In The Shīʿīs in Palestine Yaron Friedman offers a survey of the presence of Shīʿism in the region of Palestine (today: Israel) from early Islamic history until the contemporary period. It brings to light many pieces of information and interesting developments that are not widely known, in addition to the general point that, contrary to common belief, the Shīʿī community has played a significant role in the history of Palestine. The volume includes a study of Shīʿī shrines in Palestine, as well as showing the importance of these Muslim sites and holy towns in Palestine in the Shīʿī religion.
Yaron Friedman, Ph.D. (Sorbonne, 2006), is lecturer and Arabic instructor at the University of Haifa. He published The Nuṣayrī-ʿAlawīs: An Introduction to the Religion, History and Identity of the Leading Minority in Syria (Brill, 2010). He has also published articles in Studia Islamica, Der Islam, Le Museon and entries in the Encyclopaedia of Islam (third edition).
“This volume is a welcome contribution to the study of two still relatively neglected areas of scholarship: Shiʿism and the history of Palestine. The detail is so rich that the reader is left almost wishing the book were longer. It can only be hoped that others will use this work as a starting point for many more studies related to the Shiʿi’s in Palestine.” Fuchsia Hart, University of Oxford, inJournal of Shiʿa Islamic Studies 11 (2018): 117-120
"The Shīʿīs in Palestine broadens the historical study of Shīʿism and Shīʿī Muslim communities in the Middle East and the Levant, much of which has focused on the large Shīʿī communities in modern-day southern Lebanon, Iraq and Iran. Friedman draws upon a wide collection of Muslim historical and theological writings, including materials produced by Ibn ʿArabī, al-Ghazālī and Ibn Taymīyya. In addition to adding to the historiographical literature, the book also serves as a useful addition to the ethnographic literature on Islamic art and architecture and Palestinian folklore. It will be of interest to scholars and students of Islamic studies, Middle Eastern history, Palestinian studies and Shīʿī studies." Christopher Anzalone, Marine Corps University and George Mason University, in Islam and Christian–Muslim Relations, DOI: 10.1080/09596410.2022.2080440
Preface List of Figures and Tables Note on Translations, Dates, and Transliteration
Introduction
Medieval and Modern Palestine
1 From Immigration to the Golden Age
1 The First Shīʿīs in Palestine
2 Palestine under Shīʿī Rule
3 Giving Palestine a Shīʿī Identity: Tombs of the ahl al-bayt
4 Ibn al-ʿArabī and the Shīʿīs of Tiberias and Acre
5 The End of the “Shīʿī Century”
2 The Disappearance of the Shīʿī Community in Palestine
1 The Ayyūbid Restoration
2 Mamlūk Oppression
3 Persecutions
3 The Shīʿīs in Galilee
1 The Region of Safed
2 The Matāwila in Northern Palestine
3 Palestinian and Zionist Views on the Shīʿī Villages
4 The Palestinian Fear of the Return of the Shīʿīs
5 Remaining Shīʿī Sects
4 Shīʿī Folklore and Religious Traditions about Palestine
1 Shīʿism in Palestinian Folklore
2 Shīʿī Traditions concerning Holy Towns in Palestine
Conclusion
Appendix 1: The Ṭālibiyyūn in Palestine Appendix 2: Photos and Inscriptions of Shīʿī Shrines in Palestine Appendix 3: The Fatwā of Taqī l-Dīn Aḥmad b. Taymiyya concerning the Head of Ḥusayn in Ashkelon Appendix 4: Israeli Documents: Hūnīn 1948—the Missed Opportunity Appendix 5: Interviews with Two Palestinian Shaykhs Who Converted to Shīʿism Appendix 6: A Shīʿī Supplication in the “Shīʿīs of Palestine” Facebook Page Appendix 7: Interview with a Member of the Dāwūdī Bohrās Timeline of Shīʿī History in Palestine
Glossary of Shīʿī Terms in the Palestinian Context
Bibliography Index
All those interested in the history of the Shīʿīs in Palestine, the History of Islam, Shi’ism, Muslim Geography and mausoleums in Palestine.