The Beginnings of Shi'i Identity: Ritual and Sacred Space in Early Islam

The Beginnings of Shi'i Identity: Ritual and Sacred Space in Early Islam
December 10, 2014
The Sunni-Shi'a division first materialized in the 8th century in the important Iraqi city of Kūfa. This lecture explores the birth and development of Shi‘i identity. Specifically, it documents how the early Shi‘a carved out an independent communal identity through distinctive ritual practices and within separate sacred spaces. In the process, it addresses two seminal controversies in the study of early Islam, namely when and how the Shi‘a came to see themselves as a distinctive community.
Najam Haider
Assistant Professor of Religion, Barnard College, Columbia University
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