The Shadow of God and the Hidden Imam: Religion, Political Order, and Societal Change in Shi'ite Iran from the Beginning to 1890 (9780226027821): Saïd Amir Arjomand

Name: The Shadow of God and the Hidden Imam: Religion, Political Order, and Societal Change in Shi'ite Iran from the Beginning to 1890
Author: Arjomand, Saïd Amir
ISBN: 9780226027821

ABOUT THIS BOOK

Dismissing oversimplified and politically charged views of the politics of Shi'ite Islam, Said Amir Arjomand offers a richly researched sociological and historical study of Shi'ism and the political order of premodern Iran that exposes the roots of what became Khomeini's theocracy.

AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY

Said Amir Arjomand is Distinguished Service Professor of Sociology at Stony Brook University. He is the author of The Turban for the Crown: The Islamic Revolution in Iran and After Khomeini: Iran Under His Successors, as well as the editor or coeditor of several books.

REVIEWS

“This is an important book. . . . Arjomand has certainly challenged much contemporary Western scholarship and made an important contribution to the continuing debate on the subject of religion and politics in [Shi’ite] Islam.”

— American Historical Review

"This book deserves to be read by anyone concerned with the relationship between religion and state in Iran and Islam."

— New Republic

"A remarkable achievement in providing a sustained, solid theoretical perspective on a massive movement in modern Islamic studies, while advancing the sociological study of Islam to an unsurpassed level. . . . Supported by an impressive and unprecedented analytical examination of theological and juridical texts."

— Contemporary Sociology

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Contents

Acknowledgments

General Introduction

I. The Historical and Cultural Background of the Emergence of a Shi'ite Polity in Iran

Introduction to Part 1

1. Sectarian Shi'ism within the Islamic Body Politic: Eighth/Second to the Thirteenth/Seventh Century

2. Millenarian Religio-Political Movements in the Fourteenth/Eighth and Fifteenth/Ninth Centuries

3. The Shadow of God on Earth: The Ethos of Persian Patrimonialism

Conclusion to Part 1

II. Shi'ism as the State Religion under the Safavids, 1501–1722

Introduction to Part 2

4. Safavid Religious Policies and the Establishment of Twelver Shi'ism in Iran, 1501–1629

5. The "Clerical Notables" and the Final Emergence of a Shi'ite Hierocracy in Iran

6. From Sectarian Shi'ism to Shi'ism as a National Religion

7. Two Variants of Safavid Shi'ism and Their Respective Political Implications: The Political Ethics of Safavid Shi'ism

8. Shi'ism, the Patrimonial Political Ethos, and Sociopolitical Action

9. World-rejecting Tendencies in the Shi'ite Religion

Conclusion to Part 2

III. The Shi'ite Hierocracy and the State, 1785–1890

Introduction to Part 3

10. The Impact of Shi'ism on the Qajar Polity and Its Limits

11. Religion and Sociopolitical Action in the Qajar Polity

Conclusion to Part 3

12. General Conclusion

Epilogue: From the Rejection to the Subjugation of Earthly Powers

List of Abbreviations

Notes

References

Index

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