فصلنامه شیعه شناسی
پیاپی 12 (زمستان 1384)

After explaining Qom’s historical geography and its place in promoting religious sciences this paper studies the most important factors effective in the origin and expansion of Shi’ism, among which are the following:•The Holy Prophet’s emphasis on the supremacy of Imam Ali and his followers over others.•Emigration of Shias and Shi’ite great scholars from other Islamic places to Qom, especially the promotional journey made to Ardhal by Hezrat Sultanali and his martyrdom therein.•The stay of Hezrat Ma’suma and other descendants and companians of the Imams (peace be upon them) at Qom.•Construction of mosques and cultural centers. •The uprising of Imam Husain (peace be upon him) and the martyrdom of the Imam and his children and companions.•Polytheistic and tyrannical systems of Sasanid kings, which, after the Umayyad and Abbasid caliphs, paved the ground for escaping from Zoroastrianism and the religion of Umayyad and Abbasid caliphs and embracing Shi’ism.

Ghuluw, or extremism, is a deviation from religion and extremists have always been a problem for Muslims. However, all the different Muslim sects claim that they are free from extremism. What is ghuluw? Who were the founders of ghuluw? Where did it come from? What are the beliefs of those who practice ghuluw? Which sect, Shia or Sunni, suffers from it? These are some of the questions that this article is going to address in a liberary manner. Ghuluw can take on numerous forms and is not bound to one specific sect. It is also not possible to say which sect started it first and not only all sects but also all people in general are somehow or other, involved in ghuluw. However, the important thing is showing that true Shicism is free from ghuluw.

This paper is a review and critique of Henry Corbin's views on the twelver Shia. Emphasising the similarities between the Shiite faith and the ancient Persia's spirituality, the famous French orientalist and mystic tries to establish a link between Tashayyu' and the spirit of Iran. For him, what establishes the link between the two is the concept of the World of Forms, which is a constitutive concept in both cultures. However, he ignores the fact that the concept was first introduced by Arab mystics, such as Ibn 'Arabi, or Sunni Iranians, such as Sohravardi. Moreover, Corbin's interpretation of the World of Forms among the Shia is incompatible with the basic creeds of the Shia.

Living in the first Hegiri century, Imam Ali, Imam Hasan, Imam Husain and Imam Sajjad (peace be upon them) are considered from the Imami point of view to be the first leaders of guidance after the Holy prophet (peace be upon him). They played an important part in compiling, recording and disseminating Shi’ite sciences. Despite all oppositions, each Imam tried his best to record the traditions, himself, from his predecessor and disseminate them during his leadership (imamate) and to pave the ground for his followers to record and spread them. It is because of these endeavors that Shi’ite sciences are now available to the Shica.

Legality or illegality of contraception has always been a controversial subject among Islamic scholars. This issue grows in importance when it comes to Islamic state policies regarding population. Touching on the noticeable increasing growth of population and birth control in Islam during the recent centuries, this article examines for and against decrees of Faqihs and their effects on family planning and population growth.

The first example of the socio-political activities of the Iranian Shica was their participation in struggles initiated by Arab dissident immigrants with the slogan that al-Reza was from the progeny of the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him). During the Umayyad and Abbasid tyranny as well as during the dominance of Ghaznavid and Saljuqid Turks over Iran, the Shica followed quietist policies based on religious ruling, carrying out secret cultural activities which culminated at the end of the reign of Malikshah, a Saljuqid.With the Mongol dominance over Iran and Baghdad the political supremacy of Sunnis disappeared and even for a while Shi’ism was recognized in Iran. During Tymorid reign Shi’ism and Sunnism were going to reconcile their differences though a tendency existed towards Shi’ism.The ceaseless and vigorous efforts made by the Shica in a variety of ways succeeded after nine centuries, with the recognition of Shiism as the religion of the country by Safavid Shah Ismail.

Concering the propounded specifications of the Ideal Society of the Chief of the Faithful (p.b.u.h) the domain of social relations, standards, criteria and rights in such a society has been presented in the form of a plan entitled “Constitution of the Ideal Society of Imam Ali.” (p.b.u.h) The general principles of this Constitution are designed of the basis of the ontological definitions of human being, world, society and the desired (utmost) object. The subjects under discussion revolve around the issues such as rights of people, the qualifications and rights of leadership, right of sovereignty and the consequent authorities, the functions of judiciary and judgment, the duties of executive organizations and governmental officials, soldiers and military forces, economics and financial affairs, etc.In an ideal society, the social relations network results from the establishment of proper relations between people and the leadrship. In such a society people and leadership are the tow fundamental poles around which social arrangements and relations are formed and result in the establishment of the social relations network as well as social institutions in a society.

As the West was continuing to advance, attention was paid, in contemporary Iran, to why Iran was backward or why it was kept backward politically, economically and socially. Several attempts (including constitutionalism) were made to overcome this backwardness and to attain an ideal state of affair in terms of development, but none was of any avail. Why? The present article attempts to answer this question. The author believes that marginalizing religious values and those promoting them was one of the most important causes of this failure.