Apocalyptic Islam And Iranian Shi Ism

Interest in Shi'i Islam is running at unprecedented levels. International tensions over Iran, where the largest number of Shi'i Muslims live, as well as the political resurgence of the Shi'i in Iraq and Lebanon, have created an urgent need to understand the background, beliefs and motivations of this dynamic vision of Islam. Abbas Amanat is one of the leading scholars of Shi'ism. And in this powerful book, a showcase for some of his most influential writing in the field, he addresses the colourful and diverse history of Shi' Islam in both premodern and contemporary times.Focusing specifically on the importance of apocalypticism in the development of modern Shi'i theology, he shows how an immersion in messianic ideas has shaped the conservative character of much Shi'i thinking, and has prevented it from taking a more progressive course. Tracing the continuity of apocalyptic trends from the Middle Ages to the present, Amanat addresses such topics as the early influence on Shi'ism of Zoroastrianism; manifestations of apocalyptic ideology during the Iranian Revolution of 1979; and the rise of the Shi'i clerical establishment during the 19th and 20th centuries. His book will be an essential resource for students and scholars of both religious studies and Middle Eastern history.

The reputation of Shi'ism in the Islamic world, as elsewhere, has undergone many vicissitudes, but it is now higher than ever. In this important new study, The author moves us toward an understanding of the social, intellectual, and theological crises that Prophet Muhammed and Ali, together with some of the early Muslims (the precursors of Shi'ism) were struggling to solve. The issues were many: the Idols; their social and economic crystallizations in class, tribalism, gender and ethnicity attitudes; the necessity of the revolutionary; the continuity of the rebellious ethos; the question of the non-Arab converts to Islam; the exaggeration of the status of the imams (Shi'i extremism); the extension of the Shi'i idol-Breaking spirit to encompass modern issues and novel contemporary phenomena. The author brings to the discussion of these complicated questions the lively investigation that many readers are not expected to know and comprehend within the context of the contemporary sectarianism which penetrates and segments the Islamic world.

For a Western world anxious to understand Islam and, in particular, Shi’ism, this book arrives with urgently needed information and critical analysis. Hamid Dabashi exposes the soul of Shi’ism as a religion of protest—successful only when in a warring position, and losing its legitimacy when in power. Dabashi makes his case through a detailed discussion of the Shi’i doctrinal foundations, a panoramic view of its historical unfolding, a varied investigation into its visual and performing arts, and finally a focus on the three major sites of its contemporary contestations: Iran, Iraq, and Lebanon. In these states, Shi’ism seems to have ceased to be a sect within the larger context of Islam and has instead emerged to claim global political attention. Here we see Shi’ism in its combative mode—reminiscent of its traumatic birth in early Islamic history. Hezbollah in Lebanon claims Shi’ism, as do the militant insurgents in Iraq, the ruling Ayatollahs in Iran, and the masses of youthful demonstrators rebelling against their reign. All declare their active loyalties to a religion of protest that has defined them and their ancestry for almost fourteen hundred years. Shi’sm: A Religion of Protest attends to the explosive conflicts in the Middle East with an abiding attention to historical facts, cultural forces, religious convictions, literary and artistic nuances, and metaphysical details. This timely book offers readers a bravely intelligent history of a world religion.

Essay from the year 2009 in the subject Politics - International Politics - Region: Near East, Near Orient, grade: 85, Ben Gurion University, course: Iran, language: English, abstract: Ervand Abrahamian introduces his work Khomeinism: Essays on the Islamic Republic with a discussion of two terms interesting for an analysis of the Islamic Revolution, particularly considering Western images of Khomeini and his movement: fundamentalism and populism. These ideologically loaded concepts depict the book's central thesis, namely that fundamentalism is not an appropriate term for describing Khomeini, his ideas and movement. According to Abrahamian, it alludes "religious inflexibility, ... political traditionalism, ... social conservatism, the centrality of scriptural-doctrinal principles, [and] ... the rejection of the modern world." He instead presents populism as a more apposite term, which "connotes attempts made by nation-states to enter that world." The scholars Daniele Albertazzi and Duncam McDonnell define 'populism' in a widely accepted definition as an ideology which pits a virtuous and homogeneous people against a set of elites and dangerous 'others' who are together depicted as depriving (or attempting to deprive) the sovereign people of their rights, values, prosperity, identity and voice. Essentially approving of Abrahamian's cited thesis, this essay attempts to illustrate that the Islamic Revolution, led by Ayatollah Khomeini, does not represent a movement driven by "religious fundamentalism" or "fanaticism," but the Iranian way of emancipation from domestic and foreign oppression and domination, materialized by the Shah and the West. This thesis will be developed through exploring the Shi'ite history and especially its appearance in Iran. Furthermore it will continually explore the religion's revolutionary and supposedly fanatical characteristics and its contribution to the 1979 revolution, which, as

This book takes a fresh look at the foundations of modern Islam. Scholars often locate the origins of the modern Islamic world in European colonialism or Islamic reactions to European modernity. However, this study focuses on the rise of Islamic movements indigenous to the Middle East, which developed in direct response to the collapse and decentralization of the Islamic gunpowder empires. In other words, the book argues that the Usuli movement as well as Wahhabism and neo-Sufism emerged in reaction to the disintegration and political decentralization of the Safavid, Ottoman, and Mughal empires. The book specifically highlights the emergence of Usuli Shi‘ism in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The long-term impact of the Usuli revival was that Shi‘i clerics gained unprecedented social, political, and economic power in Iran and southern Iraq. Usuli clerics claimed authority to issue binding legal judgments, which, they argue, must be observed by all Shi‘is. By the early nineteenth century, Usulism emerged as a popular, fiercely independent, transnational Islamic movement. The Usuli clerics have often operated at the heart of social and political developments in modern Iraq and Iran and today dominate the politics of the region.

Attempts to explain the bewildering events in the Middle East.

This book provides a vivid portrait of Iranian Islamism. Based on interviews with grass-roots activists it gives a unique picture of pro-regime movement in Iran. It is of interest to anyone who seeks to understand Shi’ite Islamism today.

The reputation of Shi'ism in the Islamic world, as elsewhere, has undergone many vicissitudes, but it is now higher than ever. In this new study, The author moves us toward an understanding of the social, intellectual, and theological crises that Prophet Muhammed and his cousin, Ali, together with some of the impoverished early Muslims (the precursors of Shi'ism) were struggling to solve. The issues were many: the idols, their social and economic embodiments in class, tribe, gender and ethnicity; the necessity of the revolutionary spirit, and its resumption in the Shi'i rebellious ethos; the question of the non-Arab converts to Islam; the exaggeration of the status of the im ms (Shi'i extremism); the extension of the Islamic idol-Breaking spirit to encompass and examine modern issues or novel contemporary phenomena. Al Da'mi brings to the discussion of these historically complicated questions the lively investigation that many readers of English are not expected to know and comprehend outside the context of the self-consuming sectarian conflicts which penetrate and segment the Islamic world.