Annali di Ca’ Foscari. Serie orientale

Journal | Annali di Ca’ Foscari. Serie orientale
Journal issue | 59 | 2023
Research Article | The Cult of imām Ḥusayn Among the Khojas of South Asia in the Second Half of the Nineteenth Century

The Cult of imām Ḥusayn Among the Khojas of South Asia in the Second Half of the Nineteenth Century

Abstract

The Ismaʿili Agha Khani Khojas of South Asia can be distinguished from other Shiʿi Muslims by their non-observance of the ritual practices commemorating the martyrdom of the grand-son of the Prophet, Ḥusayn, in Kerbala, Iraq, on 10 Muharram 61 A.H./10 October 680 A.D. We know that a process of charismatic centralization around the figure of the āghā khān as the Ismaili imām present hic et nunc (ḥażir imām) contributed to the abandoning of the cult of Husayn among the Ismaili Agha Khani Khojas. Based on a study of two devotional texts, this article demonstrates that the cult of Husayn was transposed in the second half of the 19th century to a new cult surrounding the āghā khān and members of his family before being abandoned in the context of dissidence against the āghā khān.


Open access | Peer reviewed

Submitted: March 10, 2023 | Accepted: May 31, 2023 | Published Aug. 29, 2023 | Language: fr

Keywords Ᾱghā khān • Imām Ḥusayn • Marsiya • Khojas • Devotional literature

Copyright © 2023 Zahir Bhalloo. This is an open-access work distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction is permitted, provided that the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. The license allows for commercial use. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

Permalink http://doi.org/10.30687/AnnOr/2385-3042/2023/01/009


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