Whither Shi'ite Islam? Authenticating a Shi'ite Future based on Reading the Islamic Past

Abstract

The Iranian Revolution is regarded as a major watershed in the post-World War II history of the Middle East, a transformative event which altered the rhythms of daily life and catapulted religious leaders to an unprecedented political position. Naturally, the revolution has been the subject of intense scrutiny of both academic and non-academic nature. Scholarly works on the subject tend to focus on a particular theme or period of modern Iranian history, rather then situate the Shiʿite revival generated by the revolution in the broader context of Islamic history. This article examines the early Islamic period's impact on the rise of Shʿisim, a period which defined the relationship between the Shiʿites and their Sunni rivals, and later affected Iran's revolutionary ideology and contemporary Shiʿite political thought.