Shi'ism in America

Shi'ism in America

Author: Liyakat Nathani Takim

Publisher: NYU Press

Published: 2011-09

Total Pages: 296

ISBN-13: 0814782973

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Provides an overview of America's Shi'i community, tracing its history, describing its composition in the twenty-first century, and explaining how they have created an identity for themselves in the American context.


Without Forgetting the Imam

Without Forgetting the Imam

Author: Linda S. Walbridge

Publisher: Wayne State University Press

Published: 1997

Total Pages: 268

ISBN-13: 9780814326756

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Without Forgetting the Imam is an ethnographic study of the religious life of the Lebanese Shi'ites of Dearborn, Michigan, the largest Muslim community outside of the Middle East. Based on four years of fieldwork, this book explores how the Lebanese who have emigrated, most in the past three decades, to the United States, have adapted to their new surroundings. Anthropologist Linda Walbridge delves into the ways in which politics and religion have converged as the Lebanese Shi'i community has remade its identity and accommodated itself to a new environment. She captures a broad picture of religious life within the realm of community living and within the mosques which have proliferated in Dearborn. Walbridge explains how Shi'ites, affected in one way or another by Islamic revivalism, have brought different notions of how their religion should be expressed and carried out in America. These differences are reflected in mosque rituals, social functions, sermons, and educational activities. She also explores how contemporary Middle Eastern politics and the religious leadership in Iran and Iraq influence the functioning of the mosques.


Shi'ism and Social Protest

Shi'ism and Social Protest

Author: Juan Ricardo Cole

Publisher: Yale University Press

Published: 1986-01-01

Total Pages: 340

ISBN-13: 9780300035537

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This timely and important book presents the first overview of Shi'i political activism in the countries where it has been most significant-from Iran and Lebanon to Saudi Arabia and Egypt. The contributors present up-to-date information on the factors involved in Shi'ism's recent movement away from quietism and toward an active involvement in politics. They also discuss how Shi'i political activism will affect the struggle in and for Lebanon; the Iran-Iraq war; Soviet attitudes toward Afghanistan and Iran; and U.S. policies toward the Middle East.


Shia Islam and Politics

Shia Islam and Politics

Author: Jon Armajani

Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield

Published: 2020-05-20

Total Pages: 252

ISBN-13: 1793621365

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This book argues that ever since Iran’s Islamic Revolution in 1979, which established a Shia Islamic government in Iran, that country’s religious and political leaders have used Shia Islam as a crucial way of expanding Iran’s objectives in the Middle East and beyond. Since 1979, Iran’s religious and political leaders have been concerned about Iran’s security in the face of the hostility and expansionism of the United States and other western countries, and the threats from powerful neighboring Sunni leaders and countries. While Iran’s government has attempted to align itself with Shia Muslims in various countries, such as Iraq and Lebanon, against American and Sunni expansionism, the Iranian government has attempted to religiously nourish and politically mobilize those Shias as a matter of principle, not only because of the Iranian government’s desires to protect Iran from external threats. The book analyzes Shia Islam and politics in Iran, Iraq, and Lebanon which have among the largest proportional Shia populations in the Middle East and are vibrant centers of Shia intellectual life. The book's clear and jargon-free approach make it especially accessible for students and general readers who would like an introduction to the book's topics.


Roman Catholics and Shi'i Muslims

Roman Catholics and Shi'i Muslims

Author: James A. Bill

Publisher: Univ of North Carolina Press

Published: 2002-05-09

Total Pages: 214

ISBN-13: 0807874922

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i" --> This timely work explores two influential religious traditions that might seem to have little in common: Twelver Shi'i Islam and Roman Catholicism. With the worldwide rise of religious fundamentalism, it is imperative that religious movements such as Christianity and Islam begin working harder to understand one another's history and beliefs. Myths and misunderstandings continue to prevail, and observers tend to focus on the differences between the two faith systems. Without denying these differences, the authors of this book reveal a number of interesting linkages between Roman Catholicism and Twelver Shi'ism. They compare the histories of the two faiths, consider parallels between important figures in each, and highlight the doctrinal, structural, and sociopolitical similarities they share. Balanced in tone and carefully researched, the book helps explain the essence of both traditions while enriching our understanding of each. There are an estimated 140 million Twelver Shi'is in the world today. The highest percentages live in Persian Gulf countries, including Iran and Iraq, and in Azerbaijan, Lebanon, and Afghanistan. Sizable numbers also inhabit Pakistan, India, and Turkey. The largest Christian denomination, Roman Catholicism is present across the globe, though its population of more than one billion people is concentrated in North and South America and in Europe.


Shi'ism Revisited

Shi'ism Revisited

Author: Liyakat Takim

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2021-11-15

Total Pages: 273

ISBN-13: 0197606571

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"Contemporary Muslims face the challenge of how can a legal system that was formulated in the classical period of Islam respond to the multitudinous challenges that present-day Muslims encounter? Is there a need for reformation in Islam? If so, where should it begin and in which direction should it proceed? Addressing this gap in Western scholarship, and contributing to the ongoing debate in Islamic scholarship, Shi'ism Revisited: Ijtihad and Reformation in Contemporary Times will: (i) explore how modernity has impinged on the classical formulation of Islamic law, and (ii) analyse how Shi'i jurists have responded to the intersection of shari'a (Islamic law) and modernity. The study is original and ground-breaking in that it seeks to tackle issues such as how Islamic law is being revised by Shi'i scholars on cases such as human rights, gender equality, the rights of non-Muslim minorities, and reconfiguring the rational and moral basis of Islamic law. Such questions have required scholars to apply ijtihad (independent reasoning) in providing solutions to the pressing questions in the religious and social fields. By examining the principles and application of Islamic legal theory (usul al-fiqh) and reformation in Shi'ism, as well as the current discourse on juristic hermeneutics and the basis of a new ijtihad, this research will address topics that have attracted much public attention. Since such issues have been largely neglected by Western scholarship, this book will provide a unique analysis of ijtihad and reformation in the Shi'i world"--


Apocalyptic Islam and Iranian Shi'ism

Apocalyptic Islam and Iranian Shi'ism

Author: Abbas Amanat

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

Published: 2009-02-19

Total Pages: 306

ISBN-13: 0857710443

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Interest in Shi'i Islam is running at unprecedented levels. International tensions over Iran, where the largest number of Shi'i Muslims live, as well as the political resurgence of the Shi'i in Iraq and Lebanon, have created an urgent need to understand the background, beliefs and motivations of this dynamic vision of Islam. Abbas Amanat is one of the leading scholars of Shi'ism. And in this powerful book, a showcase for some of his most influential writing in the field, he addresses the colourful and diverse history of Shi' Islam in both premodern and contemporary times.Focusing specifically on the importance of apocalypticism in the development of modern Shi'i theology, he shows how an immersion in messianic ideas has shaped the conservative character of much Shi'i thinking, and has prevented it from taking a more progressive course. Tracing the continuity of apocalyptic trends from the Middle Ages to the present, Amanat addresses such topics as the early influence on Shi'ism of Zoroastrianism; manifestations of apocalyptic ideology during the Iranian Revolution of 1979; and the rise of the Shi'i clerical establishment during the 19th and 20th centuries. His book will be an essential resource for students and scholars of both religious studies and Middle Eastern history.


Reaching for Power

Reaching for Power

Author: Yitzhak Nakash

Publisher: Princeton University Press

Published: 2011-10-30

Total Pages: 247

ISBN-13: 1400841461

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As the world focuses on the conflict in Iraq, the most important political players in that country today are not the Sunni insurgents. Instead, they are Iraq's Shi'I majority--part of the Middle East's ninety million Shi'I Muslims who hold the key to the future of the region and the relations between Muslim and Western societies. So contends Yitzhak Nakash, one of the world's foremost experts on Shi'ism. With his characteristic verve and style, Nakash traces the role of the Shi'is in the struggle that is raging today among Muslims for the soul of Islam. He shows that in contrast to the growing militancy among Sunni groups since the 1990s, Shi'is have shifted their focus from confrontation to accommodation with the West. Constituting sixty percent of the population of Iraq, they stand squarely at the center of the U.S government's attempt to remake the Middle East and bring democracy to the region. This groundbreaking book addresses the crucial importance of Shi'is to the U.S. endeavor. Yet it also alerts readers to the strong nationalist sentiments of Shi'is, underscoring the difficult challenge that the United States faces in attempting to impose a new order in the Middle East. The book provides a comprehensive historical perspective on Shi'ism, beginning with the emergence of the movement during the seventh century, continuing through its rise as a political force since the Iranian Islamic Revolution of 1978-79, and leading up to the Iraqi elections of January 2005. Drawing extensively on Arabic sources, this comparative study highlights the reciprocal influences shaping the political development of Shi'is in Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, and Lebanon, as well as the impact of the revival of Shi'ism on the larger Arab world. The narrative concludes with an assessment of the risks and possibilities arising from the assertion of Shi'I power in Iraq and from America's attempt to play an increasingly forceful role in the Middle East. A landmark book and a work of remarkable scholarship, Reaching for Power illuminates the Shi'a resurgence amid the shifting geopolitics of the Middle East.


Conflict, Identity, and Reform in the Muslim World

Conflict, Identity, and Reform in the Muslim World

Author: Daniel Brumberg

Publisher: US Institute of Peace Press

Published: 2009

Total Pages: 507

ISBN-13: 1601270208

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Conflict, Identity, and Reform in the Muslim World highlights the challenges that escalating identity conflicts within Muslim-majority states pose for both the Muslim world and for the West, an issue that has received scant attention in policy and academic circles.


The Mystery of the Shia

The Mystery of the Shia

Author: Mateen J. Charbonneau

Publisher: Createspace Independent Pub

Published: 2013-05-20

Total Pages: 106

ISBN-13: 9781482686715

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“Knowing the contents of this informative book is a necessity for every Muslim. I believe that the contents of this book can have a huge impact on the lives of many Muslims in the West, and it can be a good start for gaining more knowledge about the religion of Islam. I would also encourage the Muslim community to appreciate and support this work. I want to take this opportunity to thank brother Mateen for his hard work and efforts. May Allah (SWT) increase his blessings and bestow His mercy upon him.”- Sheikh Mustafa Akhound, Imam Ali Center, Springfield VAThe idea that prompted me to write this book was due to the fact that so many new converts to Shia Islam would always ask me why we did things differently than other sects. They would be exposed to different things upon going to various mosques. They would ask me why people pray with their hands by their sides while others would fold their arms, why was the call to prayer different, what is that “stone” we prostrate on, etc.? I used to find myself explaining these things on a daily basis, so I decided to write these questions and answers down and share them with people who came to me. That was the first phase of this project. Later on I decided to add the Usul-e-Deen (roots of religion) and Furu-e-Deen (branches of religion) being that these differ from other schools of thought as well. After I looked at what I had put together I thought that this would be a very beneficial piece of information for new converts to Islam. This was designed to help them not only to learn why Shia believe and practice the way we do, but also to learn with clear proofs from the sources. I then proceeded to add a few other chapters to help give a good basic foundation for one to start in their quest for knowledge.In total this work deals with a variety of topics including:• Usul-e-Deen• Furu-e-Deen• The Word Shia and its Meaning• The 30 rights of a Muslim• Forbidden acts of a Muslim• Some Important Dates and Things to Know• Cleanliness in Islam• Wudhu• Salat• Ahadith showing the importance of knowing the Ahl ul Bayt (as)• Why we say bismillah aloud in salat• Why we say hayya ala khayril amal in adhan• Why we dont fold our hands in salat• Why we takbir 3 times after salat• Why we dont say as-salatu khayrum min nawm in our fajr adhan• Why we say taslim once while looking straight instead of turning our head right and left• Why we prostrate on turbah• Why we say aliyan waliyallah in our adhan and iqamah