Maria Massi Dakake is Associate Professor of Religious Studies at George Mason University.

Acknowledgments
List of Abbreviations
Author's Notes

Introduction

Part I: The Principle of Walayah and the Origins of the Community

1. Walayah in the Islamic Tradition

2.  The Ghadir Khumm Tradition: Walayah and the Spiritual Distinctions of Ali b. Abi Talib

3. Walayah, Authority, and Religious Community in the First Civil War

4. The Shiite Community in the Aftermath of the First Civil War

Part II: Walayah, Faith, and the Charismatic Nature of Shiite Identity

5. Walayah as the Essence of Religion: Theological Developments at the Turn of the Second Islamic Century

6. Membership in the Shiite Community and Salvation

7. Predestination and the Mythological Origins of Shiite Identity

8. The Charismatic Nature and Spiritual Distinction of the Shiites

Part III: Creating a Community within a Community

9. Shiites and Non-Shiites: The Distinction between Iman and Islam

10. Degrees of Faith: Establishing a Hierarchy within the Shiite Community

11. "Rarer than Red Sulfur": Women's Identity in Early Shiism

12. Perforated Boundaries: Establishing Two Codes of Conduct

Notes
Bibliography
Index