In the nineteenth century, the shrine cities of Najaf and Karbala in Ottoman Iraq emerged as the most important Shi'i centres of learning. In a major contributi

Involved for over thirty years in the politics of Iraq, Ali A. Allawi was a long-time opposition leader against the Baathist regime. In the post-Saddam years he

The assault on Samarra, which was built in the period of the Abbasid caliphate in the ninth century CE, therefore came to represent for many a symbol of the des

Heinz Halm's work presents a thorough discussion of the history, theology, and current state of this branch of Islam. Newly revised, Shi'ism includes updated in

Sunni-Shi'i relations have undergone significant transformations in recent decades. In order to understand these developments, the contributors to the present v