Islamic Law and the Neoijtihadist Phenomenon

Many contemporary scholars claim that erstwhile juristic determinations were intertwined with the socio-political realities in the eighth and ninth centuries, the classical period of Islamic law. They also maintain that although the Qur’an is a divinely revealed and immutable text, the applicability of its verses is contingent on the needs and conditions of the times. This paper argues that there is a need to move beyond the current form of ijtihad to an era of neoijtihadism in Twelver Shi‘ism. The present ijtihad, which was developed in the medieval ages, has failed to produce a coherent legal system that can effectively respond to the needs of contemporary Muslims. The paper will focus on the neoijtihadist phenomenon and will argue that the traditional text-centered ijtihad has to be replaced with a new form of ijtihad which utilizes different forms of exegetical and epistemological principles to formulate rulings that will serve the Muslim community better. Neoijtihadism, as I call it, will entail a re-evaluation of classical juristic formulations and, based on the application of new exegetical and interpretive principles, can engender a divergent form of jurisprudence that is based on different epistemological parameters and universal moral values. Neoijtihadism will also entail revamping traditional Islamic legal theory (usul al-fiqh), which has hampered rather than enhanced the formulations of newer laws.

Integration or Isolation: Black Shi'ism in the American Diaspora

In a country that claims to be founded on Judeo-Christian values, the experiences of minority groups such as Muslims are often relegated to the margins of discourses on religion. The sense of negligence of marginalized communities is even greater when a group is a minority within a minority, as it is relegated to a double-minority status. This article will argue that due to their double-minority status, American Shi‘is have been occupied more with safeguarding and protecting rather than disseminating their distinctive beliefs and practices. They have been more concerned with preserving than expanding their religious boundaries. The article will also demonstrate that, due to various factors, there has been an increasing number of members of the African American community accepting Twelver Shi’ism. It will further examine for the reasons for this phenomenon and highlight instances of Black Shi‘i–Sunni altercations and hostilities in American correctional facilities.

The Emergence of Modern Shi‘ism

This is the first comprehensive work on the origins, development, and sociopoliticalramifications of the Usuli movement within Twelver Shi‘ism. Giventhat Wahid Bihbahani (1709-91), the founder and catalyst for Usuli revivalismduring the nineteenth century, is barely known in the West, it is a welcome additionto the growing Western literature on medieval and modern Shi‘ism. Thisongoing movement is the most powerful force in Twelver Shi‘ism.Using a wide range of primary and secondary sources, Heern highlightsthe emergence of modern Usulism during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.While locating its genesis within a global context, he outlines its ideologicalroots, historical background, and development. His central argument isthat Usulism was a response to the ummah’s changing sociopolitical conditionsand part of a wider trend of Islamic reform and revivalist movements that beganin the eighteenth century. He maintains that its emergence enabled the Shi‘iclerical establishment to attain sociopolitical and economic ascendancy in Iranand Iraq, and that the movement survived without government patronage bycultivating transnational links with the Shi‘i laity. For him, Shi‘i Islam’s recentascendancy is the result of the neo-Usuli movement ...