Observing a tradition more than 1000 years old, Shi'ites represent 10 percent of the Muslim population, or 100 million people. Halm explores how Shi'ism differs from the rest of Islam, discussing the prominence of its authorities, the Imams, as well as its legal system, practices of worship, places of pilgrimages, and a...

Observing a tradition more than 1000 years old, Shi'ites represent 10 percent of the Muslim population, or 100 million people. Halm explores how Shi'ism differs from the rest of Islam, discussing the prominence of its authorities, the Imams, as well as its legal system, practices of worship, places of pilgrimages, and a...

Commemorating the Battle of Karbala, in which the Prophet Mohammad's grandson Hosayn and seventy-two of his family members and supporters were martyred in 680 CE, is the central religious observance of Shi'i Islam. Though much has been written about the rituals that reenact and venerate Karbala, until now no one has studied women's participation in these observances. This collection of original essays by a multidisciplinary team of scholars analyzes the diverse roles that women have played in the Karbala rituals, as well as the varied ways in which gender-coded symbols have been used...

In a world of multinational commerce, satellite broadcasting, migration, terrorism, and global arms dealing, what is said and how it is said in one society can no longer be isolated from what is said and how it is said in another. Debating Muslims focuses on Iranian culture, Shi'ite Islam, and Iranians in the United States, offering an experiment in postmodern ethnography and an invitation to think in a multifaceted way about Islam in the contemporary world.

One of the most prominent Muslim scholars and scientists of the medieval era, the Persian polymath Nasir al-Din Tusi (1201-1274) joined the Shi'a Nizari Ismaili community at a young age, as the armies of Genghis Khan poured across his homeland. In the course of a long and eminent career, first under the patronage of the Ismailis at the fortress of Alamut, and later with the conquering Mongols, he produced over 150 works on diverse subjects from theology and philosophy to mathematics and astronomy. His principal works on Ismaili doctrine, the Rawda-yi taslim (The Paradise of...