Shi’ism in America provides the first general overview of the Shi’i community in America; tracing its history; its current composition; and how Shi’a have negotiated their identity in the American context.There are over two million Shi’is; who differ from Sunni Muslims in their understandings of the early line of succession after Muhammad; in the United States. With community roots going back sometimes close to one hundred years; Shi’is can be found in major cities like New York; Los Angeles; Chicago; Washington; and Dearborn; Michigan. Early in the century; Shi’is and Sunnis sometimes arrived at the same time; worshipped together; shared similar experiences; and confronted the same challenges despite their sectarian differences.Both tracing the early history and illuminating the more recent past with surveys and interviews; Takim explores the experiences of this community. Filling an important scholarly gap; he also demonstrates how living in the West has impelled the Shi’i community to grapple with the ways in which Islamic law may respond to the challenges of modernity. Shi’ism in America provides a much-needed overview of the history of this United States religious community; from religious; cultural; and political institutions to inter-group relations; to the experience of African American Shi’is.
#345282 in Books NYU Press 2006-03-01 2006-03-01Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 9.02 x .63 x 5.98l; .85 #File Name: 0814736904280 pages
Review
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful. Interesting; but somewhat overstated in its conclusions regarding the primacy of Hebrew in the development of vowel systemsBy UlfilasThis book provides an interesting history of the evolution of Hebrew. Special attention is given to the idea that Hebrew deserves a special place in the evolution of writing because it was (supposedly) the language in which vowels were first incorporated into an alphabet or system of writing. The author even conjectures that the Hebrew name for God; Yahweh; was coined to exhibit this newly developed vowel system.The central argument for the primacy of Hebrew as the cradle of vowels systems; as discussed in Chapter 3; seems to be that the spread and incorporation of vowels into other languages would have been more widespread if these vowels had been propagated by the more widespread language of Aramaic (noting that the Aramaic language and alphabet are similar to and closely related to that of Hebrew). That is; the slow spread of vowels into neighboring languages; such as Greek; suggests the obscure language of Hebrew as the source rather than the more widespread language of Aramaic.The author notes that Aramaic appears to have developed these vowels during the same 9th or 10th century B.C. time frame as Hebrew; and that evidence does not favor either language as the first developer of these vowels. The author; however; confuses the reader by such statements as the opening sentence in Chapter 3: "Approximately 3000 years ago; the ancient Hebrews discovered what would be the precursors to every modern system of writing." This book would be more to my liking if the author had more uniformly maintained the balance between evidence and conjecture.2 of 2 people found the following review helpful. Deep; revealing; fascinatingBy A. Fainshtein5 stars because for me the whole subject of how language develops; and all the factors and forces that affect this process -- this subject fascinates me. And the book provides lots of food for my curiosity; deep and intricate details on a wide swath of ancient history - especially the first part.Later the book delves into quite technical details of the structure and development of Hebrew; which; probably; is difficult to follow. Fortunately; my familiarity with Hebrew allowed me to keep up. :-) The experience was very satisfactory.1 of 1 people found the following review helpful. ScholarlyBy Uncle DonMost of the discussion was quite technical and scholarly; not geared to a casual reader. On the other hand; the section on modern Israeli Hebrew language trends was interesting and entirely new to me.
