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generated new questions, inspired the search for different approaches, or simply
made clear how much more needs to be done to improve our understanding of the
composite realities and dynamics, past and present, of the Shiite world.
Every new effort in the field is therefore welcome including this volume, published
jointly by the German Orient Institut in Beirut and the French Research Institute
in Iran. It brings together nine contributions, in English and French (5 and
4 articles respectively) that address specific themes properly pertaining to the
field of Shiite studies. Acknowledging that “des parts entiers de l’histoire intellectuelle,
politique et sociale du chiisme restent à mettre au jour” (p. 9), the two editors,
Sabrina Mervin and Denis Hermann, set about to do that. By focusing on
the late 18 th to the early 20 th centuries, a period which they rightly call a very rich
and dynamic phase in the history of Shiism, they reject the old cliché about the alleged
intellectual decline and stagnation of the Shiite (and Islamic) world at the
time. The editors’ claim that not much research has been done on the period so
far sounds nonetheless a little exaggerated, as there is certainly no shortage of
studies on Shaykhism, for instance, or the Constitutional Revolution, which are
also among the topics addressed in the volume.
The editors’ apparent neglect of traditionally important Shiite areas like Lebanon
and Bahrain may be explained by the severe intellectual and economic decline
that both regions underwent in the 19 th century. In both cases adverse political
conditions greatly affected the ability of local Shiite communities to maintain
and preserve the high scholarly standards of the previous centuries. So their
choice to focus mainly, although not entirely, on Iran is not without good reason.
They argue convincingly that despite the emergence of a seemingly stable political
power, the Qajar dynasty, the history of Iran from the late 18 th to the end of the
19 th century is marked by political instability, social turmoil, and heated intellectual
debates. The various “Shi^ite trends” each reacted in its own way, adapted to
new sensibilities and demands, negotiated, redefined, remodeled or simply reaffirmed
traditional ideas and notions, and sometimes provided original syntheses.
The contributions to the present volume confirm this argument through scrupulous,
methodologically sound research.
The volume is comprised of three sections that, according to the editors,
best serve the purpose of representing the variety and wealth of Shiism in the
period referred to: “Diversity and Change in Philosophy and Mystic” (pp. 17–92);
“Shi^i Jurisprudence” (pp. 93–127); “Doctrinal Debates and Political Theories”
(pp. 129–180).
The first section opens with the contribution by Todd Lawson of the University
of Toronto; entitled “Shaykh A1mad al-A1sa#\ and the World of Images”
(pp. 19–31), it is dedicated to one of the most prominent, complex, and controversial
personalities in the history of Shiism. His teachings, considered by Lawson