This reference draws on the scattered findings of modern scholarship in the field, attempting to explain the formative era of Shi'i Islam, when a multitude of Muslim groups and schools of thought were elaborating their doctrinal positions.

Table of Contents

• The Institute of Ismaili Studies Shiʿi Heritage Series, 1 Editorial Staff
• About the Author
• The Institute of Ismaili Studies
• Shiʿi Heritage Series
• Genealogical Tables and Lists
• Preface
• Note on Transliteration and Dates
• Abbreviations
• 1. Introduction: Progress in the Study of Shiʿi Islam
• Diversity in early Islam
• Medieval Sunni perceptions
• Medieval European perceptions
• Orientalist perspectives
• Modern scholarship on Shiʿi Islam
• 2. The Origins and Early History of Shiʿi Islam
• Origins of Shiʿism
• The early Shiʿa
• The Kaysaniyya
• The ghulat
• The early Imamiyya
• The Imami Shiʿi doctrine of the imamate
• 3. The Ithnaʿasharis or Twelvers
• The later Twelver imams and the hidden Mahdi
• From the occultation of the twelfth imam to the Mongol invasions
• From Nasir al-Din al-Tusi to the advent of the Safawids
• From the Safawids to early modern times
• From around 1215/1800 to the present
• 4. The Ismailis
• The early Ismailis
• The Fatimid phase in Ismaili history
• The Tayyibi Ismailis: The Yamani and Indian phases
• The Nizari Ismailis: The Alamut phase
• Later developments in Nizari Ismaili history
• The Anjudan revival
• The modern period
• 5. The Zaydis
• The early Zaydis
• The Zaydis of the Caspian region in Persia
• The Zaydis of Yaman
• 6. The Nusayris or ʿAlawis
• Nusayri studies
• History of the Nusayris
• The Nusayri-ʿAlawi doctrines
• Glossary
• Bibliography