A history of Shi'i Islam /
Shiʻi Muslims have played a crucial role, proportionally greater than their relative size, in furthering the civilizational achievements of Islam. Indeed, the Shiʻi scholars and literati of various branches and regions, including scientists, philosophers, theologians, jurists and poets, have made se...
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| Format: | eBook |
| Language: | English |
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London ; New York :
I.B. Tauris in association with the Institute of Ismaili Studies,
2013.
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| Series: | Shi'i heritage series.
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | Connect to the full text of this electronic book |
| Summary: | Shiʻi Muslims have played a crucial role, proportionally greater than their relative size, in furthering the civilizational achievements of Islam. Indeed, the Shiʻi 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 Shiʻi 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, Shiʻi 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'. Although some progress has been made in certain areas of Shiʻi studies in recent decades, it is a fact that Shiʻi communities of all traditions continue to be variously misunderstood and misrepresented, not only by the Sunni Muslims but by non-Muslims as well. The present book draws on the scattered findings of modern scholarship in the field, attempting to explain the formative era of Shiʻi 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 Ithnaʻasharis, or Twelvers, the Ismailis, the Zaydis and the Nusayris (now more commonly known in Syria as the ʻAlawis), the four communities that account for almost the entirety of the Shiʻi Muslim population of the world (ca. 200 million). The result is a comprehensive survey of Shiʻi 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. |
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| Physical Description: | 1 online resource (xix, 315 pages) : genealogical tables |
| Bibliography: | Includes bibliographical references (pages 249-282) and index. |
| ISBN: | 9780857735249 0857735241 9780857723338 0857723332 9780755608669 0755608666 |
| DOI: | 10.5040/9780755608669 |