On the Origins of Shi'ism

The Center for Arab and Islamic Studies presents
Dr. Tariq Al-Jamil, Associate Professor of Religion, Swarthmore College
giving a talk on "On the Origins of Shi'ism"
The presence of the Shi'i and Sunni communities is perhaps the oldest and most enduring historical, political and theological division in Islamic societies. The historical origins of the Shi'i community have been the subject of ongoing disagreement between scholars writing in English (and other European languages) and traditional Shi'i chroniclers and hagiographers. This lecture will address some of the theoretical and methodological approaches to the academic study of Shi'ism and posit alternative frameworks for understanding the history of both Shi'ism and Sunnism as these two epistemological "streams" developed as self-conscious articulations and converged in concrete historical circumstances and geographical locations.