The Shi'is of Iraq

by Yitzhak Nakash

Overview

The Shi'is of Iraq provides a comprehensive history of Iraq's majority group and its turbulent relations with the ruling Sunni minority. Yitzhak Nakash challenges the widely held belief that Shi'i society and politics in Iraq are a reflection of Iranian Shi'ism, pointing to the strong Arab attributes of Iraqi Shi'ism. He contends that behind the power struggle in Iraq between Arab Sunnis and Shi'is there exist two sectarian groups that are quite similar. The tension fueling the sectarian problem between Sunnis and Shi'is is political rather than ethnic or cultural, and it reflects the competition of the two groups over the right to rule and to define the meaning of nationalism in Iraq. A new introduction brings this book into the new century and illuminates the role that Shi‘is could play in postwar Iraq.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780691115757
Publisher:	Princeton University Press
Publication date:	02/16/2003
Edition description:	With a New introduction by the author
Pages:	336
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.25(h) x (d)

About the Author

Yitzhak Nakash teaches Middle Eastern history at Brandeis University. His publications on Iraq and Shi‘i Islam have gained recognition in the United States and Europe as well as in the Arab world and in Iran. He is currently completing a new book focusing on Shi‘ism and nationalism in the Arab world.

Table of Contents

	Preface	xiii
	Introduction to the 2003 Paperback Edition	xv
	A Note on Transliteration	xxiii
	Abbreviations	xxiv
	Introduction	3
Part 1	The Formative Years
Chapter 1	The Making of Iraqi Shi'i Society	13
	Iraq the Frontier	14
	The Shrine Cities	18
	The Conversion of the Tribes to Shi'ism	25
	The Nature of the Conversion	43
Chapter 2	Years of Upheaval	49
	The Impact of Two Revolutions	50
	Muslim Unity and the Jihad Movement	55
	The 1919 Plebiscite	61
	The 1920 Revolt	66
Part 2	The State and the Shi'is
Chapter 3	Exercising Social Control	75
	Containing the Mujtahids	75
	Managing the Tribal Shaykhs	88
	Baghdad and the Shrine Cities	94
	The Blow to the Status of Persians	100
	Human Dilemmas	105
Chapter 4	The Search for Political Representation	109
	Recognizing the State	109
	The 1935 Revolt	120
	The Bid for Power	125
	The Radical Options	132
Part 3	The Transformation of Rituals and Religious Practices
Chapter 5	The Commemoration of 'Ashura'	141
	The Nature of the Muharram Observances	142
	The Mujtahids and the Muharram Observances	154
	The State and 'Ashura'	157
Chapter 6	Pilgrimage to the Shrine Cities and the Cult of the Saints	163
	Foreign Pilgrimage	164
	Internal Visitation	173
Chapter 7	The Corpse Traffic	184
	Development and Socioeconomic Functions	185
	The Religious Creed versus the Social Order	192
	The State and the Corpse Traffic	197
Part 4	The Decline of Financial and Intellectual Institutions
Chapter 8	Shi'i Money and the Shrine Cities	205
	The Building of an Economic Base	206
	The Oudh Bequest	211
	The Consequences of Dependency on Foreign Funds	229
Chapter 9	The Shi'i Madrasa in Iraq	238
	Features and Functions	241
	Signs of Decline	247
	A New Iraqi Shi'i Madrasa	262
	Conclusion	269
	Epilogue: The Gulf War and its Aftermath	273
Appendix 1	The Constitution of the Buraq Quarter of Najaf	283
Appendix 2	Important Shi'i Shrines, Tombs, and Holy Sites in Iraq	285
Appendix 3	Shi'i Holy Burial Sites	287
	Bibliography	289
	Index	303

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"The most authoritative account we have on the Shi'a of Iraq. . . . Nakash's book provides a powerful corrective to earlier books on Iraq which have been battered by recent events. No reader who goes through Nakash's work will fail to be moved by the historical vistas he opens up."—Fouad Ajami, School of Advanced International Studies, The Johns Hopkins University

"The most authoritative account we have on the Shi'a of Iraq. . . . Nakash's book provides a powerful corrective to earlier books on Iraq which have been battered by recent events. No reader who goes through Nakash's work will fail to be moved by the historical vistas he opens up."—Fouad Ajami, School of Advanced International Studies, The Johns Hopkins University

Fouad Ajami

The most authoritative account we have on the Shi'a of Iraq. . . . Nakash's book provides a powerful corrective to earlier books on Iraq which have been battered by recent events. No reader who goes through Nakash's work will fail to be moved by the historical vistas he opens up.
— Fouad Ajami, School of Advanced International Studies, The Johns Hopkins University

Editorial Reviews

"This is a superb study of Iraq's Shia majority. Based on remarkable scholarship, the book brings to life a whole political community that has often been seen as a mere appendage of the larger Shia population in Iran. . . . This study is a potent reminder of the power of the modern state to shape and control even such basic social phenomena as religious identity and its expression."—-William B. Quandt, Foreign Affairs

"Nakash's account of the process of community formation in Iraq has fascinating implications for modern Middle Eastern history. In that broad historical revolution which is the settlement of the Middle Eastern tribes, we can see that the agents were: Sufism in most of the Sunni countries; fundamentalist Islam in Arabia; and Shi'ism in Iraq and Iran. In each case, the primitive Islam of the tribes takes on a new form as an accompaniment to a fundamental change in economic and social life."—-M. E. Yapp, The Times Literary Supplement

From the Publisher

Nakash's account of the process of community formation in Iraq has fascinating implications for modern Middle Eastern history. In that broad historical revolution which is the settlement of the Middle Eastern tribes, we can see that the agents were: Sufism in most of the Sunni countries; fundamentalist Islam in Arabia; and Shi'ism in Iraq and Iran. In each case, the primitive Islam of the tribes takes on a new form as an accompaniment to a fundamental change in economic and social life.

The Times Literary Supplement - M. E. Yapp

This is a superb study of Iraq's Shia majority. Based on remarkable scholarship, the book brings to life a whole political community that has often been seen as a mere appendage of the larger Shia population in Iran. . . . This study is a potent reminder of the power of the modern state to shape and control even such basic social phenomena as religious identity and its expression.

Foreign Affairs - William B. Quandt

Nakash's account of the process of community formation in Iraq has fascinating implications for modern Middle Eastern history. In that broad historical revolution which is the settlement of the Middle Eastern tribes, we can see that the agents were: Sufism in most of the Sunni countries; fundamentalist Islam in Arabia; and Shi'ism in Iraq and Iran. In each case, the primitive Islam of the tribes takes on a new form as an accompaniment to a fundamental change in economic and social life.

The Times Literary Supplement - M.E. Yapp

Nakash's account of the process of community formation in Iraq has fascinating implications for modern Middle Eastern history. In that broad historical revolution which is the settlement of the Middle Eastern tribes, we can see that the agents were: Sufism in most of the Sunni countries; fundamentalist Islam in Arabia; and Shi'ism in Iraq and Iran. In each case, the primitive Islam of the tribes takes on a new form as an accompaniment to a fundamental change in economic and social life.
— M. E. Yapp

The Times Literary Supplement

This is a superb study of Iraq's Shia majority. Based on remarkable scholarship, the book brings to life a whole political community that has often been seen as a mere appendage of the larger Shia population in Iran. . . . This study is a potent reminder of the power of the modern state to shape and control even such basic social phenomena as religious identity and its expression.
— William B. Quandt

Foreign Affairs