The arrival of Seljuks at Khorasan and the sufferings of Nishapurian Shafiis -Asharis

Since the establishment of the political power and after the war of Dandanaqan (431 BC.), Seljuks as supporters and protectors of "Sunni and Shariah" had challenging relations with different sects of Sunni. The Nishapurian Hanafis’ tension and dissension with Asharis, as one of the Shafii religion’s theology streams, as well as the cursing and excommunicating of Abul-Hasan Ashari and deporting a number of Shafii scholars in Nishapur, were among the most important and challenging political-religious crises in the early stages of the establishment of the Seljuks in Khorasan. The tension was the result of the fall of Ghaznavids and the disturbance of the role and presence equations of the followers of Shafii and Hanafi schools in the body of the political system in Khorasan. Shafii developers classes (tebeqatnevisan) in Seljuk era considered Hanafi- Shafii tensions in Nishapur as a "hardship" and a pervasive religious catastrophe for the scholars and followers of the Shafii school throughout the Muslim world; while the geographical location and time of the event was limited to Nishapur and not exceeded three years. Although this incident was introduced as a religious tension and crisis, more than the theological and ideological differences and consequently religious competitions, the political competitions of the religious elites in their attempt to participate in the political system of Seljuk played a decisive role in this event. With regard to what has been said earlier, this study tried to critically analyze and evaluate the various dimensions of Ashari -Shafii’s and Hanafi’s crisis and tension in Nishapur in relation to the role of the political competitions of the elites of these schools and the policies of Seljuk government in taking the advantage of such situation, relying on the historical traditions and their reflections in the works of some researchers.