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Overview
This book is an updated and expanded edition of Shi'a Islam. The author, Heinz Halm, discusses events in the Middle East during the last ten years, including the situation in Iran, Iraq, Lebanon and in the Gulf States, the results of the American invasion in Iraq, and what is called the new Shia' revival and Shia Crescent.Combining history, comparative religion, and political interpretations, the author elucidates Shi'ism and political developments in the Middle East for the Western reader.
The author highlights three main aspects of Shi'a Islam: its historical development, especially the history of the Imans, the rituals, including flagellation and passion plays, and the rules of the mullahs, known as the "government of experts." Halm explains the exalted position of the religious scholars, the mullahs and ayatollahs, who established themselves as clergy in the Safavid Empire and defined themselves as the "administrators" of the Hidden Iman.
The relationship between the rulers of Iran and the mullahs has always been tense.The Khomeini revolution was the powerful culmination of a lengthy historical conflict that has expanded into Iraq and Lebanon after the American invasion in Iraq.
Synopsis
This book is an updated and expanded edition of Shi'a Islam. The author, Heinz Halm, discusses events in the Middle East during the last ten years, including the situation in Iran, Iraq, Lebanon and in the Gulf States, the results of the American invasion in Iraq, and what is called the new Shia' revival and Shia Crescent.
Combining history, comparative religion, and political interpretations, the author elucidates Shi'ism and political developments in the Middle East for the Western reader.
The author highlights three main aspects of Shi'a Islam: its historical development, especially the history of the Imans, the rituals, including flagellation and passion plays, and the rules of the mullahs, known as the "government of experts." Halm explains the exalted position of the religious scholars, the mullahs and ayatollahs, who established themselves as clergy in the Safavid Empire and defined themselves as the "administrators" of the Hidden Iman.
The relationship between the rulers of Iran and the mullahs has always been tense.The Khomeini revolution was the powerful culmination of a lengthy historical conflict that has expanded into Iraq and Lebanon after the American invasion in Iraq.
Journal of Palestine Studies
Heinz Halm, an internationally renowned expert on Shi'ism, provides a concise and highly readable introduction to the historical and intellectual development of Twelver (Imamite) Shi'a Islam. He also presents Shi'i rituals as seen by European travelers. Halm considers these rituals as more important than Shi'a legal codes in terms of influencing culture. For example, he maintains that the 1979 Iranian revolution selectively utilized those historical and cultural symbols of Shi'ism that appealed to the sentiments of the masses; these symbols thus became tools in the hands of religious leaders.