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This volume advances the critical study of exegetical, doctrinal, and political authority in Shiʿi Islam. It presents new frameworks for interpreting the diverse modes of rationality and esotericism in Shiʿism and the socio-epistemic values they represent within Muslim discourse.
Offers fascinating insights into the careers of the first leaders of Twelver Shiʿism: agents who claimed to speak for the 'hidden Imam'.
Reconstructing the roles and careers of key actors in the drama of early Occultation politics and the emergence of the first leaders of Twelver Shiʿism, this book demonstrates how they established the doctrines and institutions of Twelver Shiʿism, the dominant branch of Shiʿi Islam in the world today.
The success of Islamic imperialism in the period from the conquests to the Ayyubid dynasty has traditionally been explained as purely the result of military might. This book, however, adopts a bottom-up approach which puts social relationships and local power dynamics at the centre of the Islamic empire's cohesion. Its chapters draw on sources in diverse languages: not just Arabic, but also Greek, Coptic, Syriac, Hebrew, and Bactrian, showing how different linguistic communities intersected and contributed to a connected yet diverse empire. They highlight how not just literary and historical texts, but also physical documents and archaeological evidence should be incorporated into writing histories of the late antique and early medieval Middle East. Social institutions and relationships explored include oaths; petitions, decrees, and begging letters; and financial frameworks such as debt and taxation. This title is also available as Open Access on Cambridge Core.
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