Shīʿī Islam: An Introduction (Introduction to Religion)

The initial centuries after Muḥammad's death witnessed the proliferation of diverse ideas and beliefs. It was during this period of roughly three centuries that two particular intellectual traditions emerged, Sunnism and Shīʿism. Sunni Muslims endorsed the historical caliphate, whereas Shīʿī Muslims lent their support to ʿAli, cousin of the Prophet and the fourth caliph. The Shīʿī also articulated a distinctive set of theological doctrines concerning the nature of God and legitimate political and religious authority. This book examines the development of Shīʿī Islam through the lenses of belief, narrative, and memory. In an accessible yet nuanced manner, it conceives of Shīʿism as a historical project undertaken by a segment of the early Muslim community that felt dispossessed. It also also covers, for the first time in English, a wide range of Shīʿī communities from the demographically predominant Twelvers to the transnational Ismāʿīlīs to the scholar-activist Zaydīs. The resulting portrait of Shīʿism reveals a distinctive and vibrant Muslim community with a remarkable capacity for reinvention and adaptation, grounded in a unique theological interpretation of Islam.