Reaching for Power: The Shi’a in the Modern Arab World

247 Pages·2006·1.75 MB·English

by  Yitzhak Nakash

Reaching for
Power
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Yitzhak Nakash
Reaching for
Power
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The Shi‘a in the Modern Arab World
PRINCETON UNIVERSITY PRESS
PRINCETON AND OXFORD
Copyright©2006byPrincetonUniversityPress
PublishedbyPrincetonUniversityPress,41WilliamStreet,
Princeton,NewJersey08540
IntheUnitedKingdom:PrincetonUniversityPress,3MarketPlace,
Woodstock,OxfordshireOX201SY
AllRightsReserved
LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
Nakash,Yitzhak.
Reachingforpower:theshi‘ainthemodernArabworld/YitzhakNakash.
p. cm.
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
ISBN-13:978-0-691-12529-9(hardcover:alk.paper)
ISBN-10:0-691-12529-5(hardcover:alk.paper)
1.Shiites—MiddleEast.2.Islamandpolitics—MiddleEast.I.Title.
DS59.S55N35 2006
320.956′088′29782—dc22 2005021393
BritishLibraryCataloging-in-PublicationDataisavailable
ThisbookhasbeencomposedinSabonwithFrizQuadratadisplay
Printedonacid-freepaper.∞
pup.princeton.edu
PrintedintheUnitedStatesofAmerica
1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2
To Beth
And to Neta and Talya
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Contents
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Preface ix
ANoteonTransliteration xiii
Prologue A Shi‘i-Led Reformation 1
Chapter1 The Burden of the Past 16
Chapter2 Containment Politics in the Persian Gulf 42
Chapter3 The Struggle for Power in Iraq 72
Chapter4 The Revival of Shi‘ism in Lebanon 99
Chapter5 Between Aspirations and Reality 129
Conclusion 158
Abbreviations 165
Notes 167
FurtherReading 207
Acknowledgments 211
Index 213
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Preface
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AmonthbeforetheJanuary2005electionsinIraq,andafewdays
after gunmen brazenly shot to death election officials in broad
daylightattheheartofBaghdad,theAnsaral-Sunnamilitantgroup
issuedastatementdenouncingdemocracyasun-Islamicbecauseit
idolized human beings. “Democracy,” the statement read, “is a
Greekwordindicatingtheruleofthepeople,whichmeansthatthe
people do as they see fit. This concept of government is apostasy
because it defies the Muslim doctrinal belief that sovereignty rests
withGod.”ThestatementwasendorsedbytwootherSunniinsur-
gent groups. It warned that anyone who participates in the elec-
tions will not be safe, and was clearly aimed at countering the
rulings of Shi‘i clerics that voting in the elections was the duty of
every Iraqi.
Both this statement, and the mounting violence in Iraq in the
periodbeforeandaftertheelections,underscorethefiercestruggle
thatisragingtodayamongMuslimsforthesoulofIslam—astrug-
gle that is taking shape at a time when America is attempting to
play an assertive role in the Middle East, and as the geopolitics of
the region are shifting. The outcome of this war of ideas within
Islam will have a profound impact not only on the people of the
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