Twelver Shiism: Unity and Diversity in the Life of Islam, 632 to 1722 (The New Edinburgh Islamic Surveys)

## Charts the history and development of one of the most enduring branches of Shi'ism As many as 40 different Shi`i groups existed in the 9th and 10th centuries yet only 3 forms have survived. Why is Twelver Shi`ism one of them? As the established faith in modern Iran, the majority faith in Iraq and areas in the Gulf and with its adherents forming sizeable minorities elsewhere in the region, Twelver Shi'ism is arguably the most successful branch of Shi'ism. Andrew J. Newman chronicles the progression of Twelver Shiism, exploring the numerous external challenges and internal disagreements that marked the lives of believers in pockets across the Middle East to the early 18th century. During this time, from the 13th to the 15th century especially, with scholarly activity and the availability of earlier key texts of the faith limited, the region’s many millenarian doctrines and movements threatened its demise. Only by the late 17th century was Twelver Shiism’s survival assured, both in Iran and elsewhere in the region. Title page 4 Copyright 5 Contents 6 Acknowledgements 10 Introduction 12 CHAPTER 1 Shiism fragmented: the faith and the faithful from the seventh to the ninth century 27 CHAPTER 2 Bereft of a leader: The early traditionists and the beginnings of doctrine and practice 47 CHAPTER 3 The challenge of ‘the Uncertainty’ 68 CHAPTER 4 Majority and minority: rationalism on the defensive in the later Buyid period 89 CHAPTER 5 Betwixt and between: the Twelvers and the Turks 112 CHAPTER 6 The Mongol and Ilkhanid periods: the rise and limits of the school of al-Hilla 133 CHAPTER 7 The severest of challenges 149 CHAPTER 8 Shiism in the sixteenth century: the limits of power (and influence) 166 CHAPTER 9 The past rediscovered and the future assured: Shiism in the seventeenth century 188 Epilogue 214 Appendix I Scholars by region: fifth-twelfth Islamic centuries/eleventh-eighteenth centuries ad* 223 Appendix II Manuscript copies of key Twelver Shii written works, sixth-thirteenth Islamic centuries/twelfth-nineteenth centuries ad* 225 Appendix III Selected Safavid period rijal works* 241 Appendix IV Shuruh/Hawashi of key Twelver works, sixth-twelfth Islamic centuries/twelfth-eighteenth centuries ad* 243 Bibliography 253 Index 267 As many as 40 different Shìi groups existed in the 9th and 10th centuries yet only 3 forms have survived. Why is Twelver Shìism one of them As the established faith in modern Iran, the majority faith in Iraq and areas in the Gulf and with its adherents forming sizeable minorities elsewhere in the region, Twelver Shi'ism is arguably the most successful branch of Shi'ism. Andrew J. Newman chronicles the progression of Twelver Shiism, exploring the numerous external challenges and internal disagreements that marked the lives of believers in pockets across the Middle East to the early 18th century. During this time, from the 13th to the 15th century especially, with scholarly activity and the availability of earlier key texts of the faith limited, the region's many millenarian doctrines and movements threatened its demise. Only by the late 17th century was Twelver Shiism's survival assured, both in Iran and elsewhere in the region Charts the history and development of Twelver Shi'ism As many as 40 different Shi`i groups existed in the 9th and 10th centuries; only 3 forms remain. Why is Twelver Shi`ism one of them? As the established faith in modern Iran, the majority faith in Iraq and areas in the Gulf and with its adherents forming sizeable minorities elsewhere in the region, it is arguably the most successful branch of Shi'ism. Andrew Newman charts the history Twelver Shi'ism, uncovering the development of the key distinctive doctrines and practices which ensured its survival in the face of repeated challenges. He argues that the key to the faith's endurance has been its ability to institutionalise responses to the changing, often localised circumstances in which the community has found itself, thereby remaining remarkably resilient in the face of both internal disagreements and external opposition. As many as 40 different Shii groups existed in the ninth and tenth centuries yet only 3 forms have survived. Why is Twelver Shiism one of them? As the established faith in modern Iran, the majority faith in Iraq and areas in the Gulf and with its adherents forming sizeable minorities elsewhere in the region, it is arguably the most successful branch of Shi'ism. This book charts its history and the development of the key distinctive doctrines and practices which ensured its survival in the face of repeated challenges. It argues that the key to the faith's endurance has been its ability to institutionalise responses to the changing, often localised circumstances in which the community has found itself, thereby remaining remarkably resilient in the face of both internal disagreements and external opposition. Charts the history of Twelver Shi`ism and the processes underlying the development of its key distinctive doctrines and practices, which ensured its survival in the face of repeated internal and external challenges.