The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Politics (247 page)

 
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A measure of the
power
of a party in coalition bargaining, based on the probability that the party can turn a winning coalition into a losing coalition. Formalizes the notion of ‘balance of power’ in coalition-building.

 
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See
fatwa
;
Islamic politics
;
Sunni
.

 
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Shi'i
or Shiite, refers to those Muslims within the minority trend in Islam, who predominate in Iran, northern Yemen, form the largest section of the population in Iraq and are estimated to form the largest community in Lebanon. Shiites are found in small numbers in many other Muslim countries.
The Shiites believe in the significance of ‘Ali, the fourth caliph (successor) in 656–61, as the legitimate successor to the Prophet who had died in 632. ‘Ali was cousin to the Prophet, married to Fatima, the Prophet's daughter, and produced the only grandsons of the Prophet. He was an early believer in the Prophet and those that supported him were referred to as the
Shi'at ‘Ali
(Party of ‘Ali). While this was part of the politics of the time, it later became elaborated into a religious doctrine complete with theology. At the time, though, the first civil war in the Islamic community occurred between ‘Ali as Caliph and Mu'awiyah, the leader of the Umayyads. The Umayyads won establishing their dynasty and caliphate. Hussein, ‘Ali’s second son and, in the
Shi'i
chronology, regarded as the third Caliph or Imam, was killed at Kerbala (Iraq) by the forces of Yazid, the son of Mu'awiyah and successor to the Umayyad caliphate. This event contributed the annual
Shi'i
remembrance of the martyrdom of Hussein, and his place of death and tomb at Kerbala became a point of pilgrimage. These events form the political background to the later theological development of Shiism.
According to Shiism, the first Imam (divinely inspired leader) after Muhammad—as the
Shi'i
designate the legitimate leader of the
Umma
—was regarded to have been ‘Ali, the fourth Caliph, and the proper succession should have been from Muhammad to ‘Ali and then to his descendants according to the possession of those qualities of seniority and reputation such as charisma, experience, and others necessary to carry out the duties of the commander of the faithful (
Amir al-Muminin
) and head of state. In the view of the
Imamis
, the largest subdivision in Shi'ism, there have been a succession of twelve recognized Imams descended from ‘Ali. This succession becomes a matter of contention among the
Shi'i
leading to fragmentation of the Shiites. The other two major subdivisions resulting from this contention are the Isma'ilis and Zaidis. The
Shi'i
believed that Muhammad had designated ‘Ali as successor and, in this way, a special quality was transmitted through the succession. Only the Imam, in effect selected ‘by divine right’, could be the final interpreter of the law on earth. In the absence of the Imam (according to the doctrine of occultation, the twelfth or ‘hidden’ Imam disappeared in AH260/ AD 878, in effect, suspending the Imamate), the
mujtahid
—a scholar learned in Islamic law—may interpret the law.
The Shiites have their own
sunna
(traditions) of the Prophet and their own
hadith
(sayings and doings of the Prophet). Each
Shi'i
subdivision developed separate schools of legal jurisprudence or interpretation and within these, there can be differences of opinion. Within the Ja'fari law school of the
Imami
during the seventeenth century, two schools of thought emerged: the
Akhbari
(traditions) which took a restrictive approach to
ijtihad
(independent interpretations in legal and theological matters), and the
Usuli
(roots) which emphasized the role of the
mujtahid
who was capable of independently interpreting the sacred sources as an intermediary of the Hidden Imam and, thus, serve as guides to the community. This meant interpretations were flexible to take account of changing conditions and times. The latter (
Usuli
) school became predominant in Iran in the eighteenth century and it is within this school that the AyatollahKhomeini was located. See also
Sunnism
.
BAR 

 
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The Communist Party of Peru (Sendero Luminoso) launched a Maoist ‘protracted people's war’ in 1980, after years of careful preparation around Ayacucho. The name comes from an early pamphlet entitled
The Shining Path of Jose Carlos Mariategui
, the founding father of Peruvian communism. By the late 1980s Sendero was Latin America's most successful guerrilla movement, distinguished by its frequent recourse to terrorism. Sendero leader Abimael Guzman Reynoso was captured in 1992.
RG 

 
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