پژوهش نامه تاریخ اسلام
سال چهارم شماره 13 (بهار 1393)

Performing moderation for freedom of actions and thoughts and rights of others, particularly in religious and political issues or under the law and government enforcement, has long been one the outstanding religious-political issues. The majority of politicians follow certain religious or political ideologies and a good number of them, after gaining power and authority, take the most advantage of the available conditions for reinforcing their thoughts and ideologies, even at the cost of obliterating those of others. During the fourth and fifth centuries, Muslims experienced flourishing civilization, and dynasties like the Buyid and Seljuq gained ascendance. Taking the example of these governments, one Sunni and the other Shiite, can be quite effective for today's problems. The present article, through adopting a comparative approach, aims at describing and analyzing the outstanding and influential religious moderation as practiced by these two governments and comparing them in that regard. The Buyid and Seljuq governors acted differently in political and state affairs and religious moderation. It seems that religious moderation has enjoyed various ups and downs during this era and it has played a crucially important role in cultural and scientific developments, establishment of academic centers, and consequently the status of the scholars. Considering the political and state affairs, religious moderation or temperance established a fertile ground for benefiting from various scholars and scientists and enabled the governors to benefit from the presence of such elites.

The Abbasid movement claimed to inaugurate a new era of justice centered on the slogan "al rida min al ahl bayt Muhammad rasul Allah". The Abbasid Caliphate was eventually established in the year 132 AD and Abu al-'Abbās as-Saffāh was declared as the caliph. Commentators and historians believe that public understanding of the slogan " al ahl bayt Muhammad rasul Allah ", in the era of Abbasid, referred to the children of Fatimah; the Prophet Muhammad's daughter (pbuh) or Shiite Imams. But, in the Abbasid revolution, this slogan deviated from its original reference, content and semantic role and was expanded to include Abbasid dynasty. Due to this misinterpretation, Abbasid Caliphate faced with several challenges. What makes the issue subject to critical study is the reasons for which the Abbasids declared a slogan that was not in congruence with the status of their family or in case of winning the rebel, there was no hope of gaining a role in the areas of politics and power, unless through deception. This study investigates the slogan " al ahl bayt Muhammad rasul Allah", attempts to clarify the strategy taken by the Abbasids and then discusses the familiarity of people with the Abbasid slogan. The paper also depicts a broader sense of the word "Al"(al ahl bayt Muhammad rasul Allah) as formed in the public mind of the people in the Abbasid era. Then its consistency with historical statements, Quranic discourse and Shiite and Sunnis literature will be explained. At the end, the root of this historical mistake will be elaborated.

Given the unprecedented virtues of the Ahlul Beit, as mentioned in the Quran and Hadiths, and as verified by the Messenger of Allah (PBUH) or recommended by him to the Ummah (in Thaqalayn Hadith), unpacking the term "Ahlul Beit" and knowing who it refers to could be the first step to save Ummah not to go astray. Determining the reference of this term through solid investigation of the narrations in the Sihah Al-Sittah—as well-known and valid documents among all Sunni sects— could definitely prove helpful and effective in understanding the truth non-biasedly. The current paper considers four of these Sihah Al-Sittah, which include some Hadiths in this regard. The authors’ views were classified in three categories: First, the five people of the cloak are the true Ahlul Beit; second, the wives of the prophet (PBUH) are the true Ahlul Beit and third, the prophet’s family including his wives and relatives are the true Ahlul Beit. Having analyzed all these three presuppositions, and benefitting from the commentary book, Al-Mizan, it was revealed that based on the Quran, narrations of Sihah Al-Sittah, and logical reasoning, the first presupposition is the real reference of the term and the five people of the cloak are the true Ahlul Beit.

Shiism, throughout its history, has always experienced pinnacles upon which it has spread variously and increased the number of its followers. The tenth and eleventh centuries (AD) are among these flourishing periods. During this time, the Safavid state was founded, and with its official support, Shiism began to proliferate in Iran. Concurrent with the Safavid state in Iran, in Deccan (a region in southern India) some other events took place which in turn played significant roles in promoting and disseminating Shiism there. Despite the significance of these occurred events, few history researchers have made them subject to study. This research seeks to investigate the impact of the Shiite local governments established in Deccan on the expansion of Shiism there. The research is based on this hypothesis that despite the governor's support of Shiism, a large number of people in the area did not embrace this religion. Such attempts, however, paved the way for familiarizing the people with Shiism and prepared the grounds for its embracement in the later periods. The current research was conducted through library-oriented method and comparative analysis of sources. It starts with a brief introduction to the life history of Shiites in Deccan, and then reviews the attempts made by its local governors in supporting and expanding Shiism there, and the extent to which this religion was embraced by the people; which eventually confirms the hypothesis.

Reports on the Jihadi movements, intended to protect dissemination of Islam, were among significant issues in the history of Islam during the Prophet's stay in Medina and his contacts with the tribal groups in the Arabian Peninsula. Many wars and conflicts between Muslims and various groups of polytheists occurred in nearly thirteen years of his residence in Medina, during which the Prophet attempted to spread Islam. The nascence of Islam, on the one hand, the small number of Muslims and the tough situations of wars and conflicts, on the other hand, were of great importance in the meantime. The ways the Prophet and Muslims confronted such situations and what psychological methods and strategies they employed to overcome these problems and to handle these conflicts are the pivotal points of this paper. Based on the general outlook of these wars and victory of Muslims in most of these conflicts, it can be realized that the Prophet, as an experienced commander, employed various techniques of psychological warfare in addition to combat patterns. Through rehabilitating the emotional and psychological states of his forces, the Prophet had a considerable control over the mindset of the enemies, and made them believe his capability and authority in conquering them.

Studying the degree of connection between Sufi and Shiite teachings—within the realm of Sufi-Shiite relationship—or in other words, interpreting the essence of Sufism and its link with Shiism is one the approved conventional and scientific methods. The present investigation sheds lights on what have been borrowed from or lent to Sufism and to what extent Sufism has contributed to Shiism or has deviated from it. Najm al-Din Kubra, the founder of the Kubrawiyya Sufi order, was a Shafei mystic, however, his and his follower's inclinations towards Shiism cannot be denied. Collecting evidence for confirming his inclinations and evaluating the all-inclusive impacts he received from Shiite teachings, in theoretical and practical Gnosticism of the orders, are among pivotal issues in the history of Islamic Gnosticism and spiritual trend in the Islamic world. Understanding the influence of such connections on the interactions between Kubrawiyya and Ibe Arabi School, the all-inclusive impacts of this Shiite-inclined order, the connections and features in the history of mysticism and Gnosticism, and even the sociopolitical history of Islamic-Iranian society demands more serious research attempts. The present article, through using primary resources and adopting a descriptive-analytic method, aims to discuss some of these topics.