The Shi’i Imamate

The volume under review, published jointly by the London-based Institute of Ismaili Studies and I.B. Tauris, is a significant contribution to the fields of Shi[i studies and Isma[ili studies particularly, medieval Islamic history, Islamic theology, and Islamic political thought. The late Sami Makarem, the volume’s translator, editor, and annotator, was a distinguished scholar of Islamic and Druze studies who published extensively on Druze theology, Isma[ili studies and Islamic mysticism. In addition to his scholarly output, Makarem was also a published poet. Sadly he did not live to see the publication of the present volume, passing away in August 2012. The volume, however, is a more than worthy final publication from a prolific scholar. His brief but detailed introduction to the text is particularly useful in placing the Tathbit al-Imamah within the Fatimid juridical and theological canon. Like other edited and annotated translations produced jointly by the Institute of Ismaili Studies and I.B. Tauris, the volume includes the Arabic text in the back, following the English translation.