This book is a study of the concept of
wilāya
and its developments among
Shīʿī
scholars from the eighteenth to twentieth century. Leila Chamankhah addresses a number of issues by delving into the conceptualizations of
through the examination and interpretation of key texts. She focuses on the influence of ibn ʿArabī’s mysticism, with regard to the conception of
, on his
Shīʿa
successors and expositors in later centuries. She also discusses the development and transformation of the conception of
over two hundred years, from the esoteric school of
Shaykhīsm
to the politicization of
in the theory of
wilāyat al-faqīh.