Shiʿi Studies

The following article surveys a few treatises regarding the salvation of the Prophet Muḥammad’s uncle, Abū Ṭālib b. ‘Abd al-Muṭṭalib (d. circa 619 CE). The controversy concerning Abū Ṭālib’s place in the hereafter stems from a wealth of reports condemning him to hell due to his refusal to convert to Islam and others which testify to his lifelong belief in God and the prophethood of Muḥammad.  The first group of reports was canonized in the collections of Bukhārī and Muslim, while the second group largely appeared in sīra and Shī‘ī ḥadīth literature.  Although Shī‘ī thinkers have upheld the faith and salvation of Abū Ṭālib from the earliest periods of Islamic history, very few Sunnīs shared this opinion despite transmitting some of the same proof-texts cited in Shī‘ī works.  According to most Sunnīs, these proof-texts were either inconclusive or insufficient in proving Abū Ṭālib's conversion to Islam or his salvation.  However, there is a remarkable shift in the sensibilities of some Sunnīs after the ninth century hijrī (fifteenth century CE). In contrast to early Sunnīs who considered such a possibility to be unlikely or flatly denied it, a few Sunnīs over the past five centuries have joined their Shī‘ī co-religionists in their commitment to the salvation of Abū Ṭālib.  This article introduces the relevant proof-texts and theological arguments that classical Shī‘ī and modern Sunnī writers have utilized to advocate the belief in Abū Ṭālib’s salvation.

The Shi’iIsmaili Muslims of Central Asia have a complex political history. This open access book is the first English-language study of the Ismaili Muslims in this region, based on analysis of the Russian, Soviet and post-Soviet scholarship about them. It sheds new light on their history and heritage, and also shows how the Ismailis of Central Asia have been understood and presented in the academic literature.

Divided into three parts, the first covers the spread of the Ismaili da’wa (mission) throughout Central Asia – known as Khurasan – from the 3rd/9th century until modern times. This part examines the prominent poet da’iNasir-iKhusraw, who played an instrumental role in the expansion and development of Ismailism in Badakhshan in the eleventh century and reveals the impact of his religio-philosophical legacy in the life of the contemporary community. The second part examines the initial interest in Ismaili Studies engendered by Russian imperial rule. It also shows how approaches to the study of Ismailism were affected by 70 years of Communist atheist rule and the demise of the Communist political and ideological system. The third part presents an annotated bibliography of books, articles, and published and unpublished materials, including documents and oral materials on the history, thought and practices of the Ismailis of Central Asia, most of which has not been hitherto easily accessible to Western scholarship.

The comprehensive survey and rich bibliography aims to illuminate the history and historiography of the Ismailis in Central Asia and facilitate further study on the subject by experts around the world.

The Shi’iIsmaili Muslims of Central Asia have a complex political history. This open access book is the first English-language study of the Ismaili Muslims in this region, based on analysis of the Russian, Soviet and post-Soviet scholarship about them. It sheds new light on their history and heritage, and also shows how the Ismailis of Central Asia have been understood and presented in the academic literature.

Divided into three parts, the first covers the spread of the Ismaili da’wa (mission) throughout Central Asia – known as Khurasan – from the 3rd/9th century until modern times. This part examines the prominent poet da’iNasir-iKhusraw, who played an instrumental role in the expansion and development of Ismailism in Badakhshan in the eleventh century and reveals the impact of his religio-philosophical legacy in the life of the contemporary community. The second part examines the initial interest in Ismaili Studies engendered by Russian imperial rule. It also shows how approaches to the study of Ismailism were affected by 70 years of Communist atheist rule and the demise of the Communist political and ideological system. The third part presents an annotated bibliography of books, articles, and published and unpublished materials, including documents and oral materials on the history, thought and practices of the Ismailis of Central Asia, most of which has not been hitherto easily accessible to Western scholarship.

The comprehensive survey and rich bibliography aims to illuminate the history and historiography of the Ismailis in Central Asia and facilitate further study on the subject by experts around the world.

ToC

Hadith: Shiʿi
Kumail Rajani

Introduction
General Overviews
Origins of Shiʿi Hadith
Evolution of Shiʿi Hadith
Hadith Transmission and Transmitters
Major Shiʿi Hadith Collections in Arabic
Twelver Collections
Primary Collections
Canonical Collections
Specific Collections
Subject-Matter Collections
Secondary Collections
Contemporary Non-academic Collections
Translations
Zaydi Collections
Primary Collections
Secondary Collections
Ismaʿili Collections
Textbooks on Shiʿi Hadith Studies
Studies on Canonical Texts
Studies on the Chains of Narrators (Isnad) of Canonical Texts
Anthologies
Search Engines
Journals
Academic Research Institutions
Criticism and Debates on Authenticity
Criticism from Shiʿi Scholars
The Question of Authenticity
Case-Studies of Hadith Collections
Case-Studies of Specific Hadith
Interdisciplinary Hadith Studies
Hadith and Qur’anic Exegesis
Scholarly Studies on Hadith Based Qur’anic Exegesis
Hadith and Jurisprudence
Hadith and Theology
Hadith and Gender Studies
Understanding Hadith (Fiqh al-hadith)
Hadith-Based School of Thought
Comparative Hadith Studies

Hadith, according to Imami Shiʿi Islam, is report of a saying, deed or tacit approval attributed to one of the People of the Household (Ahl al-bayt); fourteen infallibles which includes Prophet Muhammad, his daughter Fatima, and twelve rightly guided Imams appointed by the Prophet. Ismaʿili Shiʿa will concur with this definition through their chain of Imams whereas Zaydi Shiʿa would be more open to embrace the sayings of the Companions. Generally, the chain of narrators of a particular report is supposed to be considered a part of hadith, making hadith a combination of chain of narrators (al-sanad) and text (al-matn). Theoretically, hadith serves the purpose of an auxiliary source to the Qur’an but in practice, it is the focal point of reference for jurisprudence, Qur’anic exegesis, theological doctrines and moral values. The distinct feature of Shiʿi Hadith literature, Zaydis being exception, is the absence of hadith narrated by a Companion of the Prophet. The core message of the Prophet’s teachings has to be narrated by the Imams, the only custodians of his teachings. However, Imams do have their own teachings which forms the basis of the hadith attributed to them. This extension lies in the notion of the cosmic role of Imams in Shiʿi ideology. .........

The present article aims at summarizing the history and cultural legacy of Ismāʿīlīsm, an important medieval and contemporary branch of Shīʿī Islam in Iran or, more precisely, in the Persian lands. Ismāʿīlīsm, developing gradually after 760 CE (after the death of Imam Jaʿfar al-Ṣādiq, the sixth Imam of Ismāʿīlīs and Twelver Shīʿīs), maintained close cultural and religious ties with Iranian lands, appearing as early as the 9th century CE in present-day Iran and Central Asia. Since then, Ismāʿīlīsm has been present in Iranian culture, creating an interesting amalgam where Persianate cultural elements enriched the religious, philosophical, and cultural heritage of Ismāʿīlīsm. One must also note that Ismāʿīlīsm had different subgroups present in the Iranian lands such as pre-Fatimid Ismāʿīlīsm, Fatimid Ismāʿīlīsm, Qarmaṭī Ismāʿīlīsm and, last but not least, the most significant of them, Nizārī Ismāʿīlīsm (with its various offshoots in present-day Iran and Central Asia); followers of the latter are still living in some provinces of Iran. The heyday of Ismāʿīlīsm during the so-called Alamūt period of the Nizārī Ismāʿīlīs was undoubtedly the 11th–13th centuries CE, but Badakhshānī Ismāʿīlīs in Central Asia as well as later post-Alamūt Nizārī Ismāʿīlīsm in Iran are also of great importance.

Since the collapse of the Baʿathist regime after the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, Shiʿi Muslim rituals, in particular the annual commemorations of Arbaʿin, have seen a revival in popularity. Based on two fieldwork studies conducted during Arbaʿin in 2016 and 2017, the present study attempts to examine the changing characteristics of the rituals. It does so by studying the increasing digitization of Arbaʿin as a commemorative pilgrimage to Karbala, Iraq, to the shrine of the Prophet’s grandson, Imam Husayn. This ethnographic study argues for a mediated conception of Arbaʿin pilgrimage in that digital technologies serve as an embodied site of interaction in shaping shared experiences based on networked sociability. Examining the intimate connections between “physical” and “virtual” spaces, as in the case of Mawakib or gatherings shaped in the form of temporary lodgings in the course of walking processions, the study argues that various uses of digital technologies for pilgrimage are less about means of devotional expression than a series of experiences of digital significance. The paper makes the final argument that the digital practices embedded in ritual processions are acted upon to enhance experience, which increasingly fuses technology with ritual action.