نشریه مطالعات تاریخی جهان اسلام
پیاپی 9 (بهار و تابستان 1396)

The fortress of Rabah located in Andalusia, have been always in the center of attention of different Christians and Muslim governments, as having dominance over this fortress was equal to having control over the majority part of Andalusia and it would put pressure on their adversaries from military aspect. The present paper tries to answer the raised question: How strategically important was the fortress of Rabah in stabilization of Islamic governments?
It seems that the fortress of Rabah played a crucial political – social role in consolidation for Islamic governments in Andalusia. Based on the formation of thematic links and analysis of events a description of the strategic significance of the fortress of Rabah in stabilization of Islamic governments in Andalusia, until the Al-Uqab battle of Rabah, will be presented.
The present paper has been conducted by means of an analytical approach on library documents. The findings show that the strategic location of the fortress of Rabah has played the most significance role in durability and consolidation of Islamic governments in Andalusia, while after the fall of the fortress, signs of decline of Muslims in Andalusia began to appear.

Most of Russian poets were inspired by Quran and Islamic concepts in composing their poems. In the nineteenth century and after the treaty of Golestan by which Caucasus was ceded to Russia in 1192 (A.H.) As a result, Russians visited the region more often and they got familiarized with Islam, Quran and Prophet Muhammad (s). The personality and biography of Prophet Muhammad's (s) life has been described in Russian poet's works and they were not seriously taken into account by translators and researchers. In the present paper, Russian poets who composed poems about Prophet Muhammad (s) will be introduced. Also it will be explained that before Caucasus was ceded to Russia, descriptions and understanding of Prophet's personality were fictitious, however after the seizure of Caucasus by Russia and composition of poem collections of Pushkin, "The Imitation of Quran" and "Prophet", understanding of Prophet Muhammad's (s) personality hugely changed. It can be said that Pushkin played a massive role in this alteration.

Researches on Orientalism and Shia studies are regarded important in the realm of religious modernization. As Wilferd Ferdinand Madelung has written numerous prominent orientalist works, he must be seriously taken into account. His book "The Succession of Prophet Muhammad (s)" was analyzed in the present paper in order to present a critique and assessment on his thoughts on the succession.
Therefore, after analyzing caliphate of Abu Bakr, Umar and Uthman, Madelung's thoughts on management, futurism, diplomacy and political changes in each era will be assessed. He has written his book by means of a historical – sociological analysis which is a proper method in historical studies, to assess historical events by a natural and worldly perspective not a supernatural one. Based on the methodology he applied in his book, it was concluded that Madelung did not consider prophecy, a supernatural ability, of Prophet Muhammad (s) and he believed that Prophet Muhammad (s) was not aware of the time of his death so that he could introduce his successor. In addition, he believed that succession of Ali b. Abi Talib (a) after Prophet (s) was not clearly stated in Quran. He was only expected to be selected as the successor because of historical stories in Quran in which earlier prophets had chosen their successors from their families; he thought similar to earlier prophets, Muhammad (s) wanted to choose his successor from his own family. The present paper has applied a descriptive – analytical approach based on historical documents and library sources.

Comparing to other nations, the cultural and political typology of Malawian Muslims of Indonesia has especial diversity. After their independence in 1945, this country had Pluralist cultural and political activities. As a result, they faced numerous challenges regarding Islamic cultural and political approaches. Many researches have been conducted on diversity of ideas in Indonesia, especially on the influence of Wahhabism and other schools of thought among Muslim groups. However, no research has been done on the threats of cultural and political pluralism and no pattern has been introduced in overcoming such challenges. Therefore, the raised questions are: What are the influential cultural – political challenges among Indonesians? What is the most suitable pattern in resolving such Issues? Challenges between Traditionalist and Wahhabis, Neo-liberalists and Quranic-culture, modernists and Islamists, fundamentalists and seculars as well as reformists and traditionalists are regarded as most influential cultural and political issues in Indonesia.
The main purpose of the present paper is to present a typology of cultural and political challenges of Indonesian Muslims and also to introduce a pattern in resolving them. By means of a historical research methodology, the political and cultural challenges of Indonesian Muslims after their independence will be assessed. In addition, by using a descriptive – analytical approach the realities and status quo of that time will be discovered. According to the findings of the paper, although there are challenges among Muslim groups in Indonesia, they have common concepts such as pursuing freedom, independence, unity and opposing tyranny which are crucially important and can be used in forming cultural diplomatic relations between Islamic groups in Indonesia.

Western researches on Shi'ism have always faced with changes and evolutions which presented in different types. They officially and academically started by foundation of Islamic and Shia studies centers in different western universities. Strengthen of Shia studies, diversity of its subjects and conducting interdisciplinary researches played an influential role in development and alterations of Shia studies among westerns. Other factors which also played a role in such alterations are: foundation of Shia studies, holding Shia studies conferences and seminars in these centers, formation of Islamic and Shiite publishers including Rutledge and Ashgate publications as well publishing Shi'ite books and Islamic encyclopedias which contain Shi'ite articles and topics.

While colonizers were dominating over different territories, Muslim communities were lagging behind. Because European countries were developing massively, Islamic scholars began to discover the roots of the decline of Islamic civilizations in order to prepare the situation to make changes and reforms. Initially Seyyid Jamal al-Din commenced the reformation and it continued by other scholars including: Abd al-Rahman Kawakibi, Muhammad Abduh, Rashid Rida and Muhammad Iqbal. However, Iqbal's thoughts on the internal factors behind the decline of Islamic civilization, which were expressed in his Urdu poems, have not been explained clearly; it is an important subject that scholars have not assessed it precisely. The raised question of the present paper is: What are the main internal factors behind the decline of Islamic civilizations in Urdu poems of Iqbal? The main internal factors which weakened Islamic civilizations are: intellectual and religious deviations, traditionalism and conservatism, cultural deterioration and internal disputes.
The purpose of the present paper is to introduce internal factors behind the deterioration of Islamic civilization in Mohammad Iqbal's poems, so that by refraining them we would be able to prepare the situations for improvement of Islamic countries. By means of a descriptive – analytical approach, the internal factors behind the decline of Islamic civilization will be assessed in the present paper. Unity of Islamic nations, making serious rational efforts, and opposing dogmatic thoughts and intellectual recession are strongly emphasized in this article.

Marinid who ruled Morocco for three centuries, treated Dhimmis (non-Muslims living in Islamic state under the protection of the government) with tolerance. In such situations the Jews enjoyed religious and social freedom so that a number of them including Banu Ruqqasa managed to enter the court and were put in charge of crucial positions. After analyzing sources, the process and reasons behind appearance of the Jews in Marinid court will be assessed and their role in Bureaucracy, their influence on government and Islamic society will be described in the present paper. As some rulers were not religiously devoted and they required financial sources while Jews were wealthy and familiar with bureaucratic affairs, they managed to enter Marinid court. However, although they were supported by the rulers, they were not useful in achieving government's goals, as they were mostly focused on maintaining their interests and organizing conspiracies against Muslims.