Toby Howarth is currently Vice Principal of Crowther hall, at Selly Oak in Birmingham. A graduate of Yale University, Birmingham University and the Free University of Amsterdam, he has studied and worked in Birmingham, Oxford, Uganda, Egypt, Jerusalem, India, and the Netherlands. He speaks and writes widely in the field of Muslim-Christian relations.

• An Introduction to the Shîa and the Events Surrounding the Battle of Karbala Part 1: Context 1. From Karbala to India: A History of Shi'i Preaching 2. The Shîa of Hyderabad and their Mourning Gatherings Part 2: Sermons 3. The Description of a Complete Mourning Gathering (Including the Text of Sermon 1) 4. Sermons by Male ‘Lay’ Preachers 6. Sermons by Religious Scholars Part 3: Analysis 7. What the Sermons Do and How They Do It 8. Indian Shi'i Preaching as the Expression of a Minority Islamic Religious Identity

"Howarth's lucid and well-researched work makes an important contribution to our understanding of the interplay between religion, rituals, and culture in the commemoration of Shii rituals in India." - Liyakat Takim, Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, Volume 70 Number 2, 2007"The narrative presented by the author in this book is a succinct historical and anthropological account of the Shi'i community of Hyderabad (India) and a good contribution in the field of Shi'i studies." - Ali Raza Naqvi, Islamic Studies, Number 4, 2009