Book Notes

Andrew J. Newman, Twelver Shiism: Unity and Diversity in the Life of Islam, 632 to 1722, 2013. (The New Edinburgh Islamic Surveys, series editor Carole Hillenbrand.) Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, x + 267 pp., £75.00 (hbk), £24.99 (pbk). isbn: 978-0-74863-331-9 (pbk).

At its inception, the survival of Twelver Shi‘ism did not seem guaranteed. Many other early Shi‘a movements did not survive, and, in the first few centuries of Islam, Twelver Shi‘a did not have a numeric majority. In this historical survey of the development of Twelver Shi‘ism, Andrew Newman demonstrates how Twelvers responded to both internal and external challenges, particularly with respect to millenarian doctrines and movements; and how the rise of the Safavids, the mass spread of Twelver Shi‘ism in Iran, and Safavid scholarship ensured the survival and flourishing of Twelver Shi‘ism. Detailed and comprehensive, the survey begins with Twelver Shi‘ism in the pre-Umayyad, Umayyad, and ‘Abbasid eras. It then proceeds to the post-ghaybah phase and the responses to the ghaybah, especially regarding hadith. It continues with Twelver Shi‘ism in the Buyid, Saljuq, Mongol, and Ilkhanid eras, as well as the frequently neglected interim until the Safavid era. The Safavid section is particularly rich and discusses Twelver Shi‘ism both inside Iran as well as in other centres of Shi‘ism such as Lebanon, the shrine cities of Iraq, India, and the Hijaz. It concludes with a brief mention of the spread of Twelver Shi‘ism into Thailand and the Malay Archipelago. Although the survey is particularly aimed at the Western-language audience as well as the non-specialist, it should also be of benefit to the specialist given the breadth of discussion. It includes useful appendices listing Shi‘a scholars, manuscript copies of key Twelver Shi‘a written works, Safavid rijali works, and a chronological mapping of commentaries on important Twelver Shi‘a works such as al-Kafi.

Amina Inloes

The Islamic College, London, UK

Shῑ‘ῑ Islam: An Introduction by Najam Haider, 2014. New York: Cambridge University Press, 264 pp., maps, £50.00. isbn: 978-1-107-03143-2 (hbk).

Shῑ‘ῑ Islam: An Introduction is the first comprehensive study in English of the development of Shi‘ism as a dynamic and evolving phenomenon. As the author, Najam Haider, notes, while Muslims frequently highlight cosmetic differences between Sunnis and Shi‘as, such as the position of hands during prayer, these difference reflect genuine differences in how Shi‘ism and Sunnism evolved in different directions. One of the main tasks of this book is to locate the roots of these differences from both a theological and a historical standpoint. Unlike many works which place the locus of Shi‘a-Sunni differences only at the death of the Prophet (S), Haider observes that many characteristic Shi‘a doctrines did not develop until the ninth, tenth, or eleventh centuries; and nor is there reason to think that some of these doctrines could not have developed among Sunnis. One useful and unique feature of this work is that it gives equal attention to the three main surviving Shi‘a groups today – Ithna ‘Asharis, Isma‘ilis, and Zaydis, whereas most books in English discuss only Ithna ‘Ashari Shi‘ism and almost fully neglect Zaydism. Under this comprehensive view, Haider looks...