Hamid Dabashi - Shi'ism. A Religion of Protest [2011][A]

Book Description
Publication Date: March 2, 2011
For a Western world anxious to understand Islam and, in particular, Shi’ism, this book arrives with urgently needed information and critical analysis. Hamid Dabashi exposes the soul of Shi’ism as a religion of protest—successful only when in a warring position, and losing its legitimacy when in power.
Dabashi makes his case through a detailed discussion of the Shi’i doctrinal foundations, a panoramic view of its historical unfolding, a varied investigation into its visual and performing arts, and finally a focus on the three major sites of its contemporary contestations: Iran, Iraq, and Lebanon. In these states, Shi’ism seems to have ceased to be a sect within the larger context of Islam and has instead emerged to claim global political attention. Here we see Shi’ism in its combative mode—reminiscent of its traumatic birth in early Islamic history. Hezbollah in Lebanon claims Shi’ism, as do the militant insurgents in Iraq, the ruling Ayatollahs in Iran, and the masses of youthful demonstrators rebelling against their reign. All declare their active loyalties to a religion of protest that has defined them and their ancestry for almost fourteen hundred years.
Shi’sm: A Religion of Protest attends to the explosive conflicts in the Middle East with an abiding attention to historical facts, cultural forces, religious convictions, literary and artistic nuances, and metaphysical details. This timely book offers readers a bravely intelligent history of a world religion.

Editorial Review
From Booklist
After the death of the Prophet, a struggle ensued for leadership of the Muslim community. Those who believe the Prophet’s cousin and son-in-law Ali was his legitimate successor are called the Shi’i, and Dabashi’s book is a fascinating look at this tradition viewed through the lens of such thinkers as Freud, Weber, Habermas, and others. Dabashi’s analysis of the foundational events of Shiism, namely the assassination of Ali, the subsequent murder of his son Husayn, and Muslims killing not just other Muslims but also the flesh and blood of the Prophet, lead him to conclude that Shiism is a religion of protest and revolt. But he also claims the moral authority and legitimacy of Shiism are lost when it succeeds politically, an interesting proposition given the political prominence of Shiism today in Iran as well as among the leaders of Hizbullah and some insurgents in Iraq. Dabashi’s book is not an introductory chronicle of names, dates, and events. Rather, it is a scholarly analysis of the tradition, engagingly written, for an advanced audience. --Christopher McConnell

Reviews
After the death of the Prophet, a struggle ensued for leadership of the Muslim community. Those who believe the Prophet's cousin and son-in-law Ali was his legitimate successor are called the Shi'i, and Dabashi's book is a fascinating look at this tradition viewed through the lens of such thinkers as Freud, Weber, Habermas, and others. (Christopher McConnell Booklist 2010-12-15)

You can't make sense of the news from the Middle East without some understanding of the ancient division between Sunni and Shi'ite Muslims. Shi'ism: A Religion of Protest, by Hamid Dabashi, offers a comprehensive new history of Shi'ite theology, history, and politics, down to the current conflict in Iraq. (Adam Kirsch Barnes and Noble Review 2011-02-04)

A challenging and brilliant new book...Dabashi's extraordinarily rich and powerful book takes Shiism out of the sectarian ghettos where it was largely confined when it became an ideological weapon of the Persian Empire in its rivalry with the Sunni Ottomans. By emancipating Shiism from its instrumental use by the Islamic Republic of Iran, he has performed a vital cultural--and political--service. (Malise Ruthven New York Review of Books 2011-12-22)

About the Author
Hamid Dabashi is Hagop Kevorkian Professor of Iranian Studies and Comparative Literature at Columbia University.