Shi'i Islam Origins, Faith and Practices

In six concise clearly-written chapters, Sheikh Dr. Mohammad Ali Shomali provides a scholarly and well-documented introduction to the principal features of Shi'i Islam, an important school of Islamic thought which has gained increasing prominence in Western media in recent years.  Beginning with an examination of the term 'Shi'i' -- stressing its occurrence in numerous traditions of the Prophet, so that the origins of Shi'ism can be regarded as co-terminous with those of Islam itself--the author than moves to a discussion of textual and other sources of Shi'i thought: The Qur'an, the Sunnah of the Prophet, the teachings of the Infallible Imams from the Household of the Prophet, and the principles of reason and consensus as distinctively understood in Shi'ism.  He follows with a review of the leading doctrines of Shi'i Islam, both those it holds in common with other Muslims and those that set it apart--divine justice, the Imamate, and the infallibility of the Imams. The devotional pract