Religion That Matters: Shiʿi Materiality Beyond Karbala (original) (raw)

Editorial - Vol. 1, No. 1 - International Journal of Shīʿī Studies

International Journal of Shīʿī Studies was launched as a biannual serial in 2003 in collaboration with Professor Parviz Morewedge, Director of Global Scholarly Publications. This author was invited by GSP to serve as Editor-in-Chief as well as Technical Editor; the latter position included developing an automated-typesetting framework in TeX and ConTeXt for the journal. This author served as Editor-in-Chief for over seven years, during which time he oversaw the preparation and release of nine issues, the last being Volume 4, Number 1. After that issue the editorial reins were returned to GSP. International Journal of Shīʿī Studies was the first attempt in a Western language to provide a serial devoted to scholarship related to Tashayyuʿ or Shīʿī Islam. Work on this journal provided the author with the opportunity to experiment with a paradigm of scholarship not beholden to the agendas of traditional orientalism. One of the persistent myths and prejudices of orientalist scholarship is that objectivity is incompatible with a personal commitment to Islam. On the contrary, it is the scientistic (not to be confused with scientific) pretensions of a considerable segment of the orientalist paradigm that is affected by an irreducible subjectivity. Perhaps this author will write more on this topic on another occasion. The aim of International Journal of Shīʿī Studies was to provide a platform for a different paradigm, where the rigors of genuine objectivity could be pursued without prejudice towards the cosmological commitments of the authors. Innovations of International Journal of Shīʿī Studies included the development and deployment of a new paradigm for the transliteration of Arabic script. More radical, perhaps, was the insistence that inaccurate and anachronistic orientalist locutions such as ‘Shi'ite’ and ‘Shi'ism’ be abandoned in favor of expressions that derive from the bowels of the tradition itself, viz., ‘Shīʿī’ and ‘Tashayyuʿ’. Moojan Momen,***** in his otherwise fair and balanced critical review of the first issue, misses the objective spirit of this point by a wide margin. It is this author's intention to address Momen's criticism on a future occasion by way of an abstract or perhaps more. ***** Iranian Studies, Vol. 38, No. 2 (Jun., 2005), pp. 335-337

Popular Religious Practices and Perceptions in Some Shi’i Muslim Communities

Anthropology of the Middle East, 2018

Bridget Blomfield, The Language of Tears, My Journey into the World of Shi’i Muslim Women (Ashland, OR: White Cloud Press, 2015) Diane D’Souza, Partners of Zaynab: A Gendered Perspective of Shia Muslim Faith (Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, 2014) Karen G. Ruffle, Gender, Sainthood, and Everyday Practice in South Asian Shi’ism (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press)

Shiʿi Islam: Textbook and Multimedia

eCampus Ontario Open Library, 2022

What does it mean to be a Shiʿi Muslim? What is the civilizational legacy of a faith practiced by over 150 million people across the world? In this course, we explore the vibrant history, thought, and institutions of the Shi'i interpretation of Islam. We will study the early Shiʿi milieu, Zaidi, Ismaʿili and Twelver schools of interpretation, and the development of Shiʿism from early to modern times. The course is structured as an adventure. Each module is called a “Caravan Journey” and units within the modules are “Serais.” In the Muslim world, Serais were bustling stopping places that supported the flow of information, commerce, and people across trade routes through much of Asia, North Africa, and Southeast Europe. Writing about his experience at one such Caravanserai in China (known as a funduq), the famous Muslim traveler Ibn Battutah observed: “China is the safest and best country for the traveller. A man travels for nine months alone with great wealth and has nothing to fear. What is responsible for this is that in every post station in their country is a funduq which has a director living there with a company of horse and foot…. He sends someone with the travellers to conduct them to the next post station and he brings back a certificate from the director of the funduq confirming that they have all arrived. If he does not do this he is answerable for them. This is the procedure in every post station in their country from Sin al-Sin to Khan Baliq. In them is everything the traveller needs by way of provisions, especially hens and geese” (Gibb and Beckingham 1994, 893-894). Similarly, at each of our Serais, we provide our student travelers with all they need by way of provisions, though perhaps no hens or geese. With the guides and guidebooks we make available to them, we enable them to cross all their Serais to then board the next Caravan, safe and sound, certificates in hand. Caravan Journeys include readings and multimedia, pedagogical activities, and assessments. They provide rich, engaging, student-centered experiences for learners. Over forty outstanding content and education specialists, artists, musicians, filmmakers, and expert consultants have assisted me to develop these materials. To the extent possible, the journey represents the dynamic pluralism of Shiʿi, showcasing diversity in terms of region, history, schools of interpretation, and gender. It incorporates both primary and secondary sources and goes beyond texts to incorporate video, sound, and images. Many living artists and musicians have contributed to the project. The Caravan Journeys in this course on Shiʿi Islam include: 1. Studying Shiʿism 2. Spiritual Ethos 3. Early Shiʿism 4. History 5. People of the House 6. ʿAlid Devotion Beyond Shiʿism 7. Devotional Traditions 8. Art and Architecture 9. Leadership: Modern Times 10. Civic Engagement 11. Rituals 12. Revelation: Outer Form and Inner Meaning 13. Apologetics and Polemics 14. Wisdom and Walayah In this resource, we have made every effort to prioritize tools and technologies that comply with appropriate conventions for openness and interoperability to support adoption and adaptation across multiple platforms that include W3C standards. We have also prioritized tools and technology that demonstrate user-centered design, continuous evaluation and improvement, effective use of data, protection of security, and privacy of personal information. We have shared this course as a zipped content package in IMS Global Learning Consortium's Common Cartridge Format exported from the Canvas Learning Management System. You should be able to easily import it into any major Learning Management System that accepts the Common Cartridge Format. The course content is shared in modular format for ease of adaptation. These materials are licensed under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND) License, except where otherwise noted. You may download the entire course for free here: https://openlibrary.ecampusontario.ca/item-details/#/1dd4594b-19a3-4f31-97d6-917b212163cb You may view some of the course videos here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLEEsE-S5dRa2q-2KjjAUmGTdzpsKCoWbH I would be remiss if I didn't acknowledge the generous funding for these materials provided by the Government of Canada's Youth Employment and Skills Strategy and the Government of Ontario's eCampus initiative.

The Art and Material Culture of Iranian Shi'ism: Iconography and Religious Devotion in Shi'i Islam

'Even many knowledgeable Islamic scholars are not aware of the richness of visual religious representation in Shi'i Islam. This book provides rare glimpses into this fascinating art, which, unlike in the Sunni world, is rich in the portrayal of human figures. One important focus of the book is the exploration of the enormous store of imagery surrounding the martyrdom of Imam Hoseyn, and rituals commemorating this central religious event. The international scope of the scholarship gives this book enormous richness. It should open many eyes to the complexity, beauty and meaning reflected in Shi'i art.' --Professor William O. Beeman, Department Chairperson, Department of Anthropology, University of Minnesota 'This book provides a window onto the intersection of art and religious practice in Iran. Students of Iranian history of the past thousand years will find interesting explanations of common visual forms within the context of Shi'ism. However, unlike many books on historical subjects, this volume connects the material manifestations of Shi'ism with contemporary practice. Given the centrality of Shi'ism to modern Iranian politics and society, such a multidisciplinary approach will lead to a deeper understanding of the ways in which Shi'ism influences daily life today and the extent to which Shi'i traditions of the past inform those of the present.' --Sheila Canby, Patti Cadby Birch Curator in Charge, Department of Islamic Art, The Metropolitan Museum of Art