Table of Contents

1. Charismatic authority: the Qasimi Imamate in the seventeenth century; 2. Becoming a dynasty: the Qasimimi Imamate in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries; 3. The absolute interpreter and 'Renewer' of the thirteenth century H; 4. The triumph of Sunni traditionism and the re-ordering of Yemeni society; 5. Clashing with the Zaydis: the question of cursing the Prophet's Companions (sabb al-sahaba); 6. Riots in Sanaa: the response of the strict Hadawis; 7. Shawkani's legacy.

Promotional Information

A history of the transition from traditional Shiism to Sunni reformism in pre-modern Yemen.

About the Author

Bernard Haykel is Assistant Professor of Middle Eastern Studies and History in the Department of Middle Eastern Studies at New York University.

Reviews

'Haykel's thorough analysis of Sunni Traditionism in Yemen is a model study in its comprehensive utilization of local sources and the in-depth understanding of the debates of the era of al-Shawkani and the continuing importance of the issues raised in those debates. Haykel makes a very important contribution to understanding movements of revival and reform in Islam both as they developed in the eighteenth century and as they continue to develop at the beginning of the twenty-first century.' Islamic Studies