Guardians of Shi'ism: Sacred Authority and Transnational Family Networks (Hardcover)

Guardians of Shi'ism: Sacred Authority and Transnational Family Networks By Elvire Corboz Cover Image
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Description


Based on a political sociology of two families of religious scholars, al-Hakim and al-Khu'i, Elvire Corboz explains the internal workings of transnational leadership patterns in Shi ism for the first time. Corboz compares the multifaceted roles played by Shi i clerics in contemporary affairs with selective narratives about the traditional system of religious authority (the marja iyya), political organisations, and international charities. Whether informal or institutionalised, their authority networks are in constant negotiation between communities and states in Iraq, Iran, other Middle Eastern countries, the Indian sub-continent South-East Asia, and the West. This multi-sited approach clarifies the local and transnational dynamics that underpin clerical authority.

About the Author


Elvire Corboz earned a D.Phil from Wadham College, University of Oxford and has held positions at Princeton University and Rutgers University. She is Assistant Professor of Arab and Islamic Studies in the Department of the Study of Religion, Aarhus University.
Product Details
ISBN: 9780748691449
ISBN-10: 0748691448
Publisher: Edinburgh University Press
Publication Date: January 20th, 2015
Pages: 288
Language: English