Routledge The Twelver Shi'a as a Muslim Minority in India: Pulpit of Tears (Routledge Persian and Shi'i Studies)

One of the most important current debates within and about Islam concerns its relation with power. Can Muslims be fundamentally content without power or as a minority? This book considers the voice of an important Muslim minority through its sermons. Indian Shi'i Muslims are a minority within a minority, constituting about ten to fifteen percent of the population as a whole, but comprising of about fifteen million people. Ten sermons are presented entirely and many more are quoted in order to analyze the preaching tradition in full. This book is the first survey to present the Indian mourning gathering and explain the history of this extraordinary phenomenon. Review "Howarth's lucid and well-researched work makes an important contribution to our understanding of the interplay between religion, rituals, and culture in the commemoration of Shii rituals in India." - Liyakat Takim, Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, Volume 70 Number 2, 2007"The narrative presented by the author in this book is a succinct historical and anthropological account of the Shi'i community of Hyderabad (India) and a good contribution in the field of Shi'i studies." - Ali Raza Naqvi, Islamic Studies, Number 4, 2009 About the Author Toby Howarth is currently Vice Principal of Crowther hall, at Selly Oak in Birmingham. A graduate of Yale University, Birmingham University and the Free University of Amsterdam, he has studied and worked in Birmingham, Oxford, Uganda, Egypt, Jerusalem, India, and the Netherlands. He speaks and writes widely in the field of Muslim-Christian relations.