نشریه تاریخ اسلام در آینه پژوهش
سال دهم شماره 1 (پیاپی 34، بهار و تابستان 1392)

Kharijites were an influential group in the events of first centuries ('AH'), which was first developed as an independent sect during Imam Ali's Caliphate and the battle of Siffin and opposed the idea of going to arbitration. When 'Umayyads took Caliphate, Khawarij sparked many uprisings against them, so they were being sued by 'Umayyad rulers. This made them relocate their activities in some regions far away from the center of Caliphate, including north west of Iran and Sistan. With the help of the local people of this region, Khawarij continued their military operations against 'Umayyads and 'Abbasids for about three centuries. At the end, they could not maintain their consistency and, as a result, transmuted into local people. The main question is: why did Khawariji ideas not last in Sistan? The reasons behind their failure in this regard seem to be: their use of violence and terror, their being subject to suppression by 'Umayyads, superiority of their combating wing over their ideological wing, and their inability to conform to the native culture of Sistan.

Muslim's conquest of Spain and their subsequent victories in this region are of special importance in the history of Muslim's conquests. Spain was the first country in Europe that Muslims could conquer within a short time. However, an area of research about this topic can be an analysis of this victory in the form of a review of the domestic conditions of Spain with arrival of Muslims in this country the potential effects of these conditions on the success of the conquering forces. Therefore, the present research seeks to offer a brief account about the history of Muslims conquests in North Africa and review Spain's domestic climate as a potential hypothesis for Muslim's conquest of this land.

The Kufan people were the most important companions and friends of Imam Ali (peace be upon him) during his five-year Caliphate, but after the great battle of Siffin they became less obedient to Imam Ali. This is ascribed to the extreme thoughts which they held and which rapidly influenced their attitude towards the fight against the Syrians. Before going to war with Syrians and Muawiyah's army, Iraqi people were nearly unanimous to fight against Qasetin (deviators) and their dignitaries gave rousing speeches about the necessity of fight against the survivors of the parties who had opposed the Holy Prophet. The people were nearly unanimous and the opponents who were very few did not dare to oppose. After the battle of Siffin, however, the situation was otherwise and the very people changed their position. The present paper seeks to explore the reasons why people changed their attitude, such that Imam Ali's friends accepted arbitration and forced him to elect such a personality as Abu Musa Ashari as arbitrator, who opposed such wars.

Al Bidayah wa-Nihayah is a famous book on the history of Islam, written by Ibn Kathir Dimashqi (701-773 'AH'). He has anti-Shia views due to the effects of spatiotemporal conditions and particularly the influence of such professors like Ibn Taymiyyah. The present paper seeks to criticize Ibn Kathir's historiography of Shiism in the aforementioned book by making a general review of his methods and approaches. This paper is written as a critique of documents, content and methods of Ibn Kathir's historiography. The most important criticisms directed to it are: internal contradictions of aforementioned book, its inconsistency with the Quran, tradition and history, biased "selection and omission", and "acceptance and rejection". A thorough analysis if this book indicates that the writer omits, rejects, distorts or justifies any historical account which does not correspond with his own views and attitudes; firstly to justify his own religious beliefs and secondly due to his anti-Shia attitudes.

Having entered into the world of Islam, philosophy was subject to change, development and perfection, and influenced different arenas of Islamic culture and civilization. Among the roles which philosophy played in Islamic civilization are: civilization is in need of philosophy to distinguish truth from untruth, the effect of philosophy on religion, the effect of philosophy on ethics, the effect of philosophy on politics and explanation of Utopia, and the effect of philosophy on theology. The present paper first deals with the meaning of culture, civilization, religion, ethics and politics and then briefly explains the course of development of philosophy in the world of Islam. The final part casts light on the role of philosophy in Islamic civilization.

One of the religious obligations which God has made incumbent on Muslims as stated in the Glorious Quran is paying Khums. According to Sunni view, the word khums mentioned in the verse 41 of Chapter 8 (Sura Anfal: The Spoils of War) only refers to ghanima (spoils of war). According to the infallible Imam's view, however, khums is not only paid on ghanima but also on the annual profits and gains. Given the importance and status of khums, the Holy Prophet of Islam and the infallible Imams not only elaborated on the instances for which khums must be paid, but also made great efforts to enforce this religious principle. According to this view, the narrations indicating that Shia Imams consider khums as lawful, which is related to a specific trend or juncture due to political, economic and social purposes, can by analyzed. It is also obligatory to pay khums during occultation period. Using a descriptive-analytical method, the present paper seeks to resolve the historical doubts cast on this issue and challenge Sunni view on khums in the light of a review of the historical course of development of khums during the presence of the infallible Imams.