This book takes a fresh look at the foundations of modern Islam. Scholars often locate the origins of the modern Islamic world in European colonialism or Islamic reactions to European modernity. However, this study focuses on the rise of Islamic movements indigenous to the Middle East, which developed in direct response to the collapse and decentralization of the Islamic gunpowder empires. In other words, the book argues that the Usuli movement as well as Wahhabism and neo-Sufism emerged in reaction to the disintegration and political decentralization of the Safavid, Ottoman, and Mughal empires. The book specifically highlights the emergence of Usuli Shi‘ism in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The long-term impact of the Usuli revival was that Shi‘i clerics gained unprecedented social, political, and economic power in Iran and southern Iraq. Usuli clerics claimed authority to issue binding legal judgments, which, they argue, must be observed by all Shi‘is. By the early nineteenth century, Usulism emerged as a popular, fiercely independent, transnational Islamic movement. The Usuli clerics have often operated at the heart of social and political developments in modern Iraq and Iran and today dominate the politics of the region.

Table of Contents:
Preface   Introduction The Triumph of neo-Usulism The Eighteenth-Century Moment Contemporary Shi‘ism and its Roots Shi‘i Knowledge and Authority Summary of Chapters   Chapter 1 The Times and Places of Reform in the Modern World Introduction The Place of Modernity The Time of Modernity World Systems and Multiple Modernities Creation of the Modern World Tradition and Change: From Pre-Modern to Modern   Chapter 2 Shi‘ism and the Emergence of Modern Iran Introduction Safavid Centralization of Iran (1501–1722) Decentralization of Iran (1722–85) Qajar Recentralization of Iran (1785–1925) Conclusion   Chapter 3 Shi‘ism and the Emergence of Modern Iraq Introduction Ottoman and Mamluk Rule in Iraq Shi‘ism and Arab Tribes in Southern Iraq Conclusion   Chapter 4 Wahid Bihbihani: Shi‘i Reviver and Reformer Introduction Reviver of the Eighteenth Century Bihbihani’s Early Life Bihbihani in Bihbihan Usuli-Akhbari Dispute in Karbala’ The Historical and Mythical Bihbihani Conclusion: Why Usulism Prevailed   Chapter 5 Wahid Bihbihani’s Usuli Network in Iraq and Iran Introduction Usuli-Qajar Alliance Bihbihani’s Students in Iraq Sayyid Muhammad Mahdi Tabataba’i “Bahr al-’Ulum” (Najaf) Shaykh Ja‘far al-Najafi “Kashif al-Ghita’” (Najaf) Mirza Muhammad Mahdi Shahristani (Karbala’) Sayyid ‘Ali Tabataba’i (Karbala’) Bihbihani’s Students in Iran Mirza Abu al-Qasim Qummi (Qum) Mulla Ahmad Naraqi (Kashan) Muhammad Ibrahim Kalbasi (Isfahan) Muhammad Baqir Shafti (Isfahan) Additional Students of Bihbihani Conclusion   Chapter 6 Wahid Bihbihani’s Conception of Islamic Law Introduction Bihbihani’s Legalistic Conception of Knowledge Four or Five Sources of Usuli Shi‘i Law? 1 The Qur’an 2 Traditions (Hadith) 3 Consensus (ijma‘) 4 Reason (‘aql) 5 Transference (ta‘diyya) vs. Analogy (qiyas) Language (lugha) and Custom (‘urf) Conjecture of Mujtahids Conclusion   Chapter 7 Founding Fathers of Modern Islam Introduction Ibn ‘Abd al-Wahhab and the Wahhabi Movement Ibn Idris and Neo-Sufism Political Influence of the Reformers Knowledge and Authority Opponents of the Reformers Primary Concerns of the Reformers Conclusion   Glossary Notes Bibliography Index