Includes articles that examine legal and political aspects of early Shi'ism. In this book, studies relate to doctrinal views of the Zaydi imams al-Qasim b Ibrahim al-Rassi and al-Natiq bi-I-Haqq and to Zaydi attitudes to Sufism. It also focuses on the Isma'iliyya, their social and political history and aspects of their religious thought.