فصلنامه تاریخ فرهنگ و تمدن اسلامی
پیاپی 26 (بهار 1396)

Investigating the texts of the ancient works provides the possibility for a scientific review of the evolution of historiography in different fields and it gives a basis for identifying some of the content differences in the texts. Abu Mikhnaf's reliance on the details and conversations in the compilation of Maqtal al-Hossein, as well as the proximity of his life to the event of Karbala, provides us with a rare collection of Imam's activities at various stages of the formation of the Karbala event. Accordingly, this study seeks to answer this question: what were the characteristics of the educational aspect of Imam Hossein's school from the beginning of his movement from Medina to Karbala to the time of his martyrdom. The results of this descriptive-analytic study indicate that informing the people was the main characteristic of Imam Hossein's school in the course of his movement. Imam focused on two issues: expressing the characteristics of the leader of the Muslims and declaring the lack of legitimacy of the government.

Having Divine knowledge is one of the important characteristics of the Shiite Imams. Based on the narrative sources and historical documents, Imam Zayn al-Abidin (AS), the fourth Imam of the Shia, has enjoyed great scientific knowledge. Referring to the earlier sources, it is possible to perceive that by holding the positions of Imam, interpreter and traditionist and by relying on the Holy Quran, Imam Zayn al-Abidin (AS) responded to the various religious questions and issues rose at his time and got religious authority. Investigation of the scientific tradition of Imam Zayn al-Abidin (AS) in the earlier Sunni sources is the main focus of this study. What was the position of Imam Zayn al-Abidin (AS) in various scientific fields such as jurisprudence, hadith, fatwa, and commentary based on the Sunnis’ viewpoints? Based on the findings of this research, Imam was mentioned in the Sunni sources as a scholar, jurisprudent, traditionist, and commentator whose views were considered by the early scholars. This study is descriptive.

In the political arena, the most important consequence of the migration of Sadat Alavi to the north of Iran in the third century (AH) was the establishment of the Alavi Shiite rule in Tabarestan. In the early fourth century (AH), with the formation and foundation of the Nasiriyah School, cities such as Amol and Husem were among the main centers for the promotion of Shiite culture throughout Tabaristan and Dilam. Using a descriptive-analytical approach, this study tries to examine Nasser Kabir's efforts in spreading Shiite thought in Tabarestan. In sum, it could be concluded that the popularity of the Alavites among the people of Tabarestan on the one hand and the efforts of Naser Kabir in spreading Islam and Shiite thought on the other hand led to the construction and establishment of schools, libraries, discussion circles and teaching of religious sciences. All of these have contributed to the rise of Shiite culture. The importance of these efforts is that, with regards to the political atmosphere and Sunni sovereignty at that time, this region has struggled to revive Shiite culture.

Discourse analysis is the result of the interactions of the linguistic and non-linguistic, intellectual and cultural competences as well as the interaction or the opposition of the ideologies. It analyzes the inner layers in the text to achieve its deep meanings. Using a descriptive-analytic method, the present paper implements the discourse analysis based on the prominent orientation and the marginalization of the Van Dyke's ideological square to analyze the debates of Imam Reza (AS) and Catholicos while proving the issue of prophecy. In selecting the words, Imam (AS) has used vocabularies with deep semantic load and has implemented the linguistic implications to transfer the meaning. Therefore, the selection and order of the words and the various types of emphases and the opening and the destination of words played a significant role in highlighting the main concepts that Imam called for. Imam used some techniques that caused doubts or questioned the beliefs of the other party and in this way he marginalized the discourse.

In the administrative body of the Islamic Caliphate (Umayyads and Abbasids), the Post Bureau had an important function in obtaining news as well as information exchange and maintaining the security of the caliphate territory. The need for governing the vast caliphate territory, the acquisition of news and events from the states and their transfer to the Darul-Khilafah, the supervision of the brokers’ functions, doing the postal services and caring for the spy activities, made this Bureau important in the administrative organization of the Islamic Caliphate. In this research, which is of a historical type, in the collection stage by the library method and in the explanatory stage by an analytical descriptive method, the status of the Post Bureau in the Islamic caliphate and its functions in the post and communication services as well as intelligence and security affairs are investigated. The findings of the research show that the political- security function of the Post Bureau elevated its position and importance in the caliphate system to the extent that the owners of the Post Bureau enjoyed high status in the caliph's court and the internal security and the maintenance of the caliphate power were linked to the functioning of this institution.

Recognition of the components of Mahdiism contemporary with the advent of Muhammad Abdullah ibn al-Hasan Musanna known as Nafs-e-Zakiyyah (100-145) among some of the Zaydis is the subject of this study. In this article, an analytical review is made on the elements of similarity between Nafs-e-Zakiyyah and Mahdi which have specific functions in the uprising of Muhammad, as well as the explanation of the belief in Mahdiism among the followers of Zaidiyyah. It seems that the name, genealogy and apparent characteristics were the reasons to identify Zakiyyah as Mahdi. The signs of the emergence of Mahdi were also among the other indicators. Moreover, the role of some special people and exaggerated movements could not be ignored. Therefore, the present study, using valid historical, traditional, sectarian and intra-group sources, analyses the information obtained from the early sources and provides a documentary analysis to draw a clear picture of the elements which identify Muhammad as Mahdi.