Machine summary:
Thirty-eight essays are brought together in this volume to honor Hermann Landolt of the Institute of Islamic Studies at McGill University, Canada.
Esoteric taqiyya was “a necessary and integral part” of Twelver Shi`ism in early times, for the 44 Book Reviews community’s very existence and status depended upon notions of privileged knowledge belonging to the Imams, which is shared secretly with the com munity.
Within this new understanding, the Imams’ status became protected by the doctrine of infal libility (`ismah) rather than esoteric knowledge, and quietism was no longer considered a suspect attitude.
It would have been fascinating indeed if this article could have been brought into conjunction with the topic of Bulbul Shah’s essay: “Al-Qadi Nu`man and the Concept of Batin.
After reading this, I was left wondering about the role of the zahir/batin dichotomy in early Ithna ashari thought and how that might tie into the notion of the esoteric taqiyya explored so lucidly by Clarke.