142 The American Journal of [slamic Social Sciences 19:4 

Roman Catholics and Shi'i Musli ms: 

Prayer, Passion, and Politics 

James A. Bill and John Alden Williams 

Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2002. 166 pages. 

Comparing Roman Catholicism and Twelver Shi'i Islam suggests itself for 

several reasons: the parallel passions of Jesus Christ and Prophet Muham­
mad's grandson Husayn; the suffering of and devotion of their mothers, Mary 
and Fatimah; and perhaps most prominently in recent years, the powerful 
hierarchies of authority within each faith, headed by the Pope on the Catholic 

side and by several leading jurists (mljjtahidun) who bear the title of legal 
authority for laymen ( marji>al-taqlid) on the Shi'i side. In fact, the papacy is 
frequently mentioned in contemporary debates about the marji> al-taqlid's 







Book Reviews 145 

Sunni Islamic societies and the various Protestant churches, but they have 
been influential nevertheless. 

In Roman Catholics and Shi'i Muslims, Bill and Williams have taken 

an important step beyond this negative and superficial approach and pro­
duced a sympathetic and even-handed portrayal of both Roman 
Catholicism and Twelver Shi 'i Islam. In adopting this sympathetic 

approach, however, they have missed an important opportunity for another 

comparative chapter. As a by-product of clerical power, both Catholic and 
Shi'i societies have developed rich anti-clerical folk traditions, involving 
myriad jokes and anecdotes about lecherous, greedy clerics, whether they 

be priests in France or mullahs in Iran. 

Devin Stewart 

Chair, Department of Middle Eastern Studies 

Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia