The charismatic community : Shiʻite identity in early Islam / Maria Massi Dakake.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Dakake, Maria Massi, 1968-

Series:

SUNY series in Islam

SUNY series in Islam.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Shiites--History.

Shiites.

History.

Shīʻah--History.

Shīʻah.

Physical Description:

xi, 323 pages ; 24 cm.

Place of Publication:

Albany : State University of New York Press, [2007]

Summary:

The Charismatic Community examines the rise and development of Shi`ite religious identity in early Islamic history, analyzing the complex historical and intellectual processes that shaped the sense of individual and communal religious vocation. The book reveals the profound and continually evolving connection between the spiritual ideals of the Shi`ite movement and the practical processes of community formation. Author Maria Massi Dakake traces the Qur'anic origins and early religious connotations of the concept of walayah and the role it played in shaping the sense of communal solidarity among followers of the first Shi`ite Imam, `Ali b. Abi Talib. Dakake argues that walayah pertains not only to the charisma of the Shi`ite leadership and devotion to them, but also to solidarity and loyalty among the members of the community itself. She also looks at the ways in which doctrinal developments reflected and served the practical needs of the Shi`ite community, the establishment of identifiable boundaries and minimum requirements of communal membership, the meaning of women's affiliation and identification with the Shi`ite movement, and Shi`ite efforts to engender a more normative and less confrontational attitude toward the non-Shi'ite Muslim community.

Contents:

Introduction

Pt. I. The principle of walāyah and the origins of the community

Walāyah in the Islamic tradition

The Ghadīr Khumm tradition: walāyah and the spiritual distinctions of ʻAlī b. Abī Ṭālib

Walāyah, authority and religious community in the first civil war

The Shiʻite community in the aftermath of the first civil war

Pt. II. Walāyah, faith and the charismatic nature of Shiʻite identity

Walāyah as the essence of religion: theological developments at the turn of the second Islamic century

Membership in the Shiʻite community and salvation

Predestination and the mythological origins of Shiʻite identity

The charismatic nature and spiritual distinction of the Shiʻites

Pt. III. Creating a community within a community

Shiʻites and non-Shiʻites: the distinction between Imān and Islām

Degrees of faith: establishing a hierarchy within the Shiʻite community

"Rarer than red sulphur": women's identity in early Shiʻism

Perforated boundaries: establishing two codes of conduct.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 301-311) and index.

ISBN:

0791470334

9780791470336

OCLC:

68132995