The Origins of the Sh?'a: Identity, Ritual, and Sacred Space In Eighth-Century K?fa

Haider, Najam

ISBN 10: 1107010713 / ISBN 13: 9781107010710

Published by Cambridge University Press, 2011

About this Item

This stated first edition has glossy pictorial boards with straight edges and pointed corners. Spine is uncreased with straight edges and bold titling. Text block is square. Binding is tight. 276p. Previous owners name is present on upper edge of front paste down in blue ink. Interior is otherwise unmarked with crisp white pages through out.

Seller Inventory # 110525

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The Origins of the Sh?'a: Identity, Ritual, and Sacred Space In Eighth-Century K?fa
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Publication Date: 2011
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1107010713
• ISBN 13: 9781107010710
• Binding: Hardcover. 8vo
• Edition: 1st edition.
• Condition: Very Good.
• Seller catalogs:
  • HISTORY (WORLD)
  • RELIGION

About this title

Synopsis

The Sunnī-Shi'a schism is often framed as a dispute over the identity of the successor to Muhammad. In reality, however, this fracture only materialized a century later in the important southern Iraqi city of Kūfa (present-day Najaf). This book explores the birth and development of Shī'i identity. Through a critical analysis of legal texts, whose provenance has only recently been confirmed, the study shows how the early Shi'a carved out independent religious and social identities through specific ritual practices and within separate sacred spaces. In this way, the book addresses two seminal controversies in the study of early Islam, namely the dating of Kufan Shi'i identity, and the means by which the Shi'a differentiated themselves from mainstream Kufan society. This is an important, original, and path-breaking book that marks a significant development in the study of early Islamic society.

About the Author

Najam Haider is Assistant Professor of Religion at Barnard College in New York City.