Studies In Medieval Shi Ism

This volume complements the selections of Wilferd Madelung's articles previously published by Variorum (Religious Schools and Sects in Medieval Islam, and Religious and Ethnic Movements in Medieval Islam). The first articles here examine legal and political aspects of early Shi`ism. The following studies relate to doctrinal views of the Zaydi imams al-Qasim b. Ibrahim al-Rassi and al-Natiq bi-l-Haqq and to Zaydi attitudes to Sufism. The final group focuses on the Isma`iliyya, their social and political history and aspects of their religious thought. A detailed index completes the volume.

The present volume focuses on aspects of Islamic thought in Iran and Yemen, and other regions of the Middle East, ninth through fifteenth century CE, through a close study of manuscript materials. The book's sixteen chapters are arranged under five rubrics: Mu'tazilism, Zaydism in Iran and in Yemen, Twelver Shi'ism, Mysticism, and Bibliographical Traditions. The material included in the book has been published previously in a different version. The appearance of these studies together in a single volume makes this book a significant and welcome contribution to the field of classical Islamic Studies.

This volume complements the selections of Wilferd Madelung’s articles previously published by Variorum (Religious Schools and Sects in Medieval Islam, Religious and Ethnic Movements in Medieval Islam and Studies in Medieval Shīism). The first sections contain articles examining intellectual and historical aspects of Mutazilism, the Ibāḍiyya, Ḥanafism and Māturidism, Sufism and Philosophy. The final group of articles focuses on aspects of early Muslim history. A detailed index completes the volume.

This volume complements the selections of Wilferd Madelung's articles previously published by Variorum (Religious Schools and Sects in Medieval Islam, Religious and Ethnic Movements in Medieval Islam and Studies in Medieval ShÄ«ism). The first sections contain articles examining intellectual and historical aspects of Mutazilism, the IbÄ á, iyya, á, ¤anafism and MÄ turidism, Sufism and Philosophy. The final group of articles focuses on aspects of early Muslim history. A detailed index completes the volume.

Collection of articles previously published.

36. Joseph Eliash, ?The Ithn? ?Ashar?-Sh??? juristic theory of political and legal authority? in Studia Islamica, Vol. 29 (1969), pp. 17-30. 37. Etan Kohlberg, ?The development of the Imami Shi?i doctrine of jih?d? in Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenl¿ndischen Gesellschaft, Vol. 126 (1976), pp. 64-86. 38. Werner Ende, ?The flagellations of Muharram and the Shi?ite ?ulam?? in Der Islam,Vol. 55 (1978), pp. 19-36. 39. Uri Rubin, ?Prophets and progenitors in the early Shi?a Tradition? in Jerusalem Studies in Arabic and Islam, Vol. 1 (1979), pp. 41-65. 40. Wilferd Madelung, ?Shi?i attitudes toward women as reflected in fiqh? in Afaf Lutfi al-Sayyid-Marsot (Ed.), Society and the sexes in medieval Islam (Malibu: Undena Publications, 1979), pp. 69-79. 41. Werner Ende, ?Ehe auf Zeit (mut?a) in der innerislamischen Diskussion der Gegenwart? in Die Welt des Islams, Vol. 20 (1980), pp. 1-43. 42. Norman Calder, ?Zak?t in Im?m? Sh??? jurisprudence, from the tenth to the sixteenth century A.D.? in Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, Vol. 44 (1981), pp. 468-80. 43. Norman Calder, ?Khums in Im?m? Sh??? jurisprudence, from the tenth to the sixteenth century A.D.? in Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, Vol. 45 (1982), pp. 39-47. 44. Peter Chelkowski, ?Popular Sh??? mourning rituals? in Alser?t, Vol.12 (1986), pp. 209-226. 45. Norman Calder, ?Doubt and prerogative: the emergence of an Im?m? Sh??? theory of ijtih?d? in Studia Islamica, Vol. 70 (1989), pp. 57-78. 46. Anne Betteridge, ?Specialists in miraculous action; some shrines in Shiraz? in Alan Morinis (Ed.), Sacred journeys: the anthropology of pilgrimage (Westport: Greenwood Press, 1992), pp. 189-209. 47. Yitzhak Nakash, ?An attempt to trace the origin of the rituals of ??sh?r?? in Die Welt des Islams, Vol. 33 (1993), pp. 161-81. 48. Etan Kohlberg, ?Taqiyya in Sh??? theology and religion? in Hans G. Kippenberg & Guy G. Stroumsa (Eds.), Secrecy and concealment: studies in the history of Mediterranean and Near Eastern religions (Leiden: Brill, 1995), pp. 345-80. 49. Muhsin Kadivar, ?Theories of government in Sh??? fiqh? in Hikmat, Vol. 1, No. 3 (1996), pp. 303-28. 50. Ron P Buckley, ?On the origins of Sh??? hadith? in The Muslim World, Vol. 88, No. 2 (1998), pp. 165-84. 51. Robert Gleave, ?Shi?ite exegesis and the interpretation of Qur??n 4:24? in Alan Jones (Ed.), University Lectures in Islamic Studies, Vol. 2 (London: Al-Tajir World of Islam Trust, 1998), pp. 79-112. 52. Liyakat A. Takim, ?From bid?a to sunna: the wil?ya of ?Al? in the Sh??? adh?n? in Journal of the American Oriental Society, Vol. 120, No. 2 (2000), pp. 166-77. 53. Len Clarke , ?The Sh??? construction of taql?d? in Journal of Islamic Studies, Vol. 12/1 (2001), pp. 40-64. 54. Colin Turner, ?Aspects of devotional life in Shi?ite Islam: the practice of du??? (Original article, 2006)

During the period of Mongol occupation from 1258-1386, Baghdad was a site of intense intellectual debate and dialogue between Shi'i and Sunni communities. In this long-established centre of learning in the Islamic world, scholars such as Ibn Taymiyya and the influential Imami Shi'i scholar Allamah al-Hilli participated extensively in the transmission of knowledge across sectarian lines, as both students and teachers. Tarqi al-Jamil here contextualises the social and political climate of Iraq during this time, examining the dynamic and complex nature of Shi'i-Sunni relations and their competition for authority and legitimacy. This significant new history provides a challenge to contemporary discourses - both scholarly and in the popular media - that tend to falsely attribute the current political conflict in Iraq to pre-modern Shi'i-Sunni relations in the region. Instead, al-Jamil articulates a framework for understanding the negotiation of boundaries between Shi'i-Sunni religious communities, broadening the consensus of critical historical knowledge concerning what it meant to be Shi'i or Sunni.

The Jawidan-nama-yi kabir ('Great Book of Eternity') was the magnum opus of Fadl Allah Astarabadi (d. 796/1394) and provided the basis of the Hurufi movement. Today it is one of the most important known texts belonging to the mystical and messianic current that became particularly active in Iran and Anatolia following the Mongol rule. It illuminates the contemporary reconfiguration of religious and political authority along messianic and charismatic lines that took place in the Islamic East, which arguably contributed to the rise and consolidation of the Ottoman, Safawid and Mughal dynasties. Words of Power is the first comprehensive study of Fadl Allah's seminal work. Orkhan Mir-Kasimov summarises Fadl Allah's biography, charts the history of the Hurufi movement, contextualises the Jawidan-nama within Islamic intellectual history, and considers its lasting impact in the Muslim world.