The Shi'i World

The world''s 200 million Shi''i Muslims express their faith in a multiplicity of ways United by reverence for the ahl al-bayt the family of the Prophet. In embracing a pluralistic ethic fourteen centuries of Shi''i Islam have given rise to diverse traditions and practices across varied geographic and cultural landscapes. The Shi''i world is a comprehensive work authored by leading scholars from assorted disciplines to provide a better understanding of how Shi''i communities view themselves and articulate their teachings. The topics range from Shi''i islam''s historical and conceptual foundations formative figures and intellectual legal and moral traditions to its devotional practices art and architecture literature music and cinema as well as expressions and experiences of modernity. The book thus provides a panoramic perspective of the richly textured narratives that have shaped the social and moral universe of Shi''i Muslims around the globe. This fourth volume in the Muslim heritage series will appeal to specialists and General readers alike as a timely resource on the prevailing complexities not only of the ''Muslim world'' but also of the dynamic Shi''i diasporas of Europe and North America.