Description
Book SynopsisSociology of Shiʿite Islam is a comprehensive study of the development of Shiʿism. In these collected essays Arjomand has persistently developed a Weberian theoretical framework for the analysis of Shiʿism, from its sectarian formation in the eighth century through the establishment of the Safavid empire in the sixteenth century, to the Islamic revolution in Iran in the twentieth century. The bearers or cultural carriers of Shiʿite Islam first emerged as a sectarian elite, then a hierocracy and finally a theocracy. Imamate, Occultation and the theodicy of martyrdom are identified as the main components of the Shiʿism as a world religion. These studies highlight revolutionary impulses embedded in the belief in the advent of the hidden Imam, and the impact of Shiʿite political ethics on the authority structure of pre-modern Iran and the constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran.
Trade Review“Sociology of Shiʿite Islam: Collected Essays is a must-read book full of insights for both specialists as well as those interested in the history of Shi‘i Islam.” Yaser Mirdamadi, University of Edinburgh, in Reading Religion
Table of ContentsAbbreviations Introduction: Shiʻite Islam as a World Religion, its Social Forms, Bearers and Impact on Social Action Part I: Formation of Shiʻite Islam as a World Religion of Salvation: Imamate, Occultation and Theodicy Chapter 1: Origins and Development of Apocalyptic Messianism in Early Islam Chapter 2: Crisis of the Imamate and the Institution of Occultation in Twelver Shi`ism Chapter 3: Imam Absconditus and the Beginnings of a Theology of Occultation Chapter 4: The Shiʻite Doctrine of Occultation and the Transition from Chiliasm to Law Chapter 5: Shiʻite Theodicy: Martyrdom and the Meaning of Suffering Part II: Shiʻite Religion and the Structure of Domination in Iran Chapter 6: Hierocratic Authority in Shiʻism and the Transition from Sectarian to National Religion in Iran Chapter 7: Three Decrees of Shah Tahmāsp on Clerical Authority and Public Law in Shiʻite Iran Chapter 8: Political Ethic and Public Law in the First half of the Nineteenth Century Chapter 9: Imam Khomeini and the Constitution of the Rule of God in Contemporary Iran Part III: The Bearers of Shiʻite Islam and its Institutional Organization Chapter 10. Hosayn b. Ruh al-Nawbakhti: the Third Emissary of the Hidden Imam Chapter 11. The Clerical Estate and the Rise of a Shiʻite Hierocracy in Safavid Iran Chapter 12: The Office of Mullā-Bāshi in Shiʻite Iran Chapter 13: Shiʻite Jurists and Iran’s Law and Constitutional Order in the Twentieth Century Part IV: Shiʻite Islam and the Motivation of Sociopolitical Action: Revolution and Constitution Chapter 14: The Rise of Shah Esmāʻil as a Mahdist Revolution Chapter 15: The Conversion of Iran to Twelver Shiʻite by the Safavid State: 1501-1722 Chapter 16: Ideological Revolution in Shiʻism Chapter 17: Shiʻite Islam and the Islamic Revolution in Iran Chapter 18: Shiʻite Conceptions of Authority and Constitutional Developments in the Islamic Republic of Iran Chapter 19. Shiʻite Dissent in Iran before and after the Islamic Revolution Bibliography Index
