The Origins of the Shi'a

Identity, Ritual, and Sacred Space in Eighth-Century K?fa

Najam Haider

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Year: 2011
• Print ISBN:
  9781107010710
• eBook ISBN:
  9781139120166
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: Middle Eastern History
• Index: History

The Sunni-Shi'a schism is often framed as a dispute over the identity of the successor to Muhammad. In reality, however, this fracture only materialized a century later in the important southern Iraqi city of Kufa (present-day Najaf). This book explores the birth and development of Shi'i identity. Through a critical analysis of legal texts, whose provenance has only recently been confirmed, the study shows how the early Shi'a carved out independent religious and social identities through specific ritual practices and within separate sacred spaces. In this way, the book addresses two seminal controversies in the study of early Islam, namely the dating of Kufan Shi'i identity and the means by which the Shi'a differentiated themselves from mainstream Kufan society. This is an important, original and path-breaking book that marks a significant development in the study of early Islamic society.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Contents
• List of Maps and Tables
• Acknowledgments
• Note on Transliteration and Dates
• List of Abbreviations
• Part One Narratives and Methods
• Part Two Case Studies
• Part Three the Emergence of Shi‘ism
• Bibliography
• Index
• Cambridge Studies In Islamic Civilization