The Relationship between Religion and State in the Al-Buyids Era

The Al-Buyids state has a special place in the social history of Iran due to its adherence to Shiism and its tolerant view of other religions. The main question of the present article was, "What theoretical logic does the historical model of the relationship between religion and state in Iran of the Al-Buyids era follow?" To this end, we used the case study method and the documentary data collection method to match the model based on historical experience with designed theoretical models that include the six aspects of caesaropapism, papacaesarism, hierocracy, erastianism, secularism, and laicitism. By analyzing the real examples of each of the theoretical models during the reign of the rulers of Al-Buyids, three periods of invasion, balance, and defense were inferred. The period of invasion saw the establishment of the model of  erastianism, the period of balance witnessed the stabilization of the model of erastianism and the period of defense saw a transition from the model of erastianism to the model of hierocracy.