xii, 176 pages : 24 cm

The author highlights the three main aspects of Shi'a Islam: its historical development, especially the history of the Imams; the rituals, including flagellation and passion plays; and the rule of the mullahs, known as the "government of experts." Shi'ism is as old as Islam. It began as an exclusively Arab political issue of succession to Muhammad, and was later embraced by the Iranians. At the core of Shi'i religious practice are rituals of mourning and atonement. Halm

Describes the elegies of mourning and the ta'ziye (passion plays) and includes travelers' accounts over the course of several centuries that establish striking similarities between Iranian and particular Christian practices. Halm explains the exalted position of the religious scholars, the mullahs and ayatollahs, who established themselves as clergy in the Safavid empire and defined themselves as "administrators" for the Hidden Imam. Their authority is based on

Idtschtihad, the rational interpretation of the Koran and the traditions of the Imans. The relationship between the rulers of Iran and the mullahs has always been tense. The Khomeini revolution was the powerful culmination of a lengthy history of conflict

Includes bibliographical references (pages 169-170) and index

Remarks on the spelling of Arabic and Persian words and names -- pt. 1. The House of Sorrow: The Twelve Imams. 1. The Commander of the Faithful: Ali ibn Abi Talib (656-661). 2. The Abdication of al-Hasan (661). 3. The Tragedy of Karbala (680). 4. The Origins of Shi'i Religious Tradition: The Campaign of the "Penitents" (684). 5. Withdrawal from Politics: The Sixth Imam, Ja'far as-Sadiq (702-765). 6. The Deportation of the Seventh Imam (796). 7. The Eighth Imam Ali ar-Rida as Heir Apparent (816). 8. The Shrine of Qom. 9. The Imams in Samarra (836-873). 10. The Occultation of the Twelfth Imam (873). 11. The Fourteen Infallible Ones. 12. The Return of the Mahdi -- pt. 2. The Deluge of Weeping: Flagellant Procession and Passion Play. 1. The Origins of the Ashura Ritual. 2. European Reports from the Time of the Safavid Dynasty (1501-1722). 3. The Elegy. 4. The Ten Days of Muharram. 5. The Passion Play. 6. Chest Beaters and Flagellants -- pt. 3. The Government of the Expert: The Islam of the Mullahs. 1. The Representative of the Hidden Imam. 2. The Imam's Money: the "Fifth" 3. Participation in the Government (Tenth to Eleventh Centuries). 4. The Foundation of Shi'a Law : the "Four Books" 5. The New Center: al-Hilla (Thirteenth to Fourteenth Centuries). 6. The Basis of the Authority of the Mullahs: the Principle of Ijtihad. 7. The Emergence of the Shi'a Clergy (Sixteenth Century). 8. Monarchy and Clergy as Rivals (Seventeenth Century). 9. Rationalists and Traditionalists (Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries). 10. Secular and Spiritual Arm (Nineteenth Century). 11. Marja' at-taqlid: the Source of Imitation. 12. The Struggle against Westernization. 13. The Rise of Qom. 14. Shi'i Revolutionary Ideology. 15. Khomeini and the "Government of the Expert" 16. The Leader of the Revolution. 17. Illustrating Ijtihad Using the Example of Birth Control. 18. The Successor to the Rahbar. 19. The Shi'ites as a Party in the Middle East Conflicts