & Museum of the Holy Shrine of Imam Raza, 17 May 2025.
Reading Coins as Manuscripts: The Importance of Islamic Numismatics for Other Fields of Islamic History
Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin / Corpus Coranicum / Al-Furqan Islamic Heritage Foundation, September 2023.