The Heirs of the Prophet: Charisma and Religious Authority in Shi?ite Islam
After the death of the Prophet Muhammad, different religious factions within the Muslim community laid claim to the Prophet's legacy. Drawing on research from Sunni and Shiite literature, Liyakat N. Takim explores how these various groups, including the caliphs, scholars, Sufi holy men, and the Shiite imams and their disciples, competed to be the Prophetic heirs. The book also illustrates how the tradition of the "heirs of the Prophet" was often a polemical tool used by its bearers to demand obedience and loyalty from the Muslim community by imposing an authoritative rendition of texts, beliefs, and religious practices. Those who did not obey were marginalized and demonized. While examining the competition for Muhammad's charismatic authority, Takim investigates the Shiite self-understanding of authority and argues that this was an important factor in the formation of a distinct Shiite leadership. The Heirs of the Prophet also provides a new understanding of textual authority in Islam by examining authority construction and the struggle for legitimacy evidenced in Islamic biographical dictionaries.
1116990580
The Heirs of the Prophet: Charisma and Religious Authority in Shi?ite Islam
After the death of the Prophet Muhammad, different religious factions within the Muslim community laid claim to the Prophet's legacy. Drawing on research from Sunni and Shiite literature, Liyakat N. Takim explores how these various groups, including the caliphs, scholars, Sufi holy men, and the Shiite imams and their disciples, competed to be the Prophetic heirs. The book also illustrates how the tradition of the "heirs of the Prophet" was often a polemical tool used by its bearers to demand obedience and loyalty from the Muslim community by imposing an authoritative rendition of texts, beliefs, and religious practices. Those who did not obey were marginalized and demonized. While examining the competition for Muhammad's charismatic authority, Takim investigates the Shiite self-understanding of authority and argues that this was an important factor in the formation of a distinct Shiite leadership. The Heirs of the Prophet also provides a new understanding of textual authority in Islam by examining authority construction and the struggle for legitimacy evidenced in Islamic biographical dictionaries.
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The Heirs of the Prophet: Charisma and Religious Authority in Shi?ite Islam

The Heirs of the Prophet: Charisma and Religious Authority in Shi?ite Islam

by Liyakat N. Takim
The Heirs of the Prophet: Charisma and Religious Authority in Shi?ite Islam

The Heirs of the Prophet: Charisma and Religious Authority in Shi?ite Islam

by Liyakat N. Takim

eBook

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Overview

After the death of the Prophet Muhammad, different religious factions within the Muslim community laid claim to the Prophet's legacy. Drawing on research from Sunni and Shiite literature, Liyakat N. Takim explores how these various groups, including the caliphs, scholars, Sufi holy men, and the Shiite imams and their disciples, competed to be the Prophetic heirs. The book also illustrates how the tradition of the "heirs of the Prophet" was often a polemical tool used by its bearers to demand obedience and loyalty from the Muslim community by imposing an authoritative rendition of texts, beliefs, and religious practices. Those who did not obey were marginalized and demonized. While examining the competition for Muhammad's charismatic authority, Takim investigates the Shiite self-understanding of authority and argues that this was an important factor in the formation of a distinct Shiite leadership. The Heirs of the Prophet also provides a new understanding of textual authority in Islam by examining authority construction and the struggle for legitimacy evidenced in Islamic biographical dictionaries.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780791481912
Publisher: State University of New York Press
Publication date: 02/01/2012
Sold by: Barnes & Noble
Format: eBook
Pages: 252
File size: 314 KB

About the Author

Liyakat N. Takim is Associate Professor of Islamic Studies at the University of Denver.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments
Introduction

1. “The Scholars Are Heirs of the Prophets”

2. The Holy Man in Islam

3. Routinization of Charismatic Authority: The Shi'i case

4. The Office of Charismatic Authority: The Functions of the Rijal

5. Textual Authority and the Struggle for Legitimacy in Biographical Texts

Conclusion
Notes
Bibliography
Index

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