"Exploring Early Sectarian Identity in Islam" by Ahmed El Shamsy, Mohsen Goudarzi, and Mohammad Sagha
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Abstract: Although the sectarian labels of Sunni and Shi’a are widely used today to cover a range of identities and beliefs held by Muslims across the Islamic World, there are many foundational questions remaining over the origins of sectarian identity in Islam as well as its implications across time. The field has largely understudied theories of sectarianism, and the precise applications of Sunni and Shi’a labels, including the content of their beliefs and the boundaries between them, largely remain ambiguous to historians, political scientists, and others alike. This discussion will cover some of the theoretical, methodological, and thematic issues relating to the study of sectarianism, Shi’a and Sunni identities, and the challenges in understanding what these labels mean in the larger field of Islamic and Middle Eastern studies.