Maria Massi Dakake 
The Charismatic Community [PDF ebook] 
Shiʿite Identity in Early Islam

The Charismatic Community examines the rise and development of Shiite religious identity in early Islamic history, analyzing the complex historical and intellectual processes that shaped the sense of individual and communal religious vocation. The book reveals the profound and continually evolving connection between the spiritual ideals of the Shiite movement and the practical processes of community formation. Author Maria Massi Dakake traces the Quranic origins and early religious connotations of the concept of walayah and the role it played in shaping the sense of communal solidarity among followers of the first Shiite Imam, Ali b. Abi Talib. Dakake argues that walayah pertains not only to the charisma of the Shiite leadership and devotion to them, but also to solidarity and loyalty among the members of the community itself. She also looks at the ways in which doctrinal developments reflected and served the practical needs of the Shiite community, the establishment of identifiable boundaries and minimum requirements of communal membership, the meaning of women’s affiliation and identification with the Shiite movement, and Shiite efforts to engender a more normative and less confrontational attitude toward the non-Shiite Muslim community.

Table of Content

Acknowledgments
List of Abbreviations
Author’s Notes

Introduction

Part I: The Principle of Walayah and the Origins of the Community

1. Walayah in the Islamic Tradition

2.  The Ghadir Khumm Tradition: Walayah and the Spiritual Distinctions of Ali b. Abi Talib

3. Walayah, Authority, and Religious Community in the First Civil War

4. The Shiite Community in the Aftermath of the First Civil War

Part II: Walayah, Faith, and the Charismatic Nature of Shiite Identity

5. Walayah as the Essence of Religion: Theological Developments at the Turn of the Second Islamic Century

6. Membership in the Shiite Community and Salvation

7. Predestination and the Mythological Origins of Shiite Identity

8. The Charismatic Nature and Spiritual Distinction of the Shiites

Part III: Creating a Community within a Community

9. Shiites and Non-Shiites: The Distinction between Iman and Islam

10. Degrees of Faith: Establishing a Hierarchy within the Shiite Community

11. “Rarer than Red Sulfur”: Women’s Identity in Early Shiism

12. Perforated Boundaries: Establishing Two Codes of Conduct

Notes
Bibliography
Index

About the author

Maria Massi Dakake is Associate Professor of Religious Studies at George Mason University.