Despite their distinct theological differences, Shi士i and Sunni Muslims, followers of the two main divisions of Islam, share a number of core beliefs including an allegiance to and love for the Prophet Muhammad and members of his family. For Shi士i Muslims, reverence for the Prophet and allegiance to his household (Ahl al-bayt, People of the House), comprising his immediate family and their descendants, constitutes an essential principle of belief that has directly impacted how Shi士i artists, rulers, patrons and ritual participants have conveyed their love and loyalty through material culture and religious ritual. The 22 essays in this volume, richly illustrated with over 200 colour images, present a diversity of beliefs and practices expressed through the arts, architecture, material culture and ritual that spans Shi士i history from the tenth century to the present day. With contributions from experts in the fields of anthropology, religious studies, art and architectural history, numismatics, film studies and contemporary art, the book also calls attention to the global diversity of the artistic and devotional expressions of Shi士i Muslims from across Trinidad, Senegal, Egypt, Syria, Iraq, Iran, Pakistan, India and China. Additionally, some essays draw upon important female Shi士i figures and female ritual practices and many chapters underscore the theme of love for the Ahl al-bayt beyond Sunni and Shi士i demarcations. This work contributes to a growing body of scholarship dedicated to the religious arts and rituals of Shi士i Muslims around the world.
Part 1: Introduction
1. Shi士i art and ritual: contexts, definitions and expressions, Fahmida Suleman and Shainool Jiwa
2. Are there Shi士i forms of art?, Oleg Grabar
Part 2: Pilgrimage and patronage
3. The Shi士i shrines of Iraq, James W. Allan
4. Glorifying the Imamate: architecture and ritual in the Shi士i shrines of Syria, Yasser Tabbaa
5. Evanescent meaning: the place of Shi士ism in Fatimid mosques, Jonathan M. Bloom
6. A Shi士i building boom in 14th-century QumA historic city in Iran to the south of Tehran. It is considered by many Shi鈥榠 Muslims as Iran鈥檚 second holiest city after Mashhad. Qum is a leading centre of…: the case of the Bagh-i Sabz towers, Robert Hillenbrand
7. Pilgrims and patrons: 锄颈测腻谤补 under the SamanidsMuslim dynasty in the Khurasan and Transoxania region of mediaeval Persia (900鈥1005). and Bavandids, Melanie Michailidis
Part 3: Inscriptions on art, architecture and coinage
8. Early Qur示ans 鈥榮igned鈥 by the Shi士i Imams, Sheila R. Canby
9. Writing about faith: epigraphic evidence for the development of Twelver Shi士ism in Iran, Sheila S. Blair
10. The writing on the walls: selections from the Twelver Shi士i epigraphs of Lucknow鈥檚 Hussainabad Imambara, Hussein Keshani
11. 士础濒墨 飞补濒墨Saint, friend of God, or patron. In a political context the terms can also mean administrator or ruler (pl. awliy膩示). 础濒濒腻丑 and other non-Qur示anic references to the Ahl al-bayt on Islamic coinage before the SaljuqMajor Muslim dynasty of Turkish origin in Persia and Iraq (1040鈥1194) and Syria (1078鈥1178). period, Luke Treadwell
Part 4: Iconographic studies: Shi士i contexts and beyond
12. Between the past and the future: The 蹿腻濒苍腻尘补 (book of omens) in the 16th and early 17th centuries, Massumeh Farhad
13. Exploring Ahl al-bayt imagery in Qajar Iran (1785鈥1925), Maryam Ekhtiar
14. Shi士ism and contemporary Iranian art, Venetia Porter
15. 顿丑耻鈥檒-蹿补辩腻谤 and the Ottomans, Zeynep Y眉rekli
16. The Hand of FatimaDaughter of the Prophet Muhammad and his first wife, Khad墨ja bint Khuwaylid. Also wife of 士础濒墨 b. Ab墨 峁乴ib and mother of al-岣san and al-岣sayn.: in search of its origins and significance, Fahmida Suleman
Part 5: Ritual expressions
17. Lasting elegy: Shi士i art and architecture, Peter J. Chelkowski
18.士Ar奴ze Q膩sem 鈥 a theatrical event in Shi士i female commemorative rituals, Ingvild Flaskerud
19. Cinema as a cultural reservoir for the Shi士i performing art of ta士ziya, Nacim Pak-Shiraz
20. Some historic 迟补士锄颈测补蝉 of MultanA major city in the province of Sind (today in Pakistan) where the seat of a Fatimid principality was founded in around 958., Tryna Lyons
21. Chirogh rawshan: Shi士i ceremonial practised by the Ismaili communities of Xinjiang China, Amier Saidula
22. Building and performing Shi士i Islam in Sufi Senegal: a photo essay, Mara A. Leichtman
Acknowledgements, note on transliteration and abbreviations
Glossary
Contributors
Photo credits
Select bibliography
Index
Fahmida Suleman (D.Phil, Oxford) is Phyllis Bishop Curator for the Modern Middle East at the British Museum. Her research interests include the FatimidsMajor Muslim dynasty of Ismaili caliphs in North Africa (from 909) and later in Egypt (973鈥1171) More, religious arts and iconography, and Middle Eastern and Central Asian textiles and jewellery. She is the author of 鈥楾he Image of 士Ali as the Lion of God in Shi士i Art and Material Culture鈥, in The Art and Material Culture of Iranian Shiism: Iconography and Religious Devotion in Shi士i Islam, ed. P. Khosronejad (London, 2012) and editor of Word of God, Art of Man: The Qur’an and its Creative Expressions (Oxford, 2007).