Sociology of Shiʿite Islam

Saïd Amir Arjomand (Ph.D, University of Chicago, 1980) is Distinguished Service Professor of Sociology, President of the Association for the Study of Persianate Societies and Editor of the Journal of Persianate Studies .

“Sociology of Shiʿite Islam: Collected Essays is a must-read book full of insights for both specialists as well as those interested in the history of Shi‘i Islam.”Yaser Mirdamadi, University of Edinburgh, in Reading Religion

• AbbreviationsIntroduction: Shiʻite Islam as a World Religion, its Social Forms, Bearers and Impact on Social Action Part I: Formation of Shiʻite Islam as a World Religion of Salvation: Imamate, Occultation and TheodicyChapter 1: Origins and Development of Apocalyptic Messianism in Early IslamChapter 2: Crisis of the Imamate and the Institution of Occultation in Twelver Shi`ismChapter 3: Imam Absconditus and the Beginnings of a Theology of OccultationChapter 4: The Shiʻite Doctrine of Occultation and the Transition from Chiliasm to LawChapter 5: Shiʻite Theodicy: Martyrdom and the Meaning of SufferingPart II: Shiʻite Religion and the Structure of Domination in IranChapter 6: Hierocratic Authority in Shiʻism and the Transition from Sectarian to National Religion in IranChapter 7: Three Decrees of Shah Tahmāsp on Clerical Authority and Public Law in Shiʻite IranChapter 8: Political Ethic and Public Law in the First half of the Nineteenth CenturyChapter 9: Imam Khomeini and the Constitution of the Rule of God in Contemporary IranPart III: The Bearers of Shiʻite Islam and its Institutional OrganizationChapter 10. Hosayn b. Ruh al-Nawbakhti: the Third Emissary of the Hidden ImamChapter 11. The Clerical Estate and the Rise of a Shiʻite Hierocracy in Safavid IranChapter 12: The Office of Mullā-Bāshi in Shiʻite IranChapter 13: Shiʻite Jurists and Iran’s Law and Constitutional Order in the Twentieth CenturyPart IV: Shiʻite Islam and the Motivation of Sociopolitical Action: Revolution and ConstitutionChapter 14: The Rise of Shah Esmāʻil as a Mahdist RevolutionChapter 15: The Conversion of Iran to Twelver Shiʻite by the Safavid State: 1501-1722Chapter 16: Ideological Revolution in ShiʻismChapter 17: Shiʻite Islam and the Islamic Revolution in IranChapter 18: Shiʻite Conceptions of Authority and Constitutional Developments in the Islamic Republic of IranChapter 19. Shiʻite Dissent in Iran before and after the Islamic RevolutionBibliographyIndex