In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

1 ABriefHistoricalBackground ofShiªismandMoharram The two main sects or branches of Islam are Shiªism and Sunnism. Today, Shiªis make up between ten and fifteen percent of the world’s Muslim population, with approximately half of this number residing in Iran. Other major concentrations of Shiªis are in Lebanon, Iraq, Bahrain, Yemen, Eastern Arabia, and parts of South Asia. The majority of these Shiªis belong to the “Twelver” branch, which is discussed below. While Iran is arguably the most influential Shiªi nation today, this has not always been the case. In fact, the population of the Iranian plateau was predominantly Sunni until after the establishment of the Safavid Empire in 1501. It was only at this time that the dynasty’s founder, Shah Esmaªil (r. 1501–24), initiated policies that eventually led to the conversion of nearly the entire Iranian population to Twelver Shiªism. Equally significant were the efforts of the prominent religious scholar Baqer Majlesi (d. 1699) in popularizing Twelver Shiªism throughout the Safavid territories. While Shiªism has often been treated as an “Iranian” variant of Islam, its history is far more complex. Asurvey of the origins and early development of Shiªism takes one not to medieval Iran but to Arabia, the Levant, and even North Africa. The specific details of the early development of the Sunni-Shiªi schism, along with the complex evolution of Twelver Shiªism out of the diverse heterodox strains of early Shiªism, have been the subject of intense debate, both today and in the past. Without being drawn into these debates, which are far beyond the scope of this book, it can be said that the roots of this schism lie in the crisis of succession that occurred upon the death of the Prophet Mohammad in 632 CE. However, this sectarian division took two to three centuries to develop fully. Additionally, the particular strain of Shiªism with which this study is concerned, Twelver Shiªism, also developed slowly over several centuries. The discussion turns now to the very beginning of this long process 3 of division or schism. During the lifetime of the Prophet, whatever differences or conflicts there may have been between individuals and groups were overshadowed by the unifying effect of his presence and personality. Upon his death in 632, there was a crisis of succession. The main challenges facing the young Muslim community were who should succeed the Prophet and in what capacity. Also unclear was who had the right to select a successor. The ruling institution that evolved out of this crisis was called the “caliphate,” in which one man, the caliph, held both temporal and religious authority. The caliph did not, however , possess any of the supernatural or metaphysical qualities of the Prophet, such as infallibility, supernatural knowledge and ability, or the power to receive revelation. While some Muslims supported the ruling caliphs, others believed that the Prophet’s son-in-law and cousin Ali Ebn-e Abi Taleb should have succeeded the Prophet, and later they believed that Ali’s descendants should be his successors, beginning with his two sons, Hasan (d. 669) and Hoseyn (d. 680). They believed that the Prophet, before his death, selected Ali as his successor on more than one occasion. For example, they believed that shortly before his death the Prophet gave a speech, at a place called Ghadir Khom, in which he raised Ali’s hand and stated as follows: We were with the Apostle of God in his journey and we stopped at Ghadir Khum. We performed the obligatory prayer together and a place was swept for the Apostle under two trees and he performed the midday prayer. And then he took ªAli by the hand and said to the people: “Do you not acknowledge that I have greater claim on each of the believers than they have on themselves?” And they replied: “Yes!” And he took ªAli’s hand and said: “Of whomsoever I am Lord [Mawla], then ªAli is also his Lord. O God! Be thou the supporter of whoever supports ªAli and the enemy of whoever opposes him.” And ªUmar met him [‘Ali] after this and said to him: “Congratulations , O son of Abu Talib! Now morning and evening [i.e., forever] you are the master of every believing man and woman.”1 The institution of leadership that eventually evolved out of this view was called the “imamate,” which differed from the...

Share