Preface
Remarks on spelling of Arabic and Persian words and names
Part I: The House of Sorrow The Twelve Imams
1. The Commander of the Faithful: Alî ibn Abî Tâlib (656-661)
2. The Abdication of al-Hasan (661)
3. The Tragedy of Karbalâ (680)
4. The Origins of Shi’i Religious Tradition: The Campaign of the “Penitents” (684)
5. Withdrawal from Politics: The Sixth Imam, Ja’far as Sâdiq (702-765)
6. The Deportation of the Seventh Imam (796)
7. The Eighth of Imam ‘Ali ar-Ridâ as Heir Apparent (816)
8. The Shrine of Qom
9. The Imams in Sâmarrâ (836-873)
10. The Occultation of Twelfth Imam (873)
11. The Fourteen Infallible Ones
12. The Return of the Mahdi
Part II: The Deluge of Weeping Flagellant Procession and Passion Play
1. The Origins of the Âshûrâ Ritual
2. European Reports from the Time of the Safavid Dynasty (1501-1722)
3. The Elegy
4. The Ten Days of Muharram
5. The Passion Play
6. Chest Beaters and Flagellants
Part III: The Islam of the Mullahs
1. The Representative of the Hidden Imam
2. The Imam’s Money: The “Fifth”
3. Participation in the Government (Tenth to Eleventh Centuries)
4. The Foundation of Shi’i Law: The “Four Books”
5. The New Center: al-Hilla
6. The Basis of the Authority of the Mullahs: The Principle of Ijtihad
7. The Emergence of the Shi’i Clergy (Sixteenth Century)
8. Monarchy and Clery Rivals (Seventeenth Century)
9. Usûlis and Akharis: Rationalists and Traditionalists (Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries)
10. Secular and Spiritual Arm (Nineteenth Century)
11. Marja at-taqlid: The Source of Imitation
Part IV: The Revolutionary Shi’a
1. The Struggle against Westernization
2. The Rise of Qom
3. Shi’i Revolutionary Ideology
4. Khomeinî and the “Government of the Jurist”
5. The Leader of the Revolution
6. Illustrating Ijtihâd Using the Example of Birth Control
7. The Successor to the Rahbar
Part V: Shi’ites Outside of Iran
1. Azerbaijan
2. Lebanon
3. India and Pakistan
4. Iraq
5. Syria
Future Outlook
Notes
Bibliography
Index