Mahdis and Millenarians: Shiite Extremists in Early Muslim Iraq - Hardcover

Tucker, William F.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0521883849 ISBN 13: 9780521883849

Publisher: Cambridge University Press, 2008

Synopsis

Mahdis and Millenarians is a discussion of Shiite groups in eighth- and ninth-century Iraq and Iran, whose ideas reflected a mixture of indigenous non-Muslim religious teachings and practices in Iraq in the early centuries of Islamic rule. It demonstrates the period's fluidity of religious boundaries. Particular attention is given to the millenarian expectations and the revolutionary political activities of these sects. Specifically, it seeks to define the term 'millenarian', to explain how these groups reflect that definition, and to show how they need to be seen in a much larger context than Shiite or even Muslim history. The author concentrates, therefore, on the historical-sociological role of these movements. The thesis of the study is that they were the first revolutionary chiliastic groups in Islamic history and, combined with the later influence of some of their doctrines, contributed to the teachings of a number of subsequent Shiite or quasi-Shiite sectarian groups.

About this title

Review:

"In Mahdis and Millenarians, William F. Tucker examines the origins and theological doctrines of four early sectarian groups connected to the southern Iraqī city of Kūfa during the Umayyad caliphate (661-750)." -Najam Haider, H-Levant

Book Description:

Mahdis and Millenarians is a study of early extremist Shiites in Iraq and Iran, who originated doctrines and practices that influenced a number of later Shiite religious and political movements. Their millenarian expectations and willingness to use force against perceived enemies gave them a coherence that could be effectively mobilized.

About this edition

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Publication date: 2008
• ISBN 10: 0521883849
• ISBN 13: 9780521883849
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 204