Shows how the frictions and disparities between the different pockets of believers scattered throughout the Eastern Islamic world in the late ninth and tenth centuries, the relations between each of these and the Abbasid political institution

Shows how the frictions and disparities between the different pockets of believers scattered throughout the Eastern Islamic world in the late ninth and tenth centuries, the relations between each of these and the Abbasid political institution favoured the narration of different bodies of the Imams' traditions

'This book is an excellent initial step in Shi`i hadith studies.' - Journal of Semitic Studies 'The Formative Period of Twelver Shi'ism teaches us a great deal both about hadith collections in general, and about Shi'i hadith and the development of Imami Shi'ism, in particular.' - Bulletin of the Royal Institute for Inter-Faith Studies