The Formative Period of Twelver Shīʻism


Book Description

Machine generated contents note: CHAPTER ONE: The View from Baghdad: The ShT'a in the Early -- Third/Ninth Century -- The ShT'i/Mu'tazili and Court Alliance During the Caliphate of -- al-Ma'mun -- Shl'ism and 'Popular' Rebellion in the Umayyad and Early -- Abbasid Periods -- The Anarchy of the Second Civil War and Further ShT'i Uprisings -- CHAPTER TWO: The View from Baghdad: The ShT'a at the Turn -- of the Third/Ninth Century -- The Shi'i Resurgence -- The Shi'i Vizierates and the Rise of the Banu Nawbakht -- The Conditionality of ImamT Rationalism: The Achievements of -- the BanO Nawbakht -- Summary and Conclusion -- CHAPTER THREE: Pockets of Believers: The View from the ShT'T -- City-State of Qum -- Sunnism in Iran: Traditionism and Egalitarianism -- The Sht'a in Third/Ninth Century Iran -- The Twelver Sht'a in Iran: Between Centres and Peripheries -- A Shi'i Haven: Qum and the Ash'art Tribe -- Tribe and City -- Ash'ari Qum and Abbasid Baghdad -- CHAPTER FOUR: Al-Barqi and the Beginnings of the QummT/ -- Ash'arT Association with the Traditions -- Ahmad b. Muhammad al-Barqi: the Mawla Traditionist -- Al-Barqi and al-Mahsin -- Summary and Conclusion -- CHAPTER FIVE: Al-Saffar's Basa'ir al-Darajat: Theological -- Discourse As Encouragement -- Basa'ir as Qummi Discourse -- The Importance of 'Ilm and Its Possessors -- The Miraculous Nature, Substance and Transmission of the Imams' 'Ilm -- The Unique Nature of the Imams and their Sht'a -- The Unique Abilities of the Imams -- Summary and Conclusions -- CHAPTER SIX: Al-KulaynT's al-Kaff: The Qummi Response to -- Baghdadi Rationalism -- Al-KulaynT on al-Kafti2 Baghdad's Rationalist Discourse on the Edge -- The Centrality of al-'Aql and al-'Ilm: the Repudiation of Rationalism -- The Grace of al-'Ilm -- Summary and Conclusion -- CHAPTER SEVEN: Al-Saffar and al-KulaynT on the Imams and the -- Imamate: Twelver Theology Between Qum and Baghdad -- The Qummi/Ash'ari Connection to Twelver Traditionist Theology -- The Theology of al-Kafi Kitab al-Tawhfd -- Twelver Theology Between Qum and Baghdad: Al-Kaft's Kitab al- Hujja -- The Imamology in Basa'ir and al-Kaft's Kitab al-, Huja: a Comparative -- Approach -- Special Effects and Possessions Possessed by the Imams -- Their Special Personages -- The Unique Abilities of the Imams -- Al-Kulayni's Excisions -- CHAPTER EIGHT: AI-Kafi From Theology to Practice -- The Practical Nature of al-Usil's Traditions -- The Traditions of al-Furd' as QummT Discourse on Points of Practice -- The Collection and Obligations of al-Khums -- The Collection and Distribution of Alms -- 'Fle Obligation and Conduct of Congregational Prayer -- Overt Confrontation with Authority -- Al-Amr and al-Nahy -- The Permitted Scope of Personal Relations, and Confrontation, -- With Authority -- The Implementation of al-. Hudzud During the Occultation -- Judicial Arbitration in the Absence of the Imam -- The Imams and al-Jawr in al-Kafi -- CHAPTER NINE: Summary and Conclusions -- Bibliography -- Index of Qur'anic verses cited -- Index.




The Formative Period of Twelver Shi'ism


Book Description

Shows how the frictions and disparities between the different pockets of believers scattered throughout the Eastern Islamic world in the late ninth and tenth centuries, the relations between each of these and the Abbasid political institution favoured the narration of different bodies of the Imams' traditions




Shi'i Islam


Book Description

This book examines the development of Shi'i Islam through the lenses of belief, narrative, and memory.




Twelver Shiism


Book Description

Charts the history and development of Twelver Shi'ismAs many as 40 different Shi`i groups existed in the 9th and 10th centuries; only 3 forms remain. Why is Twelver Shi`ism one of them? As the established faith in modern Iran, the majority faith in Iraq and areas in the Gulf and with its adherents forming sizeable minorities elsewhere in the region, it is arguably the most successful branch of Shi'ism. Andrew Newman charts the history Twelver Shi'ism, uncovering the development of the key distinctive doctrines and practices which ensured its survival in the face of repeated challenges. He argues that the key to the faith's endurance has been its ability to institutionalise responses to the changing, often localised circumstances in which the community has found itself, thereby remaining remarkably resilient in the face of both internal disagreements and external opposition.




Walāya in the Formative Period of Shi'ism and Sufism


Book Description

Focused on Shi’ism and Sufism in the formative period of Islam, this book examines the development of the concept of walāya, a complex term that has, over time, acquired a wide range of relationships with other theological ideas, chiefly in relation to the notion of authority. The book offers a textual and comparative analysis of walāya based on primary sources in the ninth and tenth centuries, from both Shi’i and Sufi circles. The starting point is one of the oldest surviving Shi’i sources, Kitāb Sulaym. Alongside this, the author analyses al-Īḍāḥ of Faḍl Shādhān al-Nishābūrī, Kitāb al-Maḥāsin of al-Barqī and Kitāb al-Kāfī of al-Kulaynī. Three major texts in Sufism are considered: Kitāb al-Ṣidq by Abū Saʿīd al-Kharrāz, Tafsīr al-Qurʾan al-ʿAẓīm by Sahl al-Tustarī, and Al-Tirmidhī’s Kitāb Sīrat al-Awliyāʾ. Together, these sources highlight the doctrinal aspects of walāya, exploring the identity, function, appointment, and description of those considered 'walī'. The author ultimately argues that walāya is a cluster of rich, deep-rooted responses to the question of authority, developed within both Shi’ism and Sufism after the death of the Prophet. The book is much-needed reading for students and scholars interested in Shi’i and Sufi studies and Islamic philosophy.




Religious Authority and Political Thought in Twelver Shi'ism


Book Description

Ranging from the time of the infallible Imams, to the contemporary era, this book provides a comprehensive overview of Shi’i religious and political authority, focusing on Iran and Lebanon, without limiting the discourse to Khomeini’s version of an Islamic State. Utilising untapped Arabic and Persian sources, Hamid Mavani provides a detailed, nuanced, and diverse theoretical discussion on the doctrine of leadership (Imamate) in Shi’ism from traditional, theological, philosophical, and mystical perspectives. This theoretical discussion becomes the foundation for an analysis of the transmission of the Twelfth Imam’s religious and political authority vis-á-vis the jurists during his Greater Occultation. Bringing the often overlooked diversity within the Shi’i tradition into sharp focus, Religious Authority and Political Thought in Twelver Shi’ism discusses what constitutes an Islamic state, if there is such a notion as an Islamic state. Hamid Mavani further explores the possibility of creating a space for secularity, facilitating a separation between religion and state, and ensuring equal rights for all. This book argues that such a development is only possible if there is a rehabilitation of ijtihad. If this were to materialise modern religious, social, economic, political, and cultural challenges could be addressed more successfully. This book will be of use to scholars and students with interests ranging from Politics, to Religion, to Middle East Studies.




Sociology of Shiʿite Islam


Book Description

Sociology of Shiʿite Islam is a comprehensive study of the development of Shiʿism. Its bearers first emerged as a sectarian elite, then a hierocracy and finally a theocracy. Imamate, Occultation and the theodicy of martyrdom are identified as the main components of the Shiʻism as a world religion. In these collected essays Arjomand has persistenly developed a Weberian theoretical framework for the analysis of Shiʿism, from its sectarian formation in the eighth century through the establishment of the Safavid empire in the sixteenth century, to the Islamic revolution in Iran in the twentieth century. These studies highlight revolutionary impulses embedded in the belief in the advent of the hidden Imam, and the impact of Shiʻite political ethics on the authority structure of pre-modern Iran and the constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran.




Exploring the Mind of God: An Introduction to Shiʿite Legal Epistemology


Book Description

This book introduces readers to the legal epistemology that is advocated within Twelver Shiʿite uṣūl al-fiqh (legal theory). It critically surveys the epistemological underpinnings upheld by post-19th century Uṣūlī clerics that impel them to mainly deduce and interpret Sharia using scripture and literalist hermeneutical methods. An evaluation of these underpinnings uncovers the important juxtaposition that exists between the seminarian discourses of uṣūl al-fiqh and philosophy. The book hypothesises that uṣūl al-fiqh has both space and historical precedence to accept alternative epistemological theories that may enable orthodox Shiʿite clerics to display greater dynamism in deducing and interpreting Sharia.




Shi'ism


Book Description

For a Western world anxious to understand Islam and, in particular, ShiÕism, this book arrives with urgently needed information and critical analysis. Hamid Dabashi exposes the soul of ShiÕism as a religion of protestÑsuccessful only when in a warring position, and losing its legitimacy when in power. Dabashi makes his case through a detailed discussion of the ShiÕi doctrinal foundations, a panoramic view of its historical unfolding, a varied investigation into its visual and performing arts, and finally a focus on the three major sites of its contemporary contestations: Iran, Iraq, and Lebanon. In these states, ShiÕism seems to have ceased to be a sect within the larger context of Islam and has instead emerged to claim global political attention. Here we see ShiÕism in its combative modeÑreminiscent of its traumatic birth in early Islamic history. Hezbollah in Lebanon claims ShiÕism, as do the militant insurgents in Iraq, the ruling Ayatollahs in Iran, and the masses of youthful demonstrators rebelling against their reign. All declare their active loyalties to a religion of protest that has defined them and their ancestry for almost fourteen hundred years. ShiÕsm: A Religion of Protest attends to the explosive conflicts in the Middle East with an abiding attention to historical facts, cultural forces, religious convictions, literary and artistic nuances, and metaphysical details. This timely book offers readers a bravely intelligent history of a world religion.