After the death of the Prophet, a struggle ensued for leadership of the Muslim community. Those who believe the Prophet's cousin and son-in-law Ali was his legitimate successor are called the Shi'i, and Dabashi's book is a fascinating look at this tradition viewed through the lens of such thinkers as Freud, Weber, Habermas, and others.

- Christopher McConnell, Booklist

You can't make sense of the news from the Middle East without some understanding of the ancient division between Sunni and Shi'ite Muslims. <i>Shi'ism: A Religion of Protest</i>, by Hamid Dabashi, offers a comprehensive new history of Shi'ite theology, history, and politics, down to the current conflict in Iraq.

- Adam Kirsch, Barnes and Noble Review

[A] challenging and brilliant new book...Dabashi's extraordinarily rich and powerful book takes Shiism out of the sectarian ghettos where it was largely confined when it became an ideological weapon of the Persian Empire in its rivalry with the Sunni Ottomans. By emancipating Shiism from its instrumental use by the Islamic Republic of Iran, he has performed a vital cultural--and political--service.

- Malise Ruthven, New York Review of Books