The Proof of God
Shi'i Mysticism in the Work of al-Kulayni (9th-10th centuries)
Published on 19. October 2023
Book
Hardback
392 pages
978-0-7556-5190-0 (ISBN)
Description
This book is an English translation of the award-winning book by Mohammad Ali Amir-Moezzi on the Book of the Proof (Kitab al-Hujja) part of the Sufficient Book (Kitab al-Kafi), authored by one of the most celebrated religious authorities and a foundational figure of Shi'i Islam, Muhammad ibn Ya'qub al-Kulayni (d. ca. 940 CE). The significance of this source for the formation and development of Shi'i beliefs and doctrines cannot be overestimated. Whilst the field of Shi'i studies is still dominated by works focused on legal, political, or theological aspects of Sh'i Islam, Amir-Moezzi's approach to the study of the early Shi'i traditions in this work is characterised by a keen interest in its esoteric, mystical aspects. Complemented by detailed analytical comments, Amir-Moezzi's book demonstrates how al-Kulayni was able to set out an extraordinarily wide-ranging and coherent set of doctrinal and legal traditions derived from the Imams, thus playing a leading role in the unification and, consequently, the consolidation of the Imami faith. More specifically, by elaborating on the nature of the 'Proof', which in Shi'i terminology identifies the central figure, i.e., the guide (imam) of mystical spirituality, Amir-Moezzi's study portrays Shi'i Islam as multifaceted, not merely as the politico-religious ideology of its 'clergy', but above all as an inspirational religion. As Amir-Moezzi himself puts it, 'enriching Muslim thought and spirituality, sometimes with unusual finesse and sophistication'.
More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Target group
Professional and scholarly
College/higher education
Product notice
sewn/stitched
Cloth over boards
With dust jacket
Dimensions
Height: 234 mm
Width: 156 mm
Thickness: 25 mm
Weight
454 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-7556-5190-0 (9780755651900)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Person
Mohammad Ali Amir-Moezzi, professor at the Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes/PSL (Sorbonne). Member of the Advisory Board of the Societas Iranologica Europaea, Scientific Consultant of the Encyclopaedia Iranica, Encyclopaedia Islamica and Senior Fellow at the Institute of Ismaili Studies. Also member of the Ambrosian Academy and the scientific committees of numerous journals and reviews. Among his mongraphs: The Divine Guide in Early Shi'ism (State University of New York Press, 1994), The Spirituality of Shii Islam (IIS, I.B. Tauris, 2013), The Silent Quran and the Speaking Quran (Columbia University Press, 2015), La Preuve de Dieu. La mystique shi'ite a travers l'oeuvre de Kulayni (Cerf, 2018) and Ali, The Well-Guarded Secret (Brill, 2022). Among the collective works directed by him: Le Dictionnaire du Coran (Robert Laffont, 2007) and le Coran des historiens (Cerf, 2019, co-directed by Guillaume Dye).
Maria De Cillisis a Senior Research Associate at the Institute of Ismaili Studies, where she is also a Series Editor of the Shi?i Heritage Series. She has authored Salvation and Destiny in Islam: The Shi?i Ismaili Perspective of ?amid al-Din al-Kirmani (2018), Free Will and Predestination in Islamic Thought: Theoretical Compromises in the Works of Avicenna, al-Ghazali and Ibn ?Arabi (2014) and has co-edited L'esoterisme shi?ite, ses racines et ses prolongements/Shi?i Esotericism: Its Roots and Developments (2016).
Orkhan Mir-Kasimov is a Senior Research Fellow at the Institute of Ismaili Studies. He is a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and teaches on the IIS graduate programmes. Previously, he lectured at the Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes and the National Institute for Oriental Languages and Civilisations (INALCO) in Paris and worked at various research centres in France and Germany, including the Institute for Advanced Study of Nantes and the Free University of Berlin. Since 2020, he is the Series Editor of the Ismaili Texts and Translations Series.
Maria De Cillisis a Senior Research Associate at the Institute of Ismaili Studies, where she is also a Series Editor of the Shi?i Heritage Series. She has authored Salvation and Destiny in Islam: The Shi?i Ismaili Perspective of ?amid al-Din al-Kirmani (2018), Free Will and Predestination in Islamic Thought: Theoretical Compromises in the Works of Avicenna, al-Ghazali and Ibn ?Arabi (2014) and has co-edited L'esoterisme shi?ite, ses racines et ses prolongements/Shi?i Esotericism: Its Roots and Developments (2016).
Orkhan Mir-Kasimov is a Senior Research Fellow at the Institute of Ismaili Studies. He is a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and teaches on the IIS graduate programmes. Previously, he lectured at the Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes and the National Institute for Oriental Languages and Civilisations (INALCO) in Paris and worked at various research centres in France and Germany, including the Institute for Advanced Study of Nantes and the Free University of Berlin. Since 2020, he is the Series Editor of the Ismaili Texts and Translations Series.
Content
Translators' Preface
? Notes on the English Translation
? Glossary
Preface to the French Edition
Note on Transliteration
Note to the Reader (French Edition)
Introduction to the French Edition
Acknowledgments (French Edition)
Important dates and milestones (1st/7th-4th/10th centuries)
(Translated by O. Mir-Kasimov)
PART ONE: Religion of the Divine Word Made Man
Chapter I
At the Beginnings of the History
Chapter II - The Religion of the imam
II-1. Some specific features of the Shi?i spirituality
II-2. At the heart of the doctrine of the imam: the concept of walaya
Chapter III - About some historical imams
(Translated by O. Mir-Kasimov)
Chapter IV - The Proof Beyond Time
III-1. From the Origin of the World and its Development
III-2. The End of Times (Eschatology)
? The Collective Dimension
? The Personal Dimension
Chapter V - The Proof's Dual Nature
V-1. The Imam as a Religious Scholar
V-2. The Imam as the Master of Initiation and as Thaumaturge
V-3. The Imam as the Locus of God's Manifestation
Chapter VI - The Continuity of Prophecy
VI-1. The Need for Discretion
VI-2. Perpetual Communication between God and Mankind
VI-3. 'The Sealing of the Prophecy' and its Meaning
(Translated by M. De Cillis)
PART TWO: The Mystical Nature of the Imam in
The Book of the Proof
Chapter I - Brief Remarks on Shi?i Holy Scriptures
I-1. The Qur'an according to Shi?ism
I-2. Shi?i Hadiths
Chapter II - Al-Kulayni and the Book of the Proof
II-1. The Historical Context in Several Important Cities
II-2. A Quest for Knowledge in Iran and Iraq
II.3 Al-Kulayni's Works
Chapter III - Excerpts from the Book of the Proof
III-1. Some Remarks on Our Translation
III-2. The Book of the Proof (Kitab al-?ujja): Translated and Commented Excerpts
(Translated by O. Mir-Kasimov)
Epilogue
Return to History: Between Mystical Wisdom and Political Temptation
1. Legacy of the Antique Gnosis
2. Shi?is at the heart of the Abbasid Empire
3. Consolidation of the Jurist-Theologians' Power
4. The State Religion in Iran
4.1. Rationalist Current and the Temptation of Political Power
4.2. Loyalty to the Origins
(Translated by O. Mir-Kasimov)
Appendices
Table I: The Banu Hashim (major protagonists) and the Prophet's Family
Table II: The Banu ?Abd Shams (major protagonists)
Table III: Genealogy of the major Imams and the main divisions in Shi?sm
Bibliography and Abbreviations
General Index
Index of Qur'anic Citations
? Notes on the English Translation
? Glossary
Preface to the French Edition
Note on Transliteration
Note to the Reader (French Edition)
Introduction to the French Edition
Acknowledgments (French Edition)
Important dates and milestones (1st/7th-4th/10th centuries)
(Translated by O. Mir-Kasimov)
PART ONE: Religion of the Divine Word Made Man
Chapter I
At the Beginnings of the History
Chapter II - The Religion of the imam
II-1. Some specific features of the Shi?i spirituality
II-2. At the heart of the doctrine of the imam: the concept of walaya
Chapter III - About some historical imams
(Translated by O. Mir-Kasimov)
Chapter IV - The Proof Beyond Time
III-1. From the Origin of the World and its Development
III-2. The End of Times (Eschatology)
? The Collective Dimension
? The Personal Dimension
Chapter V - The Proof's Dual Nature
V-1. The Imam as a Religious Scholar
V-2. The Imam as the Master of Initiation and as Thaumaturge
V-3. The Imam as the Locus of God's Manifestation
Chapter VI - The Continuity of Prophecy
VI-1. The Need for Discretion
VI-2. Perpetual Communication between God and Mankind
VI-3. 'The Sealing of the Prophecy' and its Meaning
(Translated by M. De Cillis)
PART TWO: The Mystical Nature of the Imam in
The Book of the Proof
Chapter I - Brief Remarks on Shi?i Holy Scriptures
I-1. The Qur'an according to Shi?ism
I-2. Shi?i Hadiths
Chapter II - Al-Kulayni and the Book of the Proof
II-1. The Historical Context in Several Important Cities
II-2. A Quest for Knowledge in Iran and Iraq
II.3 Al-Kulayni's Works
Chapter III - Excerpts from the Book of the Proof
III-1. Some Remarks on Our Translation
III-2. The Book of the Proof (Kitab al-?ujja): Translated and Commented Excerpts
(Translated by O. Mir-Kasimov)
Epilogue
Return to History: Between Mystical Wisdom and Political Temptation
1. Legacy of the Antique Gnosis
2. Shi?is at the heart of the Abbasid Empire
3. Consolidation of the Jurist-Theologians' Power
4. The State Religion in Iran
4.1. Rationalist Current and the Temptation of Political Power
4.2. Loyalty to the Origins
(Translated by O. Mir-Kasimov)
Appendices
Table I: The Banu Hashim (major protagonists) and the Prophet's Family
Table II: The Banu ?Abd Shams (major protagonists)
Table III: Genealogy of the major Imams and the main divisions in Shi?sm
Bibliography and Abbreviations
General Index
Index of Qur'anic Citations