A Socio-lntellectual History of the Isnā Asbarī Shi īs in India. Vol. 1: Seventh to Sixteenth Century; Vol. 2: Sixteenth to Nineteenth Century. By Saiyid Athar Abbas Rizvi. New Delhi: Munshiram Manoharlal, 1986. xii, 455 pp. ; xiv, 485 pp. Rs. 500.00 (set).

Abstract

This substantial work presents a masterful compilation of major constituent elements of identity of Isnd 'Ashari (12er) Shl'i community India. Shl'is have always seen themselves as persecuted followers of true Islam, as embodied Prophet Muhammad and Imams. Despite their minority status among Muslims India, Shi'is have made significant contributions politics, religious philosophy, and literature. S. A. A. Rizvi seeks demonstrate Shi'l concern for Muslim community and motherland (2:444) of prepartition India. Shi'ls regard suffering and martyrdom of 'Ali and other Imams as root paradigm for their own lives. Isnd 'Asharl Shl'is recognize twelve Imams, most of whom were assassinated by their political and religious enemies. The last of Imams, Abiu Ja'far Muhammad, went into occultation (ghayba) for from enemies and unreliable friends (1:66). Because many Shl'is also underwent persecution for their faith, they too often practiced taqiyya, prudent concealment or dispensation from religious duties under compulsion of threat or injury (2:445), order to pass as members of majority Sunni sect. Rizvi seeks to defend Shi'I's against their tormentors. He singles out contemporary Sunni scholars, including I. H. Qureshi and K. A. Nizami, for special mention as neglectful or inaccurately critical of Shl'is; he writes of latter's abysmal ignorance of Indian Shl'i scholars (1:6). He goes on to attack by name leading members of Sunni religious establishment today who in order to destroy sectarian unity invoked by Iranian revolution, not only. .. support reactionary Arab kingdoms and emirates, but also . .. are sympathetic to Western imperialism (1:394). These two volumes cover fundamental elements of Indian Isna 'Ashari Shl'i identity: lives of Imams, deeds of founders and eminent members of community, and its defining public rituals. Rizvi begins with a proof of righteousness of 'Ali and other Imams their conflicts with followers of Sunni caliphs (1: 10-70). Here Rizvi focuses solely on Isna 'Asharl Shi'is, passing quickly by those branches of Shl'is who followed other lines of Imamate. He then shifts to descriptions of distinguished Shi'is Deccan and North India. Although he provides occasional political narrative as context, he does not simply follow historical chronology. Rather he recounts significant accomplishments of these prominent men, including their writings, political acts, and especially their struggles against persecution by Sunnis. Most extensive of these biographical studies is his chapter on Qazi N-uru'llah Shustarl (1549-1610), the greatest Shi'i scholar India (1:342). Shustari is also known as the Third Shi'i Martyr from his death by flogging after he had thrown off taqiyya and taught openly as a Shl'i at Emperor Jahangir's court. The taqiyya practiced by a number of Shi'is means that their true religious affiliations were not explicit. In several cases Rizvi attributes Shi'i affiliation to a distinguished official or scholar on basis of circumstantial evidence (e.g., place of birth, 2:256). Rizvi touches on popular Shl'ism with respect to public mourning rituals-especially those commemorating martyrdom of Imam Husayn and his family at Karbalaby comparing lengthy historical accounts of this ritual Lucknow and Hyderabad (2:283-362). Rizvi has mastered extensive corpus of Arabic, Persian, and Urdu manuscripts and published sources on his subject. In many ways, however, structure and ap-