فصلنامه شیعه شناسی
پیاپی 76 (زمستان 1400)

When Allamah Helli selected the theory of 'authority of individual hadiths', he set the criteria of authority chain and the characteristics of the transmitter as the bases for evaluation of hadith. In this way, the legitimacy of a hadith was focused on the conditions of the transmitter. However, he did not reject the evidences for accepting a hadith (especially the practical fame). Indeed, he did not ignore the evidences for accepting a hadith, but this approach lost its effect and popularity among the scholars after him, especially in the jurisprudence of Muhaqqeq Ardabili and his disciples. Muhaqqeq Ardabili's intellectual circle had a critical approach to the theory of injibār and, on the other hand, by mentioning 'faith' as a condition in accepting the transmitter's tradition, they had restricted authority to ṣaḥīḥ (right) and ṣaḥīḥ aʿlāʾī (sublime right) hadiths. This rigidity in accepting traditions prepared the ground for reinforcing the rational aspects of the jurisprudence of Muhaqqeq Ardabili's intellectual circle and diffusing resort to the generalities and specificities of the verses on precepts and the definite tradition as well as extracting fatwas accordingly. In such an atmosphere, it is quite normal that, by putting aside a large body of traditions, some would not accept such as approach and rise against it. In this way, the Ḥilla school prepared the ground for its own decline and emergence of traditionalism.

Imam Kazem, the Shiite seventh imam, lived in one of the most difficult historical periods. The question of this study is as follows: "What are Imam Kazem's political actions in the historical sources up to the fifth century?" This study uses a descriptive-analytical-inferential method to, firstly, classify Imam Kazem's political actions, secondly to investigate those actions comparatively in six historical Shiite books and six historical Sunnite books to achieve the goal of investigating Imam Kazem's policies in the historical sources in the end of fifth century. The findings of the study show that in the historical sources, Imam Kazem's political actions are classified into six groups. These are the scientific-political actions, the political actions in order to reveal the way the caliphate was usurped, the political actions in confronting the murder of the Shiites and oppression to them, the political actions in confronting the deviated sects, the political actions in confronting Mansour Abbasi and Haroun al-Rashid, and the political actions in the time of imam's imprisonment. These actions are found in some of the Shiite and Sunnite historical sources.

The numismatic studies show that the coin is one of the governmental tools for reflecting the attitude of the states and rulers regarding the political, religious and economic issues in the society and in the levels of environmental and international relations. Religious rites inscribed on coinages reflect some sort of ontological worldview and attitude as well as the religious thought of the rulers. In the coins of the Zandiya period (11-64-1209 AH), using the Shiite notions and themes were common. Thus, the question arises as follows: "What was the effect of the political-religious attitude of Zandiya rulers on their approach to inscribing the Shiite rites on the coins of that period?" This study aims at investigating reason and method of inscribing the Shiite rites on coins of Zandiya period in a descriptive-analytical manner. The findings of the study show that under Zandiya, instead of inscribing the worldly titles of the ruler on the coins, the Shiite rites on resorting to God's attributes and respecting the Shiite imams and resorting to them – especially Imam Mahdi – flourished. Besides, the Safawid traditions – including Mahdawiyyat and saviorship were revived. This Shiite tendency from Zandiya was done to legitimize the government by linking their government to Imam Mahdi as the universal savior, and their Safawid-centered policy can be defined with the same view.

The endowment letters are among the valuable documents and religiously legal vouchers. The endowment documents of the women in Qajar period are among the most important sources for delineating the social, cultural and religious conditions of the time. In that period, most sections of society with various intellectual leanings would pay attention to endowment. Considering the commonality of endowment, women would also participate in it, and this was one of the contexts for the social participation of the women in Qajar period (Werner, 1378). In that period, endowment letters of men and women were not so much different, but the women's endowment letters were sometimes different for those of men in their use and raqaba, which are minute difference. The present study makes use of a historical approach and the related documents to be composed. Despite the necessity of this issue in Iran's contemporary history, there has been no independent study on the Shiite women's endowment letters in Qajar period. This article seeks to investigate the form and content of the women's endowment letters in Qajar period. The data were gathered from 36 endowment letters extracted from the National Archive of Iran, Astan Quds's Center of Documents and Library, the website of World of Qajar Women, and other library sources and organized with a descriptive-analytical approach.

Spirituality as a natural human need has always been one of the issues of human interest and in fact as an esoteric and spiritual aspect of religion, is part of the function of the law that gives meaning to human life. But if this spirituality strays from its original source and document, it will be difficult to find a strong connection between it and religion. The event of Ashura is a crystallization of a strategic model for reviving the spiritual values ​​of Islam, but with the spread of the culture of distortion and confrontation with rationality in many opponents after the eighth century AH, especially in the Qajar period; Murder has become one of the critical factors in the field of contemporary Shiite spirituality.The purpose of this study is to conceptualize the distortions of Ashura as one of the most important causes of the crisis of Shiite spirituality in the contemporary era. In the present study, a descriptive-analytical method based on library research has been answered to answer the question of what effect the contemporary opponent, especially the murder of Tazkereh al-Shuhada written by Mullah Habibullah Kashani as one of the contemporary murderers, has on the crisis of Shiite spirituality. In the contemporary world? The research findings show that quasi-spiritual ideas, such as distortions, incorrect analyzes and the prevalence of untrue and undocumented material in the events related to Ashura, have led to the weakness and decline of Shiite spirituality in the contemporary world.

After the departure of the Prophet, a disagreement emerged between the Shiites and the Sunnites regarding the way they should state the Adhan formula. After ascending the throne, the Safawid Shah Isma'il added the two formula of the third testimony ("Ashhadu Anna Aliyyan Walliullāh") and Ḥayya ʿAlā Khayr al-ʿAmal. This article has sought to investigate the Safawids' performance in this regard. The question this article is going to answer is about the reason for Safawid Sultans' emphasis on the third testimony formula. To find the answer to this question, the first hand historical texts and new studies in this regard were studied through an analytical-descriptive method. The goal is to clarify, with the evidences presented in a historical study, that re-addition of the third testimony to Adhan in the Safawid period was not due to commitment to the Prophet's teachings in the age of legislation or the Shiite doctrines in the presence of Ahl al-Bayt. Rather, it was done under the influence of the social conditions and political milieu. The findings of the study suggest that Safawids showed much seriousness for adding the third testimony to Adhan in order to grant religious identity to Iranians in facing the Ottoman Empire, obtain more legitimacy, do religious rivalry with the Ottoman Empire, and facilitate the process of establishment of the Shiite denomination.