Guardians of Shi’ism: Sacred Authority and Transnational Family Networks

Based on a political sociology of two families of religious scholars, al-Hakim and al-Khu'i, Elvire Corboz explains the internal workings of transnational leadership patterns in Shi`ism for the first time. Corboz compares the multifaceted roles played by Shi`i clerics in contemporary affairs with selective narratives about the traditional system of religious authority (the marja`iyya), political organisations, and international charities. Whether informal or institutionalised, their authority networks are in constant negotiation between communities and states in Iraq, Iran, other Middle Eastern countries, the Indian sub-continent South-East Asia, and the West. This multi-sited approach clarifies the local and transnational dynamics that underpin clerical authority.

Table of Contents:
Acknowledgments; A Note on Transliteration; Glossary; Contents; List of Tables and Diagrams; Introduction; Part I: Family, Students, and Friends: From Dyadic to Transnational Networks; 1. An Iraqi Family of Religious Scholars: Local and Transnational Networking Strategies; 2. An Iranian Marja'in Najaf and a Foundation in London: Reproducing Interpersonal Ties Across Place and Over Time; Part II: Charitable Politics: Benevolent Patrons, Beneficiaries, and the State; 3. Leadership in Patronage: The Benefits of Serving and Educating; 4. The Priority of Charity: A Global Brand of Philanthropy in Its Local Making; Part IV: The Affairs of the State: Clerical Participation in Politics; 5. From Najaf to Najaf: A Family at the Forefront of Iraqi Politics; 6. Quietist Activism: Calculated Responses to Political Turmoil; Conclusion; Notes; Bibliography; Index

About the Author :
Elvire Corboz earned a D.Phil from Wadham College, University of Oxford and has held positions at Princeton University and Rutgers University. She is Assistant Professor of Arab and Islamic Studies in the Department of the Study of Religion, Aarhus University.

Review :
Elvire Corboz has written an impressive study of the proliferation of clerical authority in modern Shiʿism, where the classical transnational marjaʿiyya increasingly cooperates with institutional forms of representation. Based on intense and diligent fieldwork, it is well written and totally devoid of fashionable jargon; the bibliography is comprehensive, and the index cannot but be called exemplary. It is required reading for anyone dealing with contemporary Shiʿite Islam. Elvire Corboz has written an impressive study of the proliferation of clerical authority in modern Shiʿism, where the classical transnational marjaʿiyya increasingly cooperates with institutional forms of representation. Based on intense and diligent fieldwork, it is well written and totally devoid of fashionable jargon; the bibliography is comprehensive, and the index cannot but be called exemplary. It is required reading for anyone dealing with contemporary Shiʿite Islam. Using extensive resources, meticulous research and a sophisticated conceptual framework, Elvire Corboz has given us an innovative study of transnational Shi‘ism. She offers a fascinating portrait of the ways in which the Shi‘i clergy uses institutional and philanthropic networks to construct and maintains its authority across national borders. The rich, nuanced and ecumenical portrait of the Shi‘i marja‘iyya in Guardians of Shi‘ism provides an important palliative to the sectarian lens that is all too often used to interpret Shi‘ism in a narrow political and stereotypical manner.