HISTORY OF ISLAMIC COUNTRIES

The aim of the course is to provide students with tools for acquiring knowledge and understanding of Shiʽism, a religious and political minority of Islam which, today, in its variant Twelver Shiʽism, is prevalent in Iran, but which is also followed, with different percentages, in the Arab Muslim world (e.g. Iraq, Bahrain, Lebanon, Kuwait, UAE). Knowing its history, students will be able both to place properly the Shiite phenomenon in the complex picture of contemporary Islamic world and in the international arena, and to reflect, with critical tools, on the Sunni-Shiite conflict narrative.

SHIʽISM: OPPOSITION AND HYPOTHESIS OF POWER

The course aims to define the Shiite phenomenon as a religious tendency, a heretical minority, an opposition party and a political-philosophical ideology taking into consideration the most important historical crossroads up to our contemporary times. The concept of authority and the sources of authority as well as the major figures and the schools of thought up to the current doctrines and political groups will receive our attention.

• L. Capezzone, M. Salati, L’islam sciita. Storia di una minoranza, Roma, Edizioni Lavoro, 2006, pp. 435.

• F. Sabahi, Storia dell’Iran, Milano, Bruno Mondatori, 2006, pp. 298.

• G. Corm, Il Libano contemporaneo. Storia e società, Milano, Jaca Book, 2006, pp. 367.