Martin Kramer - Shiism, Resistance, and Revolution

The recent revival of interest in the Muslim world has generated numerous studies of modern Islam, most of them focusing on the Sunni majority. Shi'ism, an often stigmatized minority branch of Islam, has been discussed mainly in connection with Iran. Yet Shi'i movements have been extraordinarily effective in creating political strategies that have influenced thinking throughout the Muslim world. This collection is the result of an international conference held in Tel Aviv in December 1984. Conference participants examine and compare the different manifestations of mainstream (Twelver) Shi'ism in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and India. They assess the present Shi'i situation within the historical, strategic, and economic heartland of Islam and evaluate the role of Iran's revolution within the Muslim world.

Martin Kramer is senior research fellow at the Dayan Center for Middle Eastern and African Studies, Tel Aviv University, and author of Islam Assembled: The Advent of the Muslim Congresses.

The Dayan Center, through the Shiloah Research Institute and its other constituent units, seeks to contribute by research, documentation, and publication to the study and understanding of the modern history and current affairs of the Middle East and Africa. The Center, with the Department of Middle Eastern and African History, is part of the School of History at Tel Aviv University. This study appears in the Center's Collected Papers Series.

edited by
Martin Kramer

First published 1987 by Westview Press, Inc.

Published 2019 by Routledge
52 Vanderbilt Avenue, New York, NY 10017
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN

Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business

Copyright 1987 by Tel Aviv University

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.

Notice:
Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Sh'ism, resistance, and revolution.
"The book is the final product of an international conference convened at Tel Aviv University in December 1984"Pref.
Includes index.
1. Shi'ahNear EastHistory. 2. Shi'ahHistory20th century. 3. Near EastPolitics and government1945- . 4. Islam and politicsNear East. 5. IranHistoryRevolution, 1979Influence.
I. Kramer, Martin S.
BP192.7.N33S55 1987 297'.82 86-22367
ISBN 0-8133-0453-9

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
Shi'ism, resistance and revolution.
1. Sh'ah 2. Islam and politics
I. Kramer, Martin
297'.1977 BP193.5

ISBN 13: 978-0-367-28724-5 (hbk)

Shi'ism has provided some of the most powerful themes of revolutionary protest in modern Islam. A minority among Muslims, Shi'is have often been stigmatized for their beliefs by Sunnis, who constitute the overwhelming majority in Islam. Yet the Shi'i movements of today have developed highly original strategies of political action, which have often astonished and sometimes confused the wider Muslim and Western worlds. These methods had their greatest success in Iran but have inspired other Shi'is, in both the Arab world and South Asia. A belt of Shi'ism passes through the historical, strategic, and economic heartland of Islam, encompassing parts of Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and India. That belt, divided into Shi'i majorities and minorities in the different states, constitutes a world unto itself, through which cross-influences travel rapidly. The aim of this book is twofold: to assess the present situation of mainstream (Twelver) Shi'ism in each part of this world and to measure the effects of Iran's Revolution throughout it.

The book is the final product of an international conference convened at Tel Aviv University in December 1984. The need for such a gathering was suggested by the many general studies of the Muslim revival, which seemed biased in favor of Sunni Islam and made allowances for Shi'ism only in the case of Iran, A number of collections devoted exclusively to Iran had also appeared, in which Shi'ism was examined in the experience of one country. There seemed to be a genuine need to compare Twelver Shi'ism in different settings and to explore the nuances in belief and action which affect people who may identify with one religious tradition but find themselves in verv different predicaments.

Both the conference and the book drew upon the essential cooperation of many persons. Itamar Rabinovich, head of the Dayan Center for Middle Eastern and African Studies at Tel Aviv University, conceived the plan of the conference, and the Dayan Center provided the necessary support and auspices. The conference also enjoyed the additional support of the United States Information Service in Israel. Etan Kohlberg and Joel Kraemer offered valuable advice as members of the conference's academic committee. Had I not had the benefit of the organizing talents and zeal of Amira Margalith, a veteran of many conference battles, success could not have been assured. I am also grateful to these guest speakers, commentators, and chairpersons, who greatly enriched the deliberations: Cheryl Benard, Uriel Dann, Abba Eban, Thomas Friedman, Gad Gilbar, Sylvia Haim, Chaim Herzog, Nikki R. Keddie, Nehemia Levtzion, and Yitzhak Rabin. Two gracious women, Lydia Gareh and Margaret Mahlev, typed the manuscript, while Edna Liftman oversaw the transformation from manuscript to book with her customary efficiency.

We have kept the system of transliteration simple by omitting all diacritics and vowel quantities. The medial ayn and hamza have been retained, but for Arabic only. In transliterating Persian and Urdu, the authors have made frequent allowance for pronunciation.

Martin Kramer

Martin Kramer

Shi'ism exists as a faith within the faith of Islam, as a set of beliefs Upheld by perhaps one in ten Muslims today. Only Iran is overwhelmingly Shi'i in population; in two or three other countries, Shi'is constitute bare majorities, and in the rest of the Muslim world they live as minorities or are not found at all. But this simple accounting belies the profound influence of Shi'ism upon contemporary Islam and perceptions of Islam. For there are Shi'is intent upon altering the intellectual and political course not only of Shi'ism, but of all Islam. They are set apart from other Muslims not only by their Shi'ism, but by a stridency that has infused their call for radical change with power. They made a revolution without modern precedent in Iran. They warred successfully against a collection of great and local powers in Lebanon. And some are now bent upon making yet another revolution, which will shatter Muslim complacency and discomfit Islam's enemies everywhere.