The thesis aims at studying the growth and systematization of Shi'i usul al-fiqh in the fifth century, A.H. The attempt involves an analysis of the background against which this systematization developed and takes into account the two major works of the period, representing this systematization. The first is al-Dhari'ah of Sharif al-Murtada (d. 436/1044) and the second, 'Uddat al-Usul of Shaykh Abu Ja'far al-Tusi (d. 460/1067). The analysis of the books attempts to trace the pattern of development each writer has followed, the methodology of each and, ultimately, the basic principles each evolved as a basis for his usul al-fiqh. A certain amount of emphasis has been laid throughout the work, on determining what distinct concepts were being developed, as compared to the Sunnis. The main themes investigated are khabar, ijma' and ijtihad and how they affected the systematization.

The Shi'ite orthodoxy, represented by the Usuli trend, introduced a new institution, i.e. marja'-i taqlid, in the middle of the thirteenth/nineteenth century when the struggle for the authority of the Imam was heightened by the representatives of speculative thought in Shi'ism. This institution combined the status of the most learned mujtahid with the charisma derived from the vicegerency of the Imam of the Age without committing itself to miraculous performances or directly jeopardizing the ruling establishments. The Usuli orthodoxy successfully fought the Akhbaris' detachment from the formal bases of argumentation on the one hand and the direct pretension to the authority of the Imam by the Sufis and Shaykhis on the other hand. The Usulis not only placed the marja'-i taqlid at the head of the Shi'ite learned hierarchy, but gave his pronouncements as of binding authority for the community. Marja'-i taqlid benefitted from the growth of popular religion among post-Safavid Iranians whose religious alms and charities guaranteed the financial independence of the supreme mujtahids. Marja'-i taqlid played important roles in the socio-political development of the Shi'ite people of Iran and Iraq either by legitimizing their constitutional and reformist movements or opposing colonialist and Westernizationist processes. However, in practice, the institution of marja'iyat escaped any attempts to embed the institution into the constitutional system or into any formal structure of juristic hierarchy.

This thesis is a study of the development of the Babi movement and the political implications embodied in its religious teachings. The thesis basically assumes that in its early development (1844--1848), the movement may be seen merely as religiously dissenting from the mainstream of Shi'i tradition. In the course of history, however, and especially after the Bab, its founder, claimed in 1848 to be the return of the Hidden Imam and proclaimed the abrogation of Qur'anic shari'a, the Babi movement showed radical tendencies, thus threatening the established religious and political authorities. This later development (1848--1853) was characterized by armed revolts by the Babis against the government troops. This thesis also examines the nature of Babi religious dissent and demonstrate that the Babi revolts were to a large extent based on religious motives.

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Shayk Tabarsi was a Shiite scholar, the only Shiite theologian of importance in the twelfth century A.D. He produced a commentary on the Qur'an which scholars, both Shiite and Sunnite, have acclaimed as the leading work in the field of tafsir. No Western scholar has done any study on Tabarsi or on any of his works. This dissertation is therefore, the first work in a Western language to be devoted to this important Muslim scholer and theologian.

The purpose for undertaking this case study of the Shi'a in Lebanon is threefold. First, as a hypothesis-generating case study, its objective is to formulate relevant hypotheses about religious resurgence and religious terrorism. This study achieves this objective by formulating 14 general and nine special hypotheses, and testing and confirming the latter. Second, the purpose of this study is also to explore the trajectory of the Lebanese Shi'a's sectarian mobilization. This exploration permits the conceptualization of geocultural immobility and its effect upon a religious minority. It deduces that the Lebanese Shiga's geo-cultural immobility is directly related to their active religious resurgence. The third purpose is to study the changes in the objectives and tactics of a religious minority, that of the Muslim Shi'a in Lebanon. This research is able, via its primary and secondary data, to show a relationship between the Lebanese Shiga's religious resurgence and their use of religious terrorism. This study introduces the concept of geo-cultural immobility. A minority's geo-cultural immobility is identified as an imposed low geographic mobility within a nation with low cultural pluralism. It establishes the Lebanese Shi'a's geo-cultural immobility, to which it attributes their religious resurgence. This Lebanese Shi'a religious resurgence is proven in this research to produce zealots needed by religious terrorist organizations. This study also introduces and defines religious terrorism as violent acts performed by elements of a religious organization or sect, growing out of a commitment to communicate a divine message. It distinguishes between religious terrorism, secular terrorism, and fighters for religious freedom, which are based on the actors' motives, affinities, and consciousness of the maliciousness of their acts. The primary and secondary data and the quasi-experiment in this research support its special hypotheses. They indicate a statistical correlation between eight Lebanese Shi'a cultural and religious attributes: (1) age, (2) marital status, (3) extent of Shi'a Imam's militancy, (4) personal religious commitment and religious resurgence, (5) zealotry, (6) geo-cultural immobility, (7) imprisonment of family members, and (8) willingness to commit terrorism.

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Islam was drastically altered in Iran as a result of the 1978/79 Revolution. This thesis looks at the political aspects of contemporary Imami Shi'ism by comparing the ideas of three leading mujtahids of the day: Ayatullah Shari 'atmadari, Ayatullah Khumayni, and Ayatullah Taliqani. This study points out the wide divergences of ideas present within the religious class, ranging in the political spectrum, from conservative to radical. A comparison of these three figures highlights the differences between "Traditionalist" Islam, as put forth by Shari 'atmadari, and "Fundamentalist" Islam, as proposed by Khumayni and Taliqani. Further differences within the fundamentalist "camp" are demonstrated through Taliqani 's progressive all-inclusive "Liberation Theology" and Khumayni 's equally all-encompassing "religion of militant individuals".

The advent of Ahmad Kasravi (1890--1946) and his Pakdini movement represents one of the most important developments in the history of socio-religious thought in Iran in the Pahlavi era (1925--1979). It was one of the greatest home-grown ideological challenges to Shi'ism and Shi'i clergy in the twentieth century. / The present thesis aims to analyze Kasravi's religious ideology. It examines first the historical factors that played a significant role in the development of Kasravi's socio-religious consciousness and his keen interest in religion. Secondly, it explores the intellectual contexts of his religious thought---its origins, the controversial nature of it, the original aspects of it, the reaction of the clergy and intellectuals of the time to it, and its significance and impact on the coming generations. Finally, the key concepts of Kasravi's socio-religious ideology and some major current misunderstandings of them are examined. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)