Agents of the Hidden Imam: Forging Twelver Shi‘ism, 850-950 CE (Cambridge Studies in Islamic Civilization)

In 874 CE, the eleventh Imam died, and the Imami community splintered. The institutions of the Imamate were maintained by the dead Imam's agents, who asserted they were in contact with a hidden twelfth Imam. This was the beginning of 'Twelver' Shiʿism. Edmund Hayes provides an innovative approach to exploring early Shiʿism, moving beyond doctrinal history to provide an analysis of the socio-political processes leading to the canonisation of the Occultation of the twelfth Imam. Hayes shows how these agents cemented their authority by reproducing the physical signs of the Imamate, including protocols of succession, letters and the alm taxes. Four of these agents were ultimately canonised as “envoys” but traces of earlier conceptions of authority remain embedded in the earliest reports. Hayes dissects the complex and contradictory Occultation narratives to show how, amidst the claims of numerous actors, the institutional positioning of the envoys allowed them to assert a quasi-Imamic authority in the absence of an Imam. In 874 CE, the eleventh Imam died, and the Imami community splintered. The institutions of the Imamate were maintained by the dead Imam's agents, who asserted they were in contact with a hidden twelfth Imam. This was the beginning of 'Twelver' Shiʻism. Edmund Hayes provides an innovative approach to exploring early Shiʻism, moving beyond doctrinal history to provide an analysis of the socio-political processes leading to the canonisation of the Occultation of the twelfth Imam. Hayes shows how these agents cemented their authority by reproducing the physical signs of the Imamate, including protocols of succession, letters and the alm taxes. Four of these agents were ultimately canonised as "envoys" but traces of earlier conceptions of authority remain embedded in the earliest reports. Hayes dissects the complex and contradictory Occultation narratives to show how, amidst the claims of numerous actors, the institutional positioning of the envoys allowed them to assert a quasi-Imamic authority in the absence of an Imam "The Twelvers are currently the most populous Shiʻi denomination and a hugely influential force within the diverse and complicated history of Islam, and yet relatively few careful critical studies have been made into the complex and contradictory evidence for this foundational moment of Twelver Shiʻism. Central to this story are the agents of the hidden Imam who created the conditions of possibility for the establishment and canonization of this defining doctrine of Twelver Shi'ism: the Occultation ghayba of the twelfth Imam. I aim to show how the direct leadership of the Imams collapsed, how it was replaced by the authority of agents of non-Imamic lineage,9 and why the leadership of the agents collapsed in turn, only to be canonized as a key part of Twelver doctrine"-- Provided by publisher 04.0_pp_iv_iv_Copyright_page 1 05.0_pp_v_v_Dedication 5 06.0_pp_vi_vi_Epigraph 6 07.0_pp_vii_vii_Contents 7 08.0_pp_viii_viii_Figures 8 09.0_pp_ix_ix_Tables 9 10.0_pp_x_xi_Acknowledgments 10 11.0_pp_xii_xiv_Abbreviations 12 12.0_pp_1_27_Introduction 15 13.0_pp_28_41_The_Rise_of_the_Agents_in_the_Late_Imamate_830874_ce 42 14.0_pp_42_51_The_Crisis_before_the_Crisis 56 15.0_pp_52_79_Crisis 66 16.0_pp_80_119_The_Agents_of_the_Niya_in_the_Era_of_Perplexity 94 17.0_pp_120_171_The_Creation_of_an_Envoy 134 18.0_pp_172_215_Rise_and_Fall 186 19.0_pp_216_221_Conclusion 230 20.0_pp_222_241_Bibliography 236 21.0_pp_242_247_Index 256 22.0_pp_248_252_Other_titles_in_the_series 262 Reconstructing the roles and careers of key actors in the drama of early Occultation politics and the emergence of the first leaders of Twelver Shi'ism, this book demonstrates how they established the doctrines and institutions of Twelver Shi'ism, the dominant branch of Shi'i Islam in the world today.