Essays on Shi‘ism and Iran
Essays on Shi‘ism and Iran

Author: Hamid Algar

Publisher: ICAS Press

Published: 2021-01-01

Total Pages: 505

ISBN-13: 1907905537

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A pioneer in the study of Shi‘ism and contemporary Iran, Hamid Algar’s work is marked by precise attention to detail, a near-unparalleled grasp of languages, and a forthright honesty. Thus he offers scholarship, a key to understanding Shi‘ism, Iran, and the Revolution as relevant today as it was when the essays were first written. Rather than projecting Shi‘ism as a historical monolith, this book takes the reader on a journey through the developments in Shi‘ism in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, discussing the debates over religious authority and modern political technologies. Rooting the development of the Revolution in a broader historical context, it also offers biographies of key revolutionary figures and explores ideological challenges faced by the nascent Islamic Republic, such as matters of war and social justice. Throughout the book, mysticism and politics intertwine; not only does the characteristically Shi‘i form of mysticism – ‘irfan – figure heavily in this work, but some sections are devoted to the relationship between the Shi‘i Imams and the Sunni Sufi orders, as well as the place of Sufism in Shi‘ism. Lastly, Hamid Algar provides sound, thought-provoking analyses of contemporary scholarship in the study of Shi‘ism, including the works of Henry Corbin and Patricia Crone. This book contains something for anyone with an interest in history, Shi‘ism, Iran, or the Islamic Revolution.

Shi'ism, Resistance, And Revolution
Shi'ism, Resistance, And Revolution

Author: Martin Kramer

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2019-05-28

Total Pages: 258

ISBN-13: 1000311430

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The recent revival of interest in the Muslim world has generated numerous studies of modern Islam, most of them focusing on the Sunni majority. Shi'ism, an often stigmatized minority branch of Islam, has been discussed mainly in connection with Iran. Yet Shi'i movements have been extraordinarily effective in creating political strategies that have

Sociology of Shiʿite Islam
Sociology of Shiʿite Islam

Author: Saïd Amir Arjomand

Publisher: BRILL

Published: 2016-07-18

Total Pages: 498

ISBN-13: 9004326278

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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.

Shi'ism and the Democratisation Process in Iran
Shi'ism and the Democratisation Process in Iran

Author: Ibrahim Moussawi

Publisher: Saqi

Published: 2012-01-16

Total Pages: 210

ISBN-13: 0863568319

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Since its emergence in 1979, the Islamic Republic of Iran has remained a conundrum for observers, particularly in the West. Shi'ism and the Democratisation Process in Iran examines the fundaments of Iran's Islamic governance and asks the pivotal question: can democracy and Islam cohere?Addressing Wilayat al-Faqih, or rule by the jurisprudent - the theory upon which the Islamic Republic was constructed - he asserts that the system upholds both individual and communal rights, and provides scope for citizens to express their interests. Moussawi draws on the history and theological underpinnings of Shi'i Islam to argue that in today's Iran, politi and religion are neither rigid nor in diametric opposition. Exhaustively researched, Shi'ism and the Democratisation Process in Iran marks an invaluable addition to the growing oeuvre of books on Iran.

Foucault and the Iranian Revolution
Foucault and the Iranian Revolution

Author: Janet Afary

Publisher: University of Chicago Press

Published: 2010-07-15

Total Pages: 359

ISBN-13: 0226007871

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In 1978, as the protests against the Shah of Iran reached their zenith, philosopher Michel Foucault was working as a special correspondent for Corriere della Sera and le Nouvel Observateur. During his little-known stint as a journalist, Foucault traveled to Iran, met with leaders like Ayatollah Khomeini, and wrote a series of articles on the revolution. Foucault and the Iranian Revolution is the first book-length analysis of these essays on Iran, the majority of which have never before appeared in English. Accompanying the analysis are annotated translations of the Iran writings in their entirety and the at times blistering responses from such contemporaneous critics as Middle East scholar Maxime Rodinson as well as comments on the revolution by feminist philosopher Simone de Beauvoir. In this important and controversial account, Janet Afary and Kevin B. Anderson illuminate Foucault's support of the Islamist movement. They also show how Foucault's experiences in Iran contributed to a turning point in his thought, influencing his ideas on the Enlightenment, homosexuality, and his search for political spirituality. Foucault and the Iranian Revolution informs current discussion on the divisions that have reemerged among Western intellectuals over the response to radical Islamism after September 11. Foucault's provocative writings are thus essential for understanding the history and the future of the West's relationship with Iran and, more generally, to political Islam. In their examination of these journalistic pieces, Afary and Anderson offer a surprising glimpse into the mind of a celebrated thinker.

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.

The Emergence of Modern Shi'ism
The Emergence of Modern Shi'ism

Author: Zackery M. Heern

Publisher: Oneworld Academic

Published: 2015-07-01

Total Pages: 240

ISBN-13: 9781780744964

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This book takes a fresh look at the foundations of modern Islam. Scholars often locate the origins of the modern Islamic world in European colonialism or Islamic reactions to European modernity. However, this study focuses on the rise of Islamic movements indigenous to the Middle East, which developed in direct response to the collapse and decentralization of the Islamic gunpowder empires. In other words, the book argues that the Usuli movement as well as Wahhabism and neo-Sufism emerged in reaction to the disintegration and political decentralization of the Safavid, Ottoman, and Mughal empires. The book specifically highlights the emergence of Usuli Shi‘ism in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The long-term impact of the Usuli revival was that Shi‘i clerics gained unprecedented social, political, and economic power in Iran and southern Iraq. Usuli clerics claimed authority to issue binding legal judgments, which, they argue, must be observed by all Shi‘is. By the early nineteenth century, Usulism emerged as a popular, fiercely independent, transnational Islamic movement. The Usuli clerics have often operated at the heart of social and political developments in modern Iraq and Iran and today dominate the politics of the region.

Shi'ism
Shi'ism

Author: Hamid Dabashi

Publisher: Harvard University Press

Published: 2012-05-07

Total Pages: 449

ISBN-13: 0674064283

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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.

Authority and Political Culture in Shi'ism
Authority and Political Culture in Shi'ism

Author: Saïd Amir Arjomand

Publisher: State University of New York Press

Published: 1988-07-08

Total Pages: 416

ISBN-13: 079149523X

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The major theme of this book is authority in Shi`ism with special emphasis on its institutionalization in different historic periods from the beginning of Shi`ism in the Middle Ages to the present. Part I presents new material on important or neglected issues that are at the center of current scholarly debate, including the fundamental relationship between knowledge and authority in pristine Shi`ism, aspects of popular culture in medieval Shi`ism, the institutionalization of religious authority in Shi`ite Iran from the 16th to 18th centuries, and the centralization of religious authority in the 19th century. The editor provides an analysis of the ideological revolution in Shi`ism during the 1970s and 1980s. Important documents and primary sources have been selected for Part II representing the major trends in the history of Shi`ism. With two exceptions, these sources have neither been available in English translation nor easily accessible in the original Arabic or Persian. An extensive introduction by the editor effectively connects Parts I and II of the book.