The Origins of the Sh'a (Cambridge Studies in Islamic Civilization)
Cambridge University Press, 3/15/2012
EAN 9781107010710, ISBN10: 1107010713
Hardcover, 298 pages, 22.9 x 15.2 x 1.7 cm
Language: English
The Sunni-Shi'a schism is often framed as a dispute over the identity of the successor to Muhammad. In reality, however, this fracture only materialized a century later in the important southern Iraqi city of Kufa (present-day Najaf). This book explores the birth and development of Shi'i identity. Through a critical analysis of legal texts, whose provenance has only recently been confirmed, the study shows how the early Shi'a carved out independent religious and social identities through specific ritual practices and within separate sacred spaces. In this way, the book addresses two seminal controversies in the study of early Islam, namely the dating of Kufan Shi'i identity and the means by which the Shi'a differentiated themselves from mainstream Kufan society. This is an important, original and path-breaking book that marks a significant development in the study of early Islamic society.
Part I. Narratives and Methods
1. Kufa and the classical narratives of early Shi'ism
2. Confronting the source barrier
a new methodology
Part II. Case Studies
3. In the name of God
the Basmala
4. Curses and invocations
the Qunūt in the ritual prayer
5. Drinking matters
the Islamic debate over prohibition
Part III. The Emergence of Shi'ism
6. Dating sectarianism
early Zaydism and the politics of perpetual revolution
7. The problem of the ambiguous transmitter
ritual and the allocation of identity
8. The mosque and the procession
sacred spaces and the construction of community
9. Conclusion.