Shi'ism

For more than a thousand years, the adherents of Shiism have, for a variety of reasons, remained largely in the shadow of the Sunni majority. Historically, Shiites of all persuasions have been looked upon either as a minority group within the wider Muslim community or, in extreme cases, as members of an heretical sect beyond the pale of Islam. Neither the establishment of a Shiite state in Safavid Iran in the sixteenth century, nor the participation of Shiites in important social-political movements in the Middle East in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, served to change this picture significantly. Only with the advent of Irans 'Islamic Revolution in 1979 did the momentum change, throwing Shiism politically and ideologically into sharper focus than ever before. Given what appeared to be its strident militancy and often anti-Western rhetoric, the face of Shiism as a force advocating radical change for the Muslim community has been the one shown to the world in the last three decades.However, while the political dynamics of its various movements and manifestations have been at the forefront of the reawakened interest in Shiism, the religious and cultural aspects of the faith have rarely been made known to the public at large. Despite the fact that Shiites comprise a minority of approximately 150 million in a worldwide community of Muslims that is a billion strong, the influence of Shiite law, theology and cultic practice on the development of Muslim civilization in general has been immense. That the wider world should be encouraged to consider Shiism not merely as a political entity, but also as a particular interpretation of Islam that has important religious, social and cultural dimensions, has long been recognized by a growing number of Western scholars; and the aim of this Major Work, a new title from Routledges Critical Concepts in Islamic Studies series, is to bring the best work of such thinkers before a wider audience.The collection gathers together in four volumes the most significant contributions to the field of Shiite studies, giving users access to material that has hitherto been scattered or often difficult to locate. Most of the material stems from the last thirty years but some seminal studies from earlier decades have also been included to provide an insight into the developmental dynamics of the field while also revealing the gaps which still exist in our knowledge and understanding of this extremely important branch of Muslim religion and culture.Turner is the author of 'Shi'ism', published 2007 under ISBN 9780415391870 and ISBN 0415391873.