Memorial Page for Wilferd Madelung

Wilferd Madelung (born 26 December 1930 in Stuttgart; died 9 May 2023) was a German-British scholar of Islamic studies and historian. His research focused especially on early and medieval Islamic history, Shi'i traditions, Ismailis, Zaydis, Ibadis and theological schools of Islam.

Education between the United States, Cairo and Hamburg

After the Second World War, Madelung came to the United States with his family and first studied at Georgetown University. In 1951 he went to Cairo, where he studied Arabic literature and Islamic history. In Hamburg he completed his doctorate in 1957 on the Qarmatians and Fatimids; the topic remained closely connected with his later work.

Chicago and Oxford

After periods in Baghdad, Texas and Hamburg, Madelung taught Islamic history at the University of Chicago. In 1978 he became Laudian Professor of Arabic at the University of Oxford and a Fellow of St John's College. This Oxford period lasted until 1998 and shaped many of his studies on the political and religious history of early Islam.

Research and books

Madelung worked closely with Arabic and Persian primary sources. His 1997 book The Succession to Muhammad was read especially for its reassessment of early debates over succession. He also published on Ismaili doctrines, Zaydi theology, Ibadi texts and the intellectual history of Muslim communities.

Later work in London

From 1999 Madelung was a Senior Research Fellow at the Institute of Ismaili Studies in London and a Fellow of the British Academy. There he continued to work on editions, research projects and essays on the history of Muslim intellectual traditions. In 2013 he received the Farabi International Award for his work on Islamic and Iranian studies.

Farewell

Wilferd Madelung died on 9 May 2023 at the age of 92. His work connects source-based philology with historical questions about religious authority, community and political succession in Islam.