Disir
Platinum Member
- Sep 30, 2011
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I suggest that Usuli Shi‘ism is the most powerful movement in modern Iran and southern Iraq. Therefore, while some historians attempt to explain current trends in Iran and Iraq by analyzing Shi‘ism in general, we are better off focusing specifically on Usulism and even more precisely on neo-Usulism, which came to dominate the Shi‘i world during the critical historical moment of the late eighteenth century. The impetus for the rise of Usulism was the collapse of the Safavid Empire (1501-1722), which established Shi‘ism as the official religion of Iran, leading to the conversion of the majority of Iranians from Sunnism to Shi‘ism.
Like religious officials in most of the world, Shi‘i clerics in Iran had enjoyed tremendous support from the state. Because the Safavids made Shi‘ism a state religion for the first time in hundreds of years, the Safavid period produced a renaissance in Shi‘i learning. The range of historically diverse interpretations of Shi‘ism – including Usuli rationalism, Akhbari scripturalism, Sufism, and Illuminationist philosophy – were commonplace under Safavid rule.
Understanding the emergence of modern Shi ism - Your Middle East
I know the guy is plugging his book but it is still an interesting little piece.
Like religious officials in most of the world, Shi‘i clerics in Iran had enjoyed tremendous support from the state. Because the Safavids made Shi‘ism a state religion for the first time in hundreds of years, the Safavid period produced a renaissance in Shi‘i learning. The range of historically diverse interpretations of Shi‘ism – including Usuli rationalism, Akhbari scripturalism, Sufism, and Illuminationist philosophy – were commonplace under Safavid rule.
Understanding the emergence of modern Shi ism - Your Middle East
I know the guy is plugging his book but it is still an interesting little piece.
