Bashir Saade

Elvire Corboz delineates the different challenges faced by two key Najafi Shi'i clerical families in the face of modern transformations. Corboz's rich analysis paints a subtle picture of the gradual transnationalization of Shi'i religious authority as, from one generation to the other, the families of al-Hakim and al-Khu'i addressed issues of religious continuity and development. It is Corboz's main claim that the modern period, with the establishment of the nation state and its secular laws and the rise of a new elite, has forced the Shi'i clerical establishment of Iraq, Iran, and Lebanon, to spread their influence outside their respective localities. By tracing the legacy of successive generations of 'ulema in al-Hakim and al-Khu'i's families and their respective associated organizations, Corboz paints a vivid picture of the complex making of authority in Shi'i Islam, as its clerical establishment witnessed a transfer from being dependent on the financial largesse of a landed aristocracy to new elites and modern state structures. Corboz's endeavor is a timely reminder that religious continuity involves more than the transmission of a set of doctrines or a discursive practice, to refer to Talal Asad's notion, but rather an intricate process of interpersonal networking, lobbying a whole set of influential people, institutions, intermarriages, tribal relations, and the formation of more formal organizations that, for the first time in the history of this community, led to the transnationalization and semi-institutionalization of authority, through an interplay of " traditional " processes and more modern, even western, NGO-like formations. In effect, one common conception of the transformation is to look at the history of the Shi'i clerical establishment as entering a difficult time in the modern era, where the latter is threatened by all of these institutional, legal, and ideological changes and innovations. Yet, Corboz shows that these daunting challenges—for example fleeing the persecution of the Baath regime in Iraq—paved the way to opportunities for clerical authority to expand and assume a different " transnational " role. Authority is a crucial question in the Shi'i Twelver tradition because practicing religion involves as a prerequisite following a " source of emulation " (marja' taqlīd). As Corboz explains, there is no set criteria in order to become a marja', a source of emulation in religious, worshiping, and other juridical matters. Instead, the marja'iyya is based on a series of informal variables, such as descent from the prophet's family (being a sayyed), probity of character, scholarly excellence (which not only depends on ijtihad and publications, but also on popularity through teaching such that students lobby for him). This interplay of nasab