The Study of Shi'i Islam

The Study of Shi'i Islam PDF Author: Gurdofarid Miskinzoda
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 0857735292
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 1101

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Book Description
Shi'i Islam, with its rich and extensive history, has played a crucial role in the evolution of Islam as both a major world religion and civilization. The prolific achievements of Shi?i theologians, philosophers and others are testament to the spiritual and intellectual wealth of this community. Yet Shi?i studies has unjustly remained a long-neglected field, despite the important contribution that Shi'ism has made to Islamic traditions. Only in recent decades, partially spurred by global interest in political events of the Middle East, have scholars made some significant contributions in this area. The Study of Shi'i Islam presents papers originally delivered at the first international colloquium dedicated exclusively to Shi'i studies, held in 2010 at The Institute of Ismaili Studies, London. Within the book are eight sections, namely, history, the Qur'an and its Shi'i interpretations, hadith, law, authority, theology, rites and rituals, and intellectual traditions and philosophy. Each section begins with an introduction contextualizing the aspects of studying Shi'i Islam particular to its theme, before going on to address topics such as the state of the field, methodology and tools, and the primary issues with which contemporary scholars of Shi'i studies are dealing. The scope and depth here covered makes this book of especial interest to researchers and students alike within the field of Islamic studies. The volume benefits from the diverse expertise of nearly 30 world-class scholars, including Mohammad-Ali Amir-Moezzi, Meir M. Bar-Asher, Farhad Daftary, Daniel De Smet, Gerald R. Hawting, Nader El-Bizri, Etan Kohlberg, Wilferd Madelung, Andrew Newman, Ismail K. Poonawala, Sabine Schmidtke and Paul E. Walker.

The Study of Shi'i Islam

The Study of Shi'i Islam PDF Author: Gurdofarid Miskinzoda
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 0857735292
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 1101

Get Book Here

Book Description
Shi'i Islam, with its rich and extensive history, has played a crucial role in the evolution of Islam as both a major world religion and civilization. The prolific achievements of Shi?i theologians, philosophers and others are testament to the spiritual and intellectual wealth of this community. Yet Shi?i studies has unjustly remained a long-neglected field, despite the important contribution that Shi'ism has made to Islamic traditions. Only in recent decades, partially spurred by global interest in political events of the Middle East, have scholars made some significant contributions in this area. The Study of Shi'i Islam presents papers originally delivered at the first international colloquium dedicated exclusively to Shi'i studies, held in 2010 at The Institute of Ismaili Studies, London. Within the book are eight sections, namely, history, the Qur'an and its Shi'i interpretations, hadith, law, authority, theology, rites and rituals, and intellectual traditions and philosophy. Each section begins with an introduction contextualizing the aspects of studying Shi'i Islam particular to its theme, before going on to address topics such as the state of the field, methodology and tools, and the primary issues with which contemporary scholars of Shi'i studies are dealing. The scope and depth here covered makes this book of especial interest to researchers and students alike within the field of Islamic studies. The volume benefits from the diverse expertise of nearly 30 world-class scholars, including Mohammad-Ali Amir-Moezzi, Meir M. Bar-Asher, Farhad Daftary, Daniel De Smet, Gerald R. Hawting, Nader El-Bizri, Etan Kohlberg, Wilferd Madelung, Andrew Newman, Ismail K. Poonawala, Sabine Schmidtke and Paul E. Walker.

Shi'i Islam

Shi'i Islam PDF Author: Najam Haider
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1107031435
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 267

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

Reason, Esotericism, and Authority in Shiʿi Islam

Reason, Esotericism, and Authority in Shiʿi Islam PDF Author:
Publisher: BRILL
ISBN: 9004465502
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 276

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Book Description
This volume advances the critical study of exegetical, doctrinal, and political authority in Shiʿi Islam. It presents new frameworks for interpreting the diverse modes of rationality and esotericism in Shiʿism and the socio-epistemic values they represent within Muslim discourse.

A History of Shi'i Islam

A History of Shi'i Islam PDF Author: Farhad Daftary
Publisher: I.B. Tauris
ISBN: 9781780768410
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 336

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Book Description
I.B.Tauris in association with the Institute of Ismaili Studies Shi'i Muslims have played a crucial role, proportionally greater than their relative size, in furthering the civilizational achievements of Islam. Indeed, the Shi'i scholars and literati of various branches and regions, including scientists, philosophers, theologians, jurists and poets, have made seminal contributions to Islamic thought and culture. There have also been numerous Shi'i dynasties, families or individual rulers who patronized scholars, poets and artists as well as various institutions of learning in Islam. In spite of its significance, however, Shi'i Islam has received little scholarly attention in the West, and when it has been discussed, whether in general or in terms of some of its subdivisions, it has normally been treated marginally as a 'sect' or a 'heterodoxy'. The present book draws on the scattered findings of modern scholarship in the field, attempting to explain the formative era of Shi'i Islam, when a multitude of Muslim groups and schools of thought were elaborating their doctrinal positions. Subsequent chapters are devoted to the history of the Ithna'asharis, or Twelvers, the Ismailis, the Zaydis and the Nusayris (now more commonly known in Syria as the Alawis), the four communities that account for almost the entirety of the Shi'i Muslim population of the world. The result is a comprehensive survey of Shi'i Islam that will serve as an accessible work of reference for academics in both Islamic and Middle Eastern studies, as well as the broader field of the History of Religions, and also more general, non-specialist readers.

Shi'i Islam and Sufism

Shi'i Islam and Sufism PDF Author: Denis Hermann
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 0755602307
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 393

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Book Description
I.B. Tauris in association with the Institute of Ismaili Studies Offering new perspectives on the relationship between Shi'is and Sufis in modern and pre-modern times, this book challenges the supposed opposition between these two esoteric traditions in Islam by exploring what could be called "Shi'i Sufism" and "Sufi-oriented Shi'ism" at various points in history. The chapters are based on new research in textual studies as well as fieldwork from a broad geographical areas including the Indian subcontinent, Anatolia and Iran. Covering a long period stretching from the early post-Mongol centuries, throughout the entire Safawid era (906–1134/1501–1722) and beyond, it is concerned not only with the sphere of the religious scholars but also with different strata of society. The first part of the volume looks at the diversity of the discourse on Sufism among the Shi'i "ulama" in the run up to and during the Safawid period. The second part focuses on the social and intellectual history of the most popular Shi'i Sufi order in Iran, the Ni'mat Allahiyya. The third part examines the relationship between Shi'ism and Sufism in the little-explored literary traditions of the Alevi-Bektashi and the Khaksariyya Sufi order. With contributions from leading scholars in Shi'ism and Sufism Studies, the book is the first to reveal the mutual influences and connections between Shi'ism and Sufism, which until now have been little explored.

Islam and the Baha'i Faith

Islam and the Baha'i Faith PDF Author: Oliver Scharbrodt
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1135975671
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 315

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Book Description
Muhammad ‘Abduh (1849-1905) was one of the key thinkers and reformers of modern Islam who has influenced both liberal and fundamentalist Muslims today. ‘Abdul-Baha (1844-1921) was the son of Baha’ullah (1817-1892), the founder of the Baha’i Faith; a new religion which began as a messianic movement in Shii Islam, before it departed from Islam. Oliver Scharbrodt offers an innovative and radically new perspective on the lives of these two major religious reformers in 19th century Middle East by placing both figures into unfamiliar terrain. While one would classify ‘Abdul-Baha, leader of a messianic movement which claims to depart from Islam, as an exponent of heresy in Islam, ‘Abduh is perceived as an orthodox Sunni reformer. This book, however, argues against the assumption that both represent two extremely opposite expressions of Islamic religiosity. It shows that both were influenced by similar intellectual and religious traditions of Islam and that both participated in the same discussions on the reform of Islam in the 19th century. Islam and the Baha'i Faith provides new insights into the Islamic background of the Baha’i Faith and into ‘Abduh’s own association with so-called heretical movements in Islam.

What Is Islam?

What Is Islam? PDF Author: Shahab Ahmed
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 1400873584
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 629

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Book Description
A bold new conceptualization of Islam that reflects its contradictions and rich diversity What is Islam? How do we grasp a human and historical phenomenon characterized by such variety and contradiction? What is "Islamic" about Islamic philosophy or Islamic art? Should we speak of Islam or of islams? Should we distinguish the Islamic (the religious) from the Islamicate (the cultural)? Or should we abandon "Islamic" altogether as an analytical term? In What Is Islam?, Shahab Ahmed presents a bold new conceptualization of Islam that challenges dominant understandings grounded in the categories of "religion" and "culture" or those that privilege law and scripture. He argues that these modes of thinking obstruct us from understanding Islam, distorting it, diminishing it, and rendering it incoherent. What Is Islam? formulates a new conceptual language for analyzing Islam. It presents a new paradigm of how Muslims have historically understood divine revelation—one that enables us to understand how and why Muslims through history have embraced values such as exploration, ambiguity, aestheticization, polyvalence, and relativism, as well as practices such as figural art, music, and even wine drinking as Islamic. It also puts forward a new understanding of the historical constitution of Islamic law and its relationship to philosophical ethics and political theory. A book that is certain to provoke debate and significantly alter our understanding of Islam, What Is Islam? reveals how Muslims have historically conceived of and lived with Islam as norms and truths that are at once contradictory yet coherent.

Female Religious Authority in Shi'i Islam

Female Religious Authority in Shi'i Islam PDF Author: Mirjam Künkler
Publisher: EUP
ISBN: 9781474426602
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
This collection of case studies, covering the period from classical Islam to the present, and taken from across the Islamic world, compares the role of women across time and space.

People of the Prophet's House

People of the Prophet's House PDF Author: Fahmida Suleman
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781898592327
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
Despite their distinct theological differences, Shi'a and Sunni Muslims, followers of the two main branches of Islam, share a number of core beliefs including an allegiance to and love for the Prophet Muhammad and members of his family. For Shi'a Muslims, reverence for the Prophet and allegiance to his household (Ahl al-bayt, 'People of the House'), comprising his immediate family and their descendants, constitutes an essential principle of belief that has directly impacted how Shi'i artists, rulers, patrons and ritual participants have conveyed their love and loyalty through material culture and religious ritual. The 22 essays in this volume, richly illustrated with over 200 colored images, present a diversity of beliefs and practices expressed through the arts, architecture, material culture and ritual that spans Shi'i history from the tenth century to the present day. With contributions from experts in the fields of anthropology, religious studies, art and architectural history, numismatics, film studies and contemporary art, the book also calls attention to the global diversity of the artistic and devotional expressions of Shi'a Muslims from across Trinidad, Senegal, Egypt, Syria, Iraq, Iran, Pakistan, India and China. Additionally, some essays draw upon important female Shi'i figures and female ritual practices and many chapters underscore the theme of love for the Ahl al-bayt beyond Sunni and Shi'i demarcations. This work contributes to a growing body of scholarship dedicated to the religious arts and rituals of Shi'a Muslims around the world.

Shi'i Doctrine, Mu'tazili Theology

Shi'i Doctrine, Mu'tazili Theology PDF Author: Hussein Ali Abdulsater
Publisher: Edinburgh University Press
ISBN: 1474425313
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 247

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Book Description
Examines the critical turn that shaped Imami Shi'ism in the 10th and 11th centuriesaGod is not free to act; He is bound by human ethics. To be just, He must create an individual of perfect intellect and infallible morality. People are obligated to submit to this person; otherwise eternal damnation awaits them.While these claims may be interpreted as an affront to Gods power, an insult to human judgment and a justification for despotism, ShiE i Muslims in the eleventh century eagerly adopted them in their attempts to forge a arational religious discourse. They utilized everything from literary studies and political theory to natural philosophy and metaphysical speculation in support of this project. This book presents the contribution of al-SharAf al-MurtaaA (d. 1044) of Baghdad, the thinker most responsible for this irreversible change, which remains central to Imami identity. It analyzes his intellectual project and establishes the dynamic context which prompted him to pour the old wine of ShiE i doctrine into the new wineskin of systematic MuE tazili theology.aKey FeaturesComprehensive coverage of al-MurtaaAs enormous oeuvre (running to several thousand pages) and diversity (spanning virtually all contemporary fields of knowledge)A meticulous engagement with long and dense theoretical texts that are either in manuscript form or poorly editedAn orderly presentation that equips readers with an overall understanding of ShiE i theology in its main phases while preserving the profundity of analysisThe study of a little-known author whose views, nonetheless, are still a major influence for ShiE i Muslims