The Charismatic Community

Maria Massi Dakake

Description

The Charismatic Community examines the rise and development of Shiite religious identity in early Islamic history, analyzing the complex historical and intellectual processes that shaped the sense of individual and communal religious vocation. The book reveals the profound and continually evolving connection between the spiritual ideals of the Shiite movement and the practical processes of community formation. Author Maria Massi Dakake traces the Quranic origins and early religious connotations of the concept of walayah and the role it played in shaping the sense of communal solidarity among followers of the first Shiite Imam, Ali b. Abi Talib. Dakake argues that walayah pertains not only to the charisma of the Shiite leadership and devotion to them, but also to solidarity and loyalty among the members of the community itself. She also looks at the ways in which doctrinal developments reflected and served the practical needs of the Shiite community, the establishment of identifiable boundaries and minimum requirements of communal membership, the meaning of women's affiliation and identification with the Shiite movement, and Shiite efforts to engender a more normative and less confrontational attitude toward the non-Shiite Muslim community.

Acknowledgments
List of Abbreviations
Author’s Notes

Introduction

Part I: The Principle of Walayah and the Origins of the Community

1. Walayah in the Islamic Tradition

2.  The Ghadir Khumm Tradition: Walayah and the Spiritual Distinctions of Ali b. Abi Talib

3. Walayah, Authority, and Religious Community in the First Civil War

4. The Shiite Community in the Aftermath of the First Civil War

Part II: Walayah, Faith, and the Charismatic Nature of Shiite Identity

5. Walayah as the Essence of Religion: Theological Developments at the Turn of the Second Islamic Century

6. Membership in the Shiite Community and Salvation

7. Predestination and the Mythological Origins of Shiite Identity

8. The Charismatic Nature and Spiritual Distinction of the Shiites

Part III: Creating a Community within a Community

9. Shiites and Non-Shiites: The Distinction between Iman and Islam

10. Degrees of Faith: Establishing a Hierarchy within the Shiite Community

11. “Rarer than Red Sulfur”: Women’s Identity in Early Shiism

12. Perforated Boundaries: Establishing Two Codes of Conduct

Notes
Bibliography
Index

Sujets

• Shia Islam
• History of religions
• Islam

Informations

• Publié par: State University of New York Press
• Date de parution: 01 février 2012
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9780791480342
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 2 Mo

Extrait

T heCharismaticCommunity Shi>ite Identity in Early Islam

Maria Massi Dakake

The Charismatic Community

SUNY series in Islam

Seyyed Hossein Nasr, editor

The Charismatic Community Shi˜ite Identity in Early Islam

MARIA MASSI DAKAKE

State University of New York Press

On the cover is a piece of calligraphy bearing the message, “˜Al¥ is the wal¥ Allåh (friend of God),” stamped in copper. From the personal collection of Maria Massi Dakake.

Published by State University of New York Press, Albany

© 2007 State University of New York

All rights reserved

Printed in the United States of America

No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission. No part of this book may be stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means including electronic, electrostatic, magnetic tape, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without the prior permission in writing of the publisher.

For information, address State University of New York Press, 194 Washington Avenue, Suite 305, Albany, NY 12210-2384

Production by Ryan Hacker Marketing by Michael Campochiaro

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Dakake, Maria Massi, 1968– The charismatic community : Shi˜ite identity in early Islam / Maria Massi Dakake. p. cm. — (SUNY series in islam) Includes bibiographical references and index. ISBN-13: 978-0-7914-7033-6 (hardcover : alk. paper) ISBN-13: 978-0-7914-7034-3 (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. Shi˜ites—History. 2. Shi˜ah—History. I. Title. II. Series.

BP192.D35 2007 297.8'.209—dc22

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

2006013726

This book is dedicated, in loving memory, to Dominic Anthony Massi and Mary Synnott Massi

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Acknowledgments List of Abbreviations Author’s Note

Introduction

Part I:

Chapter 1:

Chapter 2:

Chapter 3:

Chapter 4:

Part II:

Chapter 5:

Chapter 6:

Chapter 7:

Chapter 8:

Contents

The Principle ofWala¯ yahthe Origins of and the Community

Walåyahin the Islamic Tradition

The Ghad¥r Khumm Tradition:Walåyahand the Spiritual Distinctions of ˜Al¥ b. Ab¥†ålib

Walåyah, Authority, and Religious Community in the First Civil War

The Shi˜ite Community in the Aftermath of the First Civil War

Wala¯ yah,and the Charismatic Nature Faith, of Shi˜ite Identity

Walåyah as the Essence of Religion: Theological Developments at the Turn of the Second Islamic Century

Membership in the Shi˜ite Community and Salvation

Predestination and the Mythological Origins of Shi˜ite Identity

The Charismatic Nature and Spiritual Distinction of the Shi˜ites

ix xi xii

1

15

3

4

3

9

71

103

125

141

157

viii

Part III:

Chapter 9:

Chapter 10:

Chapter 11:

Chapter 12:

Notes Bibliography Index

Contents

Creating a Community within a Community

Shi˜ites and Non-Shi˜ites: The Distinction betweenÜmån andIslåm

Degrees of Faith: Establishing a Hierarchy within the Shi˜ite Community

“Rarer than Red Sulfur”: Women’s Identity in Early Shi˜ism

Perforated Boundaries: Establishing Two Codes of Conduct

177

191

213

237

253 301 313

Introduction

Acknowledgments

ix

The present work grew out of my Ph.D. dissertation on the early development of the Shi˜ite community, completed at the Department of Near Eastern Studies at Princeton University. The work has been completely revised and significantly expanded, with new chapters or sections on the relationship between Shi˜ite and Sufi mystical concep- tions ofwalåyah, on certain first century Shi˜ite movements and on women’s identity in early Shi˜ism. I would like to thank the faculty of the Department of Near Eastern Studies for all of their guidance and assistance during my years of graduate study and dissertation writ- ing, with special thanks to Professor Michael Cook and Professor Hossein Modarressi, who first suggested the topic to me and intro- duced me to Shi˜ite sources. I would also like to thank Dr. Gholamreza Avani for offering me a position as a visiting scholar at the Academy of Philosophy in Tehran, from which I conducted much of my original research, and Ms. Pari Riyahi for all of the help and direction she provided me during my stay in Iran, as well as the directors and staff of the Astan-e Qods Library in Mashhad and the Mar˜ashi Library in Qum for making their collections accessible to me. I would also like to express my sincere appreciation to the Mathy Foundation, which gen- erously provided a grant to support my research leave in 2002, allow- ing me time to develop the newer sections of the book. Very special gratitude is owed to Professor Seyyed Hossein Nasr who first encouraged me to pursue the study of Shi˜ism many years ago, and I am greatly in his debt for all of the guidance he has given me over these many years. I am also grateful to him for agreeing to publish this work in his series. I wish to thank the anonymous read- ers, especially Reader A, who made a number of valuable suggestions for improving the work. I would also like to thank Nancy Ellegate at SUNY Press for her support of this project, as well as Ryan Hacker and all of the people at SUNY Press for their work on the publication of the book. I am also grateful to Sarah Hernandez for her photograph of the calligraphy on the cover.

ix