Shia Islam and Politics

Shia Islam and Politics PDF Author: Jon Armajani
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 1793621365
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 252

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Book Description
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.

Shia Islam and Politics

Shia Islam and Politics PDF Author: Jon Armajani
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 1793621365
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 252

Get Book Here

Book Description
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.

Sunnis and Shi'a

Sunnis and Shi'a PDF Author: Laurence Louër
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 0691234507
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 236

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Book Description
A compelling history of the ancient schism that continues to divide the Islamic world When Muhammad died in 632 without a male heir, Sunnis contended that the choice of a successor should fall to his closest companions, but Shi'a believed that God had inspired the Prophet to appoint his cousin and son-in-law, Ali, as leader. So began a schism that is nearly as old as Islam itself. Laurence Louër tells the story of this ancient rivalry, taking readers from the last days of Muhammad to the political and doctrinal clashes of Sunnis and Shi'a today. In a sweeping historical narrative spanning the Islamic world, Louër shows how the Sunni-Shi'a divide was never just a dispute over succession—at issue are questions about the very nature of Islamic political authority. She challenges the widespread perception of Sunnis and Shi'a as bitter enemies who are perpetually at war with each other, demonstrating how they have coexisted peacefully at various periods throughout the history of Islam. Louër traces how sectarian tensions have been inflamed or calmed depending on the political contingencies of the moment, whether to consolidate the rule of elites, assert clerical control over the state, or defy the powers that be. Timely and provocative, Sunnis and Shi'a provides needed perspective on the historical roots of today's conflicts and reveals how both branches of Islam have influenced and emulated each other in unexpected ways. This compelling and accessible book also examines the diverse regional contexts of the Sunni-Shi'a divide, examining how it has shaped societies and politics in countries such as Iraq, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Yemen, and Lebanon.

Political Thought in Contemporary Shi‘a Islam

Political Thought in Contemporary Shi‘a Islam PDF Author: Farah W. Kawtharani
Publisher: Springer Nature
ISBN: 3030280578
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 245

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Book Description
This book offers an intellectual history of one of the leading Shi’i thinkers and religious leaders of the 20th-century in Lebanon, Shaykh Muhammad Mahdi Shams al-Din. The author examines his role as the foremost figure of Shi’i intellectual life, a key associate of Musa al-Sadr, and president of the Islamic Shi‘i Supreme Council of Lebanon, having maintained the independence of this institution until his death from the domination of Shi‘i political parties. The core of the book consists of three interrelated main themes that constitute the major threads of Shams al-Din’s intellectual legacy: a discussion of Islamic government involving a critique of Khomeini’s theory of wilāyat al-faqīh, the role of Islam within civil government, and the necessity for political integration of the Shi‘a in their Arab nation-states to protect them from policies that raise doubts over their political allegiance to their respective countries. The project will appeal to scholars, students, academics, and researchers in Middle Eastern politics and history.

Transnational Shia Politics

Transnational Shia Politics PDF Author: Laurence Louër
Publisher: Hurst Publishers
ISBN: 1849042144
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 343

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Book Description
This book illuminates the historical origins and present situation of militant Shia transnational networks by focusing on three key countries in the Gulf, Kuwait, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, whose Shia Islamic groups are the offspring of Iraqi movements. The reshaping of the area's geopolitics after the Gulf War and the fall of Saddam Hussein in April 2003 have had a profound impact on transnational Shiite networks, pushing them to focus on national issues in the context of new political opportunities. For example, from being fierce opponents of the Saudi monarchy, Saudi Shiite militants have tended to become upholders of the Al-Sa'ud dynasty.The question remains, however, how deeply in society have these new beliefs taken root? Can Shiites be Saudi or Bahraini patriots? Louer concludes her book by analysing the transformation of the Shia' movements' relation to central religious authority, the marja', who reside either in Iraq and Iran. This is all the more problematic when the marja' is also the head of a state, as with Ali Khamenei of Iran, who has many followers in Bahrain and Kuwait.

The Dynamics of Sunni-Shia Relationships

The Dynamics of Sunni-Shia Relationships PDF Author: Sabrina Mervin
Publisher: Hurst Publishers
ISBN: 1849042179
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 361

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Book Description
Sheds light on the political, sociological and ideological processes that are affecting the dynamics of Sunni-Shia relations

The Art of Resistance in Islam

The Art of Resistance in Islam PDF Author: Yafa Shanneik
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1009034685
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 271

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Book Description
Based on first-hand ethnographic insights into Shi'i religious groups in the Middle East and Europe , this book examines women's resistance to state as well as communal and gender power structures. It offers a new transnational approach to understanding gender agency within contemporary Islamic movements expressed through language, ritual practices, dramatic performances , posters and banners. By looking at the aesthetic performance of the political on the female body through Shi'i ritual practices – an aspect that has previously been ignored in studies on women's acts of resistance -, Yafa Shanneik shows how women play a central role in redefining sectarian and gender power relations both in the Middle East and in the European diaspora.

Beyond Sunni and Shia

Beyond Sunni and Shia PDF Author: Frederic M. Wehrey
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0190876050
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 423

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Book Description
Surveys the landscape of modern sectarianism within Islam in North Africa and the Middle East.

Shia Political Thought

Shia Political Thought PDF Author: Ahmed Vaezi
Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
ISBN: 9781546508489
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 116

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Book Description
This book is one of the many Islamic publications distributed by Mustafa Organization throughout the world in different languages with the aim of conveying the message of Islam to the people of the world. Mustafa Organization is a registered Organization that operates and is sustained through collaborative efforts of volunteers in many countries around the world, and it welcomes your involvement and support. Its objectives are numerous, yet its main goal is to spread the truth about the Islamic faith in general and the Shi`a School of Thought in particular due to the latter being misrepresented, misunderstood and its tenets often assaulted by many ignorant folks, Muslims and non-Muslims. Organization's purpose is to facilitate the dissemination of knowledge through a global medium, the Internet, to locations where such resources are not commonly or easily accessible or are resented, resisted and fought!

Shiism and Politics in the Middle East

Shiism and Politics in the Middle East PDF Author: Laurence Louër
Publisher: Comparative Politics and Inter
ISBN: 9780199327751
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
Laurence Louër's timely study immediately precedes the outbreak of unrest in Bahrain that triggered the escalation of the so-called Arab Spring of 2011. In addition to issues relating to the role of Shiite Islamist movements in regional politics, she provides context for the Bahraini conflict and Shiism's wider implications as a political force in the Arab Middle East. Louër's study depicts Bahrain's troubles as a phenomenon rooted in local perceptions of injustice rather than in the fallout from Shiite Iran's foreign policies. She more generally argues that, although Iran's Islamic Revolution had an electrifying effect on Shiite movements in Lebanon, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, and the Gulf, local political imperatives ultimately have been the crucial driver of developments within Shiite movements -- though Lebanon's Hezbollah remains an exception. In addition, the rise of lay activists within Shiite movements across the Middle East and the emergence of Shiite anticlericalism have diminished the overwhelming influence of the Shiite clerical institution. Louër ultimately dispels the myth that Iran has determined the politics of Iraq, Bahrain, and other Arab states with significant Shiite populations. As revolution continues to spread across the Middle East, her analysis couldn't be more clarifying or necessary.

The Failure of Political Islam

The Failure of Political Islam PDF Author: Olivier Roy
Publisher: Harvard University Press
ISBN: 9780674291416
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 264

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Book Description
This powerful argument reassess radical Islam and the set of ideas and assumptions at its core. Olivier Roy offers a challenging and highly original view that no-one trying to understand Islamic fundamentalism can afford to overlook.