Search Results (32)

Nahj al-Balāghah is widely recognized as a foundational and authoritative scripture in Shia Islam. One notable aspect of Nahj al-Balāghah is the deliberate selection and structured arrangement of Ḥadiths. According to the book’s introduction, al-Raḍī explains that he chose the Ḥadiths based on literary considerations. An analysis comparing the selected Ḥadiths with their full versions suggests their inclusion was determined not only by eloquence and rhetorical value but also by conceptual significance. Through textual and descriptive analytical methods, this study examines the author’s motives, especially his political and religious aims, in incorporating materials related to ʿĀisha. A comparison of the relevant ḥadīths in Nahj al-Balāghah and other historical sources indicates that Sayyid Raḍī omitted—or at least refrained from including—certain statements attributed to ʿAlī regarding the Prophet Muḥammad’s youngest wife. The omitted parts concern ʿĀisha’s inconsiderate behavior, grudges, sins, following Satan, and ignoring the Prophet’s prediction. Considering sectarian conflicts between Shiites and Sunnis in the 3rd and 4th centuries AH, some arising from criticisms of ʿĀisha’s conduct and sometimes escalating into violence, al-Raḍī, the supreme judge appointed by the ʿAbbāsid Caliphate, was compelled to omit and censor ʿAli’s harsh remarks about ʿĀisha to prevent further sectarian tensions. Full article

This article explores the Rausyan Fikr Institute as a distinctive intellectual and philosophical movement within Indonesia’s Shia Muslim community, focusing on its role in mobilizing dissent narratives and fostering intellectual activism. Within the broader historical trajectory of Shi’ism in Indonesia—from its early cultural impact and political mobilization during the Iranian Revolution to its institutional development in the Reformasi era —the Rausyan Fikr Institute represents a unique approach to implementing Shia philosophical thought through grassroots mobilization. Using the framework of ideologically structured action (ISA), this article highlights how Rausyan Fikr articulates its identity through the transmission of philosophical frameworks, critical discourse on current social-political issues, and inclusive educational initiatives. It explores three elements: (i) the dissemination of Shia Islam-inspired thought through translation, publishing, and education, (ii) the development of dissent narratives on capitalism, feminism, and dominant political structure, and (iii) the engagement with wider communities and mobilization strategies for its members, which involve students, women, and families alike in establishing space for intellectual development. The article concludes by reflecting on the Rausyan Fikr Institute’s resilience in sustaining philosophical activism under sectarian pressures, its contribution to Indonesia’s broader intellectual and religious discourse, and the challenges it encounters in preserving both ideological identity and relevance in a contested socio-political landscape. Full article

Despite the growing interest among comparative legal scholars in Islamic law, the application of Shia Islamic law remains an overlooked area within the field of comparative law. This article addresses this gap by offering a classification of contemporary national legal systems according to their incorporation of Shia Islamic law. The analysis begins with secular legal systems in countries with significant Shia populations and progresses to those jurisdictions where Shia Islamic law is officially recognised. Through this examination, I define the historical, cultural, and political contexts influencing the application of Shia Islamic law and assess how and to what extent these states implement Shia Islamic rulings, incorporating case studies to illustrate varying degrees of application. Full article

Suffering is a problem addressed by many world religions. This paper examines the understanding of suffering in three religions: Catholic Christianity, Shia Islam, and Shakta Hinduism. In each of these cases, ordinary suffering is transformed into mystical sorrow, becoming a path to closeness and divine union. This transformation makes use of religious symbolism of the family, emphasizing the role of the mother. Worldly suffering is no longer meaningless; instead, it becomes a spiritual path through which the individual person, and even the world at large, may be redeemed. Full article

This article explores the compatibility of liberal citizenship with Twelver Shia jurisprudence, a topic previously analyzed from the perspective of Sunni schools, most notably in the extensive research of Andrew F. March. This study confronts the challenges of reconciling liberal citizenship with Islamic jurisprudence, as highlighted in March’s work, through the lens of Shia legal thought. Rather than aiming to critique or review March’s research, this article considers his work solely as a representative example addressing the topic from the perspective of Sunni jurisprudence. This approach provides readers with a fundamental contrast, illuminating the unique insights that emerge from examining the subject within the framework of Shia jurisprudence. Unlike Sunni jurisprudence, which addresses these issues case-by-case by reviewing relevant Quranic and narrational sources, Twelver Shia jurisprudence offers a more foundational resolution. Owing to the belief in the occultation of the twelfth Imam and its implications for the implementation of Islamic law, Shia scholars have advanced theories such as the theory of obstruction (insidād) and the suspension of the social and political dimensions of Sharia. These theories effectively narrow the scope of Sharia, allowing for the acceptance of laws from non-Islamic states and circumventing potential conflicts with liberal citizenship in the absence of the twelfth Imam. Full article

The mainstream literature on the religiosity of Muslims in Europe often homogenises this diverse minority. This article diverges by focusing on a less visible ethno-religious minority within the Muslim population, specifically examining how Hazara Shia Muslim migrants from Afghanistan, resettled in the UK, live and organise Islam in everyday contexts. Addressing this gap, the research highlights the intersectionality of religion, ethnicity, and migration in reconfiguring religious practice. Grounded in the intersectional and lived religion approaches, this study contends that the religiosity of this Muslim minority undergoes a dynamic shift entwined with agency and adaptation in the new secular and plural context, becoming more individualised, privatised, and elective. Employing an ethnographic design, data are collected through semi-structured and key informant interviews, as well as participant observation, over 18 months of fieldwork across various council areas in Scotland. The findings illustrate reconfiguration, adaptation, and innovation in everyday Islam among this intersectional Muslim minority, identifying three main themes: the adaptation and reconfiguration of religious practices and rituals, the renegotiation of authoritative sources, and the navigation of intersectional identities and belonging since resettlement in the UK. Full article

The family, which is one of the oldest and most established institutions in human history, has not always just been a reasonable arrangement for achieving biological continuance as well as sexual, emotional, and material support, it has also been one of the basic components for the creation of civilization, culture, and society. There are various types of families, one of which is the endogamous family formed by the custom of consanguineous marriage within a very defined and distinct group. Our article concentrates on the question of how modernity and prosperity have influenced endogamy in modern Iran and whether this will change historical patterns and traditions or, perhaps, only broaden them within Iran’s newly developed and modern society. Our conclusion is that, in Iran’s uncertain environment, tradition may actually be strengthened. Full article

The present article scrutinizes the intricacies surrounding defensive warfare aimed at reclaiming territories perceived by Muslims as under non-Muslim occupation through the lens of the four Sunni schools and Twelver Shia perspectives. In Shia jurisprudence, in the absence of the twelfth Imam, the concept of defensive war does not extend to reclaiming Islamic territories per se; rather, Muslims are not sanctioned to engage in warfare solely for territorial defense. Instead, the imperative for Muslim involvement in armed conflict arises only when the fundamental tenets of Islam face jeopardy. According to Shia’s legal interpretation, jeopardizing the core principles of Islam implies a scenario where the erasure of Prophet Muhammad’s legacy and the utter annihilation of Sharia law are imminent. Such a predicament is not contingent upon the occupation of Islamic lands. However, Sunni jurisprudence posits a prerequisite for Muslims to engage in warfare, even in defense, necessitating a certainty of prevailing in the conflict. Consequently, given the contemporary milieu, wherein the requisite conditions for assured victory remain unattainable and are likely unattainable, defensive warfare for territorial reclamation is deemed impermissible. The findings of this inquiry propose an Islamic legal framework that advocates abstention from resorting to warfare concerning the mentioned territories in current circumstances, absolving Muslims of any obligation in this regard. Closing the avenue of armed conflict thereby paves the way for alternative avenues such as negotiation, reconciliation, and peace-building. It underscores Islam’s reverence for human life, prioritizing it over territorial concerns. Full article

This article aims to explore the potential challenges that may arise when employing generative AI models in the process of Shi’i ijtihad. By drawing upon academic literature and relevant primary sources, the essay surveys the most critical AI-related hurdles in this field, including issues of accessibility, privacy concerns, the problem of “AI hallucination” and the generative nature of AI models, biases in AI systems, the lack of transparency and inexplicability, the intricacies of interpreting and understanding sensitive topics, accountability, authority, trust and acceptance among lay believers. Using discourse and content analysis as method, the article concludes that, given these challenges, generative AI models are not yet suitable for utilization in this process. However, the rapid progress in AI may eventually make it an effective tool for this purpose. Full article

Marja’ al-taqlid are Shia religious scholars of the highest level, something which takes decades to achieve. At present, most Shia scholars agree that women cannot be Marja’, i.e., create religious rulings for other people. But there is a space for discourse, and there are even a few scholars who disagree with the mainstream narrative. In this paper, I argue that, with time, the number of these scholars will increase, since Shia Islamic thought is ‘live’ and flexible, and adapts to the changing social conditions. The main obstacles that prevented women from reaching this level were the conservative views of some scholars and the lack of access to education. As the number of women with religious education constantly increases, the appearance of a female Marja’ will be a matter of time, but will still cause some resistance from some patriarchal members of society. Full article

This article examines, how the reformist attempts of some Iranian religious intellectuals—consciously or unconsciously—lead to the desacralization of Islamic concepts, using the Iranian jurist and activist Seddigha Wasmaghi as an example. The reformists are, as will be shown with reference to Wasmaghi, concerned with establishing that the normative as well as the theological assumptions in Islam are results of human cognition. Any idea that is qualified as a human assumption, i.e., not sacred and thus open to challenge, can be critically examined, re-read, and perhaps even changed or overruled. Such approaches include, for example, Mohammad Mojtahed Shabestari’s understanding of the Qurʾan as a ‘prophetic reading of the world’ and ʿAbdolkarim Sorush’s interpretation of revelation as ‘prophet’s dreams’. Among the most recent attempts of this kind is Seddigha Wasmaghi’s perception of ‘prophecy as a human construction’. This argument is presented and critically analyzed in this paper. Full article

The opportunity to receive religious education plays an important role in the formation of the religious elite of society. It forms the Muslim clergy, which, in turn, represents this community in front of other members of society. Their statements directly affect the attitude of non-Muslims towards the members of this community, which is very important, especially in the cases where Muslims are a minority, and Shi’ites, in turn, are a minority in all post-Soviet countries except Azerbaijan. The Shia communities of the post-Soviet region are little studied in general. Analysing their specifics, one can see that almost all the clerics of these communities received religious education in Iran and/or Iraq, while the Sunni clerics of the same countries most often studied in their homeland. This problem in the aspect of comparing Sunni and Shia education, as well as the past (starting from the USSR times), the present and the future of Shia higher religious education were studied in this paper. Full article

This study delves into the nuanced understanding of human dignity as expressed and upheld within the framework of Shi’i Islam. Drawing on the Quran as the primary source of Shi’i interpretation of the law and human rights, this research investigates the portrayal of human dignity in the Shia tradition through Islamic revelation. Furthermore, this study illuminates how certain Shia scholars depict the Quran as striving for the coherence of diverse religions and cultures and how Shia Imams have contributed to the discourse surrounding human dignity through their thoughts and actions. In addition, this study scrutinizes the debates on the compatibility of Islamic human dignity with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, including contemporary challenges and the responses of Shi’i jurists to these challenges. However, while the Quran and Hadith resources offer sufficient references to human dignity, various approaches to human dignity remain among Shia jurists. Some Shia scholars consider human dignity to be acquired (Iktisābī) through human thoughts and deeds, while others ascribe to dignity an essential characteristic of humankind (dhātī) unconditionally bestowed by God. This research elaborates on how these interpretations, consequences, and requirements inspire Shia jurisprudence (fiqh), particularly in contemporary multicultural and pluralistic societies. Furthermore, it examines how this challenge is being debated among the proponents of each group and how it relates to human rights and current challenges. The study of contemporary developments in Shi’i fiqh regarding the role of human dignity and justice as Legal Maxims (al-qawāʿid al-fiqh) provides a necessary context for understanding and ensuring just legal rulings. Philosophically speaking, if God is the Lawgiver (Shāriʿ) and is Just and Wise, this raises the question of whether it is permissible for a jurist to enact laws that contradict human dignity and justice. This study aims to explore potential solutions to traditional challenges that do not consider human dignity and to suggest ways in which human dignity and justice can be applied as legal maxims. Full article

The present study will focus on core parallels and nodes of theopolitical exchange between the two most politically and theologically consequential jurist “theosophers” of the twentieth century, the Religious Zionist founding father, the Jewish Rav Avraham Yitzchak Hacohen Kook (1865–1935), and the Shia Islamic Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini (1900–1989). Unquestioned masters of the tradition of both medieval philosophy and mysticism, as well as the theosophies of the early-modern and modern eras, both Kook and Khomeini attempted to embed the rhetoric of theosophy within revolutionary notions of both clerical religious authority and the necessity of their respective nomoi to assume political form. The study will also correlate contemporary Shia reformist theosophies undergirded with anti-theocratic exoteric postures with pre-WW2 German-Jewish “existence philosophies” as represented by Franz Rosenzweig, noting a common appreciation for what the study will term “theopolitical risk”. It argues that the retrieval of medieval Judeo-Islamic political philosophy for the successful negotiation of reason and revelation in modernity against both theocratic juridical extremism and the iron cages of positivistic-realist secularism must be rethought in light of the theopolitics coursing through Iran and Israel, two states at the geographic periphery though fully within the horizons of the Modern West. Full article

Islamophobia is on the rise in many Western countries, and while previous research has considered the causes of Islamophobia and the impact it has on its victims, little research has investigated the attitudes and experiences of Muslims who are working to counter Islamophobia, and particularly those of Muslim women. This research investigates the motivations and intentions of Australian Muslim women who run public engagement events for non-Muslims to counter Islamophobia and build social cohesion. Data were obtained via in-depth interviews with 31 Sunni, Shia, Ahmadiyya Muslim women in four Australian capital cities. The three main themes that emerged were that the women wanted to connect with the non-Muslims who attended the events, create positive social change, and increase the knowledge that non-Muslims had about Islam and Muslims. Significantly, the women said that their most important motivator was their faith, and they rejected the idea that they were doing such work to appease non-Muslims. Instead, they saw work was an affirmation of their identity as Muslim women and their commitment to God. Full article