Publisher's Synopsis
This study was prompted by the events surrounding the Islamic revolution of 1987-9 in Iran. The new Islamic regime justified the rule of the Ayatollah Khomeini, and of the Shi'ite Imams in general, on the basis of the doctrine that the Islamic jurist is best suited to rule with justice in an Islamic country. This concept, Sachedina discovered, has no apparent parallel in Sunni Islam. He therefore decided to seek its origins in the Sunni/Shi'i schism, which took place after the death of the Prophet, and then to trace its historical evolution up to the present time. Sachedina not only conducted exhaustive research in the Islamic libraries of Islam and Jordan, but also spent several months in discussion with leading jurists and scholars in Iran. The result is an in-depth analysis of an Islamic phenomenon of vital contemporary social and political significance.
