xi, 192 pages : 23 cm

The author highlights the three main aspects of Shi'a Islam: its historical development, especially the history of the Imams; the rituals, including flagellation and passion plays; and the rule of the mullahs, known as the "government of experts." Shi'ism is as old as Islam. It began as an exclusively Arab political issue of succession to Muhammad, and was later embraced by the Iranians. At the core of Shi'i religious practice are rituals of mourning and atonement.--Publisher description

Includes bibliographical references (pages 185-186) and index

pt. 1. The house of sorrow: the twelve imams. -- The commander of the faithful: ʻAlī ibn ʻAbī Tālib (656-661) -- The abdication of al-Hasan (661) -- The tragedy of Karbalāʼ (680) -- The origins of Shiʻi religious tradition: the campaign of the "penitents" (684) -- Withdrawal from politics: the sixth imam, Jaʻfar as-Sādiq (702-765) -- The deportation of the seventh imam (796) -- The eighth imam ʻAlī Ar-Ridā as heir apparent (816) -- The shrine of Qom -- The imams in Samarra (836-873) -- The occultation of the twelfth imam (873) -- The fourteen infallible ones -- The return of the Mahdī -- pt. 2. The deluge of weeping: flagellant procession and passion play. -- The origins of the ʻAshūrāʼ ritual -- European reports from the time of the Safavid dynasty (1501-1722) -- The elegy -- The ten days of Muharram -- The passion play -- Chest beaters and flagellants -- pt. 3. The Islam of the mullahs. -- The representative of the hidden imam -- The imam's money: the "fifth" -- Participation in the government (tenth to eleventh centuries) -- The foundation of Shiʻi law: the "four books" -- The new center: al-Hilla (thirteenth to fourteenth centuries) -- The basis of the authority of the mullahs: the principle of ijtihād -- The emergence of the Shiʻi clergy (sixteenth century) -- Monarchy and clergy as rivals (seventeenth century) -- Usūlīs and akhbārīs: rationalists and traditionalists (seventeenth and eighteenth centuries) -- Secular and spiritual arm (nineteenth century) -- Marjaʻ at-taqlīd: the source of imitation -- pt. 4. The revolutionary Shiʻa. -- The struggle against westernization -- The rise of Qom -- Shiʻi revolutionary ideology -- Khomeinī and the "government of the jurist" -- The leader of the revolution -- Illustrating ijtihād using the example of birth control -- The successor to the Rahbar -- pt. 5. Shiʻites outside of Iran. -- Azerbaijan -- Lebanon -- India and Pakistan -- Iraq -- Syria -- Future outlook

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