Shii Islam

The hawza 'ilmiyya is centered on the personal relationship between the master and the disciple, but over time this institution has changed and has become a center of higher education

The Islamic Republic of Iran is founded on the idea that clerics should exercise political power by virtue of their ability to interpret the divine will, a principle questioned by theologians and intellectuals.

From a theological point of view, Yemen’s Zaydi Shi‘a are different from Twelvers Shi‘a of Iran. However, the 1979 Islamic Revolution and the rise of the Huthi movement narrowed this gap. A short history

On 11th February 1979 came the proclamation of the victory of the revolution that deposed the Shah. A historical analysis of the causes and the protagonists of an event that changed the Middle East

From imam’s centrality to the jurisconsult’s government

Born as a revolutionary movement, Shi‘ite Islam saw the role of the ulama grow constantly and uninterruptedly during the course of its history until a genuine hierarchy, dominated by the authority of the marja‘iyya, was created from the nineteenth century onward

The Qur’an needs a "Keeper" as sensory organs need a heart

It is a fundamental principle of Shi‘ite exegesis that the imam is the only person who may legitimately interpret the sacred Text, having been chosen and inspired by God for this purpose

A discussion of how, in the last sixty years, there has been in Iran a transition from Shi’ite traditionalism to an indigenous religious and Marxist ideology capable of mobilising the masses up to the Revolution of 1979

Military jihad will return only at the end of history. And yet it is a battle that has already begun for all men, but some want to precipitate it

Creative jurisprudence. In his Testaments Muhammad Mahdi Shamseddine produced a general vision of Islam that is characterised by clemency and moderation. And he called on the Muslim faithful to belong to the world in order to contribute to the construction of a civil state that would defend the complex components of society.

It was not Persian but Shi’ism that crystallised the unity of the modern State. And it was for this reason that the ousting of the Shah and the establishment of the Islamic Republic were able to base themselves on a tradition that is well rooted in national identity