Hawzah News Agency (Qom, Iran) – According to reports, the 5^th International course on Shia studies is attended by scholars from European, American and Asian countries and it kicked off on Monday, August 21 in the University of Religions and Denominations in Qom, Iran.

The main topics of this course are the history of Shiism, Shia sects, Shiism and contemporary Iran, intellectual sources of Shia doctrine, Mahdism doctrine, Imamate, religious rituals in Shia Islam, prayers in Shiism, Shia ethics, Shiite political thought, Ijtihad and Fatwa as well as Women and Shiism.

  Academics and scholars from different countries are attending this course including Professor Kurt Richardson from the University of Toronto, Canada, Dr Vera Miranda from Harvard University, US, Dr Alena Kulinich from SOAS University of London, UK as well as some other well-known researchers.