Twelver Shiism: Unity and Diversity in the Life of Islam, 632 to 1722

ISBN-13: 9780748633302 / Angielski / Twarda / 2013 / 288 str.

Andrew J. Newman

Opis

As many as 40 different Shii groups existed in the ninth and tenth centuries yet only 3 forms have survived. Why is Twelver Shiism 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. This book charts its history and the development of the key distinctive doctrines and practices which ensured its survival in the face of repeated challenges. It 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.

Spis treści

Introduction; 1. Shiism fragmented: the faith and the faithful from the 7th to the 9th century; 2. Bereft of a leader: the early traditionists and the beginnings of doctrine and practice; 3. The challenge of ‘the uncertainty’; 4. Majority and minority: rationalism on the defensive in the later Buyid period; 5. Betwixt and between: the Twelvers and the Turks; 6. The Mongol and Ilkhanid periods: the rise and limits of the al-Hilla school of al-Hilla; 7. The severest of challenges; 8. Shiism in the 16th century: the limits of power (and influence); 9. The past rediscovered and the future assured: Shiism in the 17th century; Epilogue; Appendices; Bibliography; Index.