فصلنامه شیعه شناسی
پیاپی 35 (پاییز 1390)

Propaganda must be regarded as a concept related to the origins and basis of such fields as: culture, society, communications, politics, and publicity. In addition to having a theoretical richness, it has gained great application, especially in recent decades, in the arena of history. This is a noteworthy and controversial fact not only in western scientific circles, but also in the Islamic realm, particularly in certain historical ages. The somewhat short period of the Umayyad dynasty, particularly the period of Mu’awiyat Ibn Abu Sufyan, is very important to be investigated as a great deviation from pure and genuine prophetic and Alid Islam. The techniques of propaganda used by Mu’awiyah against the Ahl al-Bayt (the household of the prophet), especially Imam 'Ali, illustrate the ambiguous atmosphere of the Muslim nation and their exceeding ignorance of political, cultural, and social trends of that time. It also shows that propaganda was strongly influential in that atmosphere, because the ignorance of society and hegemony of propaganda are always the two sides of the same coin, making the importance of knowing and attending to this theme multifold.

The relationship between jurisprudents and mystics has been constantly a controversial topic among scholars. There have been scholars throughout the history of Islam who spent their lives challenging mysticism. Others, meanwhile, tried to support true mysticism; Shahid Thani (Shahid II) is among such scholars. Hence, this survey is going to review mystical ideas and thoughts of this honorable scholar. In this article, in addition to his fondness of mystics, the appearance of practical and theoretical mysticism in his works and demeanor will be shown both in content and method. His mystical interactions are also reviewed. This survey will show how a prominent jurisprudent was in agreement with Islamic mysticism and sophism, and despite some opposition, he was inclined to Islamic mysticism. This fact is a sign of the great and yet unknown capacity of Islamic mysticism. It is through these kinds of investigations that the real mysticism heeded by Shiah Imamite jurisprudents is introduced to those in quest of true mysticism.

The public interest or commonweal law in Shia jurisprudence is based on the jurisprudential theory of governmental rulings accepted by many jurisprudents in fulfilling ‘Deputational Imamate” during the occultation. To put it more accurately, Islam has offered origins, principles, values, and standard frameworks upon which we can

One of the important teachings of Buddhism is the principle of "suffering". Buddhism considers "suffering" and pain the most important feature of human life and introduces ways of deliverance and emancipation from such. In Islamic teachings and in the school of the infallible Shi’ah imams as well, the existence of disasters, calamities, and catastrophes are considered to be natural events for all human beings, but suffering and feeling pain is seen to depend on how one looks at disasters and calamities. According to the infallible Shiah Imams, suffering is not the same as undergoing disaster. In this survey we study the ideas of both sides comparatively and examine their similarities and dissimilarities.

Nayshabur, a city in northeastern Iran, was an important populous and scientific center of Sunni Muslims, but nowadays there is no sign of Sunnism in this city. This survey is in quest of finding the causes of the exchange of Sunnism for Shiism in this area. Undoubtedly, various factors have been effective in this regard. In this article the role of the "Alids" in spreading Shiism in Nayshabur is analyzed. In this regard, it is noteworthy that because of their high position in Islamic culture and subsequently, enjoying social popularity and prestige on one hand and their ample presence in Nayshabur and theirfidelity to Shiism and its promotion on the other hand, the Alids played a great role in the spread of Shiism in this region.

Paying more attention to some centers of Hadith study by scholars has led to less awareness being given regarding other centers, or even forgetting them altogether. An example of these ignored centers is the scientific-geographical center of Samarkand and Kash in ancient Khorasan and Mawara' al-Nahr. The importance of this scientific center manifests when the scientific dependence of Shiite traditional centers on one hand and the training of certain prominent Shiite scholars over a long time on the other hand are precisely scrutinized. Keeping this point in mind, this article aims to fully introduce the various dimensions of this center and attempts to review and, using different rijali, traditional, historical and geographical sources, seeks to recognize its different dimensions, namely, its formation, the history of the scientific presence of the Shiah in this center, its rise and decline, and also its professors, disciples, and scientific works.

The clan of Ardalan is among other Kurd clans who ruled before the Safavids for a long time, till towards the end of the Qajar dynasty, over some Kurdish regions of Iran. Like other Kurdish clans, this clan was also initially Sunni, but in the middle of Safavid era and due to a marriage between Khan Ahmad Khan, a prince of the Ardalan clan, and the sister of Shah 'Abbas, by which their position was elevated from local governors to the position of Wali Nishin, an important position in the Safavid dynasty, the leaders of this family showed tendency to Shi’ism in order to share in power and get closer to the Safavid court. This conversion was superficial at first, however, after some time, the loyalty and commitment to Shiism became very deep among a number of their leaders and great figures, to the extent that most of them took up Shi’ism during the Safavid dynasty. This survey examines this trend and the causes of their inclination to Shiism by referring to authentic sources.