Apocalyptic Islam and Iranian Shi'ism »

Abbas Amanat is Professor of History at Yale University. He is the author of Pivot of the Universe: Nasir al-din Shah Qajar and the Iranian Monarchy, 1851-1896 and of Imagining the End: Visions of Apocalypse from the Ancient Middle East to Contemporary America, both published by I.B.Tauris.

Interest in Shi'i Islam is running at unprecedented levels. International tensions over Iran, where the largest number of Shi'i Muslims live, as well as the political resurgence of the Shi'i in Iraq and Lebanon, have created an urgent need to understand the background, beliefs and motivations of this dynamic vision of Islam. Abbas Amanat is one of the leading scholars of Shi'ism. And in this powerful book, a showcase for some of his most influential writing in the field, he addresses the colorful and diverse history of Shi' Islam in both premodern and contemporary times. Focusing specifically on the importance of apocalypticism in the development of modern Shi'i theology, he shows how an immersion in messianic ideas has shaped the conservative character of much Shi'i thinking, and has prevented it from taking a more progressive course. Tracing the continuity of apocalyptic trends from the Middle Ages to the present, Amanat addresses such topics as the early influence on Shi'ism of Zoroastrianism; manifestations of apocalyptic ideology during the Iranian Revolution of 1979; and the rise of the Shi'i clerical establishment during the 19th and 20th centuries. His book will be an essential resource for students and scholars of both religious studies and Middle Eastern history.

Preface vii

List of Illustrations xiv

Acknowledgment and Citations xv

Note on Transliteration and Style xvii

Introduction 1

Part I Apocalypticism in the Islamic Middle East

1 Apocalyptic Anxieties and Millennial Hopes in the Salvation Religions of the Middle East 19

2 The Resurgence of Apocalyptic in Modern Islam 41

Part 2 Millennial Cycles and Commemorating Martyrs

3 The Nuqtavi Movement of Mahmud Pasikhani and his Persian Cycle of Mystical Materialism 73

4 Meadow of the Martyrs: Kashifi's Persianization of the Shi'i Martyrdom Narrative in Late Timurid Herat 91

5 The Persian Bayan and the Shaping of the Babi Renewal in Iran 111

Part 3 Clerical Encounters with Modernity

6 Mujtahids and Missionaries: Shi'i Responses to Christian Polemics in the Early Qajar Period 127

7 In-Between the Madrasa and the Marketplace: The Designation of Clerical Leadership in Modern Shi'ism 149

8 From ijtihad to wilayat-i faqih: The Evolving of the Shi'i Legal Authority into Political Power 179

Part 4 Satan and Salvation in the Islamic Revolution

9 Khomeini's Great Satan: Demonizing the American Other in the Islamic Revolution in Iran 199

10 Messianic Aspirations in Contemporary Iran 221

Notes 253

Index 281