The formation of the Safavid state (1501-1722) in Iran was transformative for Shī‘īism and its educational systems. The sixteenth century, therefore, was a turning point for the proliferation of Shill scholarship and educational institutions in Iran and the shrine cities of Najaf and Karbala' in southern.....
Read More »Text and Interpretation: Imam Jaʿfar al-Ṣādiq and His Legacy in Islamic Law
This book examines the main characteristics of the legal thought of Imam Jaʿfar al-Ṣādiq, a preeminent religious scholar jurist of Medina in the first half of the second century of the...
Read More »Ashura: Uprising as Struggle for Justice to Uphold Humanity
Ashura has always been a school where the character of a man has been tested and developed and Imam Hussein (A.S) has been the greatest teacher of humanity in this school....
Read More »Karbala Mourning among the Fāṭimid-Ṭayyibī Shīʿa of India
The Sayyid al-Shuhadāʾ lament—a poignant fifty-one-stanza Arabic marthiya composed by the Ṭayyibī Dāʿī l-Muṭlaq Sayyidnā Ṭāhir Sayf al-Dīn (d. 1385/1965)—holds an iconic status in the Karbala tradition of the Fāṭimid-Ṭayyibī Shīʿa of...
Read More »Analysis of the Attribution of Tazkirāt Al-A’ima to Allāma Muhammad Bāqir al-Majlesi
Disagreement exists among historical biographers in attributing the authorship of Tazkirat al-A’ima to either Allāma Muhammad Bāqir Bin Muhammad Taqii Majlesi or his contemporary scholar of the same name, Muhamad Bāqir....
Read More »Resistance, Jihad, and Martyrdom in Contemporary Lebanese Shi‘a Discourse
This article examines the contemporary Shi‘a understanding of jihad, martyrdom, and resistance through an analysis of the writings of two leading Lebanese Shi‘a scholars: Muhammad Husayn Fadlallah and...
Read More »The Origins of Twelver Shīʿism in Iran
The issue of the entry of Imāmite/Twelver Shīʿism into Iran is one of the most controversial issues in the History of Islamic Sects. According to the established general opinion, it is after the Safavids that the Shī’ite groups in question became the....
Read More »Book Review: Monks and Muslims: Monastic and Shi‘a Spirituality in Dialogue
Monks and Muslims brings together presentations made at the fourth in a series of encounters between Roman Catholic Benedictines and Iranian Shi‘a Muslims, a process which began in Ampleforth Abbey in 2003, and which has also involved encounters in the...
Read More »Efforts to Systematize the Imāmiyya Kalām in the Early Period: The Example of al-Shaykh al-Mufīd
Our research suggests al-Shaykh al-Mufīd was the first author to write down “Systematic Kalām” within the framework of Imāmiyya works, which has survived to the present day. He reviewed and rationalized the theological issues of...
Read More »New Released: Creating the Qur’an: A Historical-Critical Study
Creating the Qur’an presents the first systematic historical-critical study of the Qur’an’s origins, drawing on methods and perspectives commonly used to study other scriptural traditions....
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