Western Studies of Shi‘i Islam

Abstract

This paper will examine the historical study of Shi‘ism in thewestern academy and argue that until the last two decades, westernscholarship looked at it primarily through a Sunni lens. Thischanged during the 1980s due to various socio-political factors,among them Iran’s Islamic revolution, Hizbollah’s emergence inLebanon, and the American invasion and occupation of Iraq,forced western scholars to look at it in different light. Consequently,they began to examine different facets of this branch ofIslam, ranging from its concept of centralized authority during theTwelfth Imam’s Greater Occultation to liturgies, rituals, and politicaltheory.