Islamic Ecumenism In The 20th Century: The Azhar And Shiism Between Rapprochement And Restraint (Social, Economic and Political Studies of the Middle East and Asia)

The present volume describes the various phases of the inner-Islamic ecumenical dialogue in the 20th century between Sunnis and Shiites, the short-lived periods of success it achieved, but also the fierce mutual polemics it inevitably engendered. The examination focuses on the role of the Cairene Azhar University as the most important representative of Sunni Islam and its relations with Shiite scholars. Particular importance is attached to the interdependency of theological arguments and the political motivations of the interlocutors, and especially to the significance of Islamic ecumenism for Egyptian foreign policy in the 1950s. Although the main part of the study is confined to the time before 1979, in an epilogue the course of events is followed until most recent developments. Translator's Note......Page 9 Acknowledgements......Page 11 Introduction: The Dispute About the "Correct" History......Page 13 I. First Attempts at Resolving the Conflict......Page 37 II. The Azhar Reform and Shiism at the Beginning of the Twentieth Century......Page 57 III. A Controversial Correspondence (1911/36)......Page 63 The abolition of the caliphate......Page 94 Jerusalem 1931 and its aftermath......Page 100 The involvement of the Azhar......Page 115 Precursors......Page 133 Foundation and structure of the Jamā'at al-taqrīb......Page 141 Publishing and editorial activity......Page 155 VI. The Scholarly Network of the Taqrīb Movement (1947–1960)......Page 165 Sunnis......Page 167 Shiites......Page 199 On the uses and disadvantages of history for ecumenical thinking......Page 220 bi-llatī hiya ahsan? Standardized arguments and stereotypes......Page 240 The Azhar and the Revolution......Page 261 Muhibb al-Dīn al-Khatīb and the Azhar journal......Page 267 The integration of the taqrīb society into politics......Page 287 Theology and politics: Mahmūd Shaltūt's "fatwā" of 1959......Page 296 Politics and theology: Egypt Iraq and Iran 1958–1960......Page 317 The polemic reloaded......Page 332 X. From Rapprochement to Restraint (1962–1979)......Page 350 Epilogue: Continuing Rapprochement into the Twenty-first Century?......Page 388 Abbreviations......Page 411 Bibliography......Page 413 Index......Page 437 This survey of more than one century of inner-Islamic ecumenical activities in modern times concentrates on the role of the Cairo-based Azhar University and its relations to Shiite scholars. Particular emphasis is laid on the mutual dependency of theology and politics in the modern Islamic discourse "The present volume describes the various phases of the inner-Islamic ecumenical dialogue in the 20th century between Sunnis and Shiites, the short-lived periods of success it achieved, but also the fierce mutual polemics it inevitably engendered."--BOOK JACKET