Shiite Patterns of Post-Migration in Europe
This brief reflection treats the reactive relation between the dispersions of (post-)migration and the integralism of religion in selected cases of European Shiism. It reconsiders reports on Twelver Shiism and Shiite Muslims in Europe in order to discern the main institutional and demographic tendencies in Shiites’ European settlement history in Britain, France and Germany, and to explore such settlement in light of mega-theorizations of European Islam that juxtapose ‘integration’ and ‘separation’.
Khomeini and Muḥammad al-Shīrāzī: Revisiting the Origins of the “Guardianship of the Jurisconsult” (wilāyat al-faqīh)
Abstract This article revisits the origins of Khomeini’s concept of the guardianship of the jurisconsult ( wilāyat al-faqīh ) and argues that his own formulation of this concept needs to be embedded in debates around the clerical mandate in the state among clerical activists in Iraq he encountered during his exile.
From Attachment to a Sacred Figure to Loyalty to a Sacred Route: The Walking Pilgrimage of Arbaeen
Around 20 million Shia pilgrims shape one of the world’s biggest pilgrimages in Iraq, called “Arbaeen,” many of whom walk long distances to Karbala city as a part of the ritual every year.
Beyond structure and agency: Rethinking political identities in Iraq after 2003
This paper examines ethno‐symbolic and instrumental explanations of ethnic and sectarian identities placed within the constructivist turn in the study of political identity, both in the abstract and how they have been deployed to explain the increasing contemporary influence of ethnosectarian mobilisation in Iraq and the wider Middle East.
Pushing for Protection: Advocating for the Shia – Shia Rights Watch
Annual Report 2019 In this report, Shia Rights Watch quantifies violence against Shia Muslims and presents the dynamics of anti-Shiism in various nations of the world. This report reflects year-round investigations arranged by native activists and international researchers on actions taken to endanger populations based on their Shia identity.
Transnational Shi’ism in Southern China and the Party-state’s “Hawza” Diplomacy
This article seeks to transcend the Sunni-centered narratives that often inform the discussions on Islamicate interactions with China. Following a cursory historical view of Shi’ism’s influences on Chinese expressions of Islam, the article presents a rough sketch of the contemporary transnational Shi’ite communities that have emerged over the past few decades in southern China, most notably those of Guangzhou (Guangdong) and Yiwu (Zhejiang).
Arbaïn, un pèlerinage sous tension à Karbala
Des millions de chiites se sont mis en marche sur les routes menant à Karbala pour le pèlerinage d’Arbaïn, dont la date cette année est le 19 octobre. Aujourd’hui, comme hier, il est un enjeu pour le pouvoir irakien, surtout au moment où des manifestations populaires secouent le pays.
A Jewish Vizier and his Shīʿī Manifesto: Jews, Shīʿīs, and the Politicization of Confessional Identities in Mongol-ruled Iraq and Iran (13th to 14th centuries) : Der Islam
AbstractThis paper seeks to situate Jewish individuals from the upper echelons of the Mongol government in Iran and Iraq (1258‒1335) in relation to the process of confessional, Sunnī-Shīʿī polarization. Focusing on the case of the Baghdadi Jewish physician and vizier Saʿd al-Dawla (d.