پژوهش نامه تاریخ اسلام
سال سوم شماره 11 (پاییز 1392)

After legitimization of Shiite religion in Iran, during Safavid era, schools (Madreseh) turned into the most significant educational institution, used at the service of this official religion. But what was the impact of this educational institution on religious and non-religious sciences of that time? What has been proposed based on conducted studies is that the academic dynamicity of schools was influential in expanding religious sciences and centralizing Shiite jurisprudence in Iran. Subscribing into viewpoints held by their founders and administrators, schools were influential in expanding academic thoughts, particularly Akhbari thoughts, during the second half of Safavid era. Furthermore, the emphasis of schools on religious sciences made other non-religious sciences fall from grace.

In the second half of the fifth century (AH), the political and economic crises in the Fatemids and their conflicts with Seljuks in Sham led to the establishment of local governments in that region. The most prominent of these governments was Banu Munqidh, a Shiite government in Shayzar. Banu Munqidh's government played an important role in the political changes of Sham. This government was an important medium for relationships with Seljuks, Crusaders and Ismailis. This government eventually collapsed after the massive earthquake in Shayzar in 552 (AH). The findings of this study suggests that Banu Munqidh 's governors with their effective policies and strong fortifications, and despite their small territory, managed to maintain their independence and establish their state. This study, through following a library method, attempts for investigating the political relationships and conflicts of this government with Seljuks, Crusaders and Ismailis.

The Mongols were Shamanist and because of their "nomadic" life style believed in religious moderation. In Chinggis law, all religions were of equal value. This belief paved the way for religious interactions between the Mongols and the people conquered by them. The superiority of Islamic culture and civilization and the large number of Muslims that lived in the four Oluses of Chinggis children paved the way for a number of Mongol rulers to convert to Islam. This, in turn, improved the conditions of the conquered Muslims. In the realm of the Ilkhanids, given the religious awareness and moderation of the Mongols, the Muslims enjoyed more prosperous situations. Furthermore, the legitimacy of the governments and their alignment with their people resulted from their being Muslim. In this realm, other socio-economic conditions and grounds encouraged the Mongols for embracing Islam. The present paper aims at clarifying such grounds and other factors which were at work for encouraging the Mongol rulers to convert to Islam in other Oluses.

The long tradition of Ajvabe writing dates back to Imams period. This tradition was transferred to Shiite scholars in the period of occultation of Imam Mahdi (ATF). Through ajvabes, Shiite scholars (mojtahids) answered a variety of questions in religious, economic, and legal fields as well as contemporarily novel questions. So Shiite Ajvabes are considered as rich and reliable documents for religious education. Ajvabes, besides their religious importance, contain valuable data regarding social history of their people as the themes of these Ajvabes show the interactions among various groups of people and their intellectual, legal, economic needs in that age. In this paper, we aim at analyzing the contents of such Ajvabes and evaluating their potentials for obtaining socio-historical information. We also show that the contents of such Ajvabes reveal some aspects of social lives of their contemporary age that are essential for social historiography.

After the entrance of '' Parliamentarism " to Iran ( 1324), Mirza Mohammad Hussein Naini, through reference to holy Quran and hadith, worked for justifying this doctrine. Contrary to him, Sheikh Fazlollah Noori, through reference to holy Book, rejected this nascent idea. The existing differences between the points of views of these two Muslim jurists, about the very same phenomenon, can be discussed within theoretical frameworks of sociology of knowledge, religious knowledge and historical sociology of their time. This study, through focusing on Social Construction of Reality (proposed by Peter Berger) and historical sociology of Mashrouta era, aims at clarifying the religious sociology of these two jurists. According to Berger's theory, knowledge (epistemology) emerges both from everyday affairs and higher-order theories. The beholders of such pieces of knowledge transfer them to their next generation and in this way there are interactions between the real and mental worlds of people of the society. Given that, our awareness is neither absolutely given nor acquired, but there are dialogical relations between mind and object. Religious epistemology is no exception to this view. The present paper aims at explicating this issue that Naini's attempts for justifying social ideals of his time and Noori's attempts for maintaining the existing conditions and dominant ideologies arise from their religious epistemologies; though their next generation could not stand the monarchy.

The Buwaihids government was expanded to Fars, Jibal, and Iraq shortly after its formation. In Iraq, after death of Muizz al-Dawla, his son, Izz al-Dawla, reached to power. During his time, the Buwayhid government in Iraq lost its power, partly because of the ineffectiveness of the agents in charge. Muhammad Ibn Bakkiya was one the administrative and political figures of the Iraq's Buwayhids that was appointed as minister of Izz al-Dawla. He lacked any experiences in official bureaucracy and reached to ministry from Ayyari. His skill in tax collection and presenting gifts to Izz al-Dawla helped him in obtaining this position. However, his lack of experience in official bureaucracy influenced his ministerial operations and eventually led to some problems. Research findings show that his failure in ministry was both the result of his inexperience in official bureaucracy and the weakness of Izz al-Dawla in Iraq. This descriptive - analytic study aims at investigating the socio-political conditions in the life of Ibn Bakkiya, his ministerial activities, and his role in the political developments of Buwaihid government.