''Shi'ite Islam'' is a text on the history and thought of

Shi'a Shia Islam is the second-largest branch of Islam. It holds that Muhammad designated Ali ibn Abi Talib () as both his political successor ( caliph) and as the spiritual leader of the Muslim community ( imam). However, his right is understoo ...

Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...

. Written by Muhammed H. Al-Tabataba'i, with the translation, editing, and introduction by

Seyyed Hossein Nasr Seyyed Hossein Nasr (born April 7, 1933) is an Iranian Americans, Iranian-American academic, philosophy, philosopher, theology, theologian, and Ulama, Islamic scholar. He is University Professor of Islamic studies at George Washington University. ...

, it was the first text to be written by a high ranking Shi'a scholar and intended for western readership.

How it began

In 1962, Kenneth Morgan, university

chaplain A chaplain is, traditionally, a cleric (such as a minister, priest, pastor, rabbi, purohit, or imam), or a lay representative of a religious tradition, attached to a secular institution (such as a hospital, prison, military unit, intellige ...

and professor of religious studies at

Colgate University Colgate University is a Private university, private college in Hamilton, New York, United States. The Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college was founded in 1819 as the Baptist Education Society of the State of New York ...

, initiated a project to produce a text specifically dealing with Shi'a Islam, introducing the Islamic sect to the non Muslim western reader, written from a true Shi'a perspective. The aim of Professor Morgan to have a description of Shi'ism by one of the respected traditional scholars of the Shi'a, led him and collaborator Seyyed Hossein Nasr, to Allamah Tabataba'i in 1963. Allameh Tabataba'i was thought of by some as a pillar of intellectual Shi'a thought who combined interest in jurisprudence and Quranic commentary with philosophy,

theosophy Theosophy is a religious movement established in the United States in the late 19th century. Founded primarily by the Russian Helena Blavatsky and based largely on her writings, it draws heavily from both older European philosophies such as Neop ...

, and

Sufism Sufism ( or ) is a mysticism, mystic body of religious practice found within Islam which is characterized by a focus on Islamic Tazkiyah, purification, spirituality, ritualism, and Asceticism#Islam, asceticism. Practitioners of Sufism are r ...

, and represented a more universal interpretation of the Shi'a point of view. The project took six years to complete, and was followed by two more extending volumes.

William Chittick William Clark Chittick (born June 29, 1943) is an American philosopher, writer, translator, and interpreter of classical Islamic philosophical and mystical texts. He is best known for his work on Rumi and Ibn 'Arabi, and has written extensively ...

of SUNY collaborated with the editing, and the book was published by the

State University of New York Press The State University of New York Press (more commonly referred to as the SUNY Press) is a university press affiliated with the State University of New York system. The press, which was founded in 1966, is located in Albany, New York and publishe ...

in 1975. It remains a classic textbook for

Westerners The Western world, also known as the West, primarily refers to various nations and states in Western Europe, Northern America, and Australasia; with some debate as to whether those in Eastern Europe and Latin America also constitute the West. ...

trying to gain an introductory understanding of Shi'a Islam.

External links

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Barnes and Noble reference item
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SUNY Press reference item
' Books by Hossein Nasr SUNY Press books 1979 non-fiction books Books by Muhammad Husayn Tabatabai Seyyed Hossein Nasr {{shia-stub