فصلنامه تاریخ اسلام
پیاپی 89 (بهار 1401)

At the time of Abbasid caliphate's determination to eliminate Imam Mahdi (AS), the most important responsibility of Imam Askari (A.S) was to protect his son by taking advantage of conventional human methods. On this basis, Imam took measures that, on the one hand, were the factor of preserving the honorable existence of Imam Mahdi (A.S), and on the other hand, were considered to be the basis for Shia's entry into the age of occultation. The present article, written with a descriptive-analytical method, indicates that Imam Hasan Askari (A.S) accomplished this important issue through the actions such as concealing the birth of a child, informing some relatives and friends about the birth of a child, and keeping Imam Mahdi away from Samearra.

The analysis of primary religious sources displays the outstanding role of Iranian and Iraqi companions of Imam Hasan Askari (A.S) in explaining, compiling and perpetuating the thoughts of Imamieh. In this research, the scientific, social, intellectual and religious status of the Iranian and Iraqi companions of Imam Askari (A.S) has been comparatively investigated relying on the descriptive-analytical method. For this purpose, after identifying the nationality of the Companions and providing statistics on their number, their scientific position, their compilations, their social status. Moreover, the intellectual and religious status of the Companions of that Holiness have been stated. The studies clarify that in terms of quantity, although the number of Iranian Companions was less, but their scientific works were more and the frequency of books related to the jurisprudence, theology and refutation written by them, shows the efforts of Iranian Companions in preserving the fundamentals of Shia beliefs and the correct transmission of religious instructions. In regard with the thought and belief, fewer Iranian Companions have deviated as a result of the efforts of Iranian Shiite sheikhs and the fight against the influence of deviant and exaggerated currents. Moreover, it seems that the greater number of Iranian lawyers and those who managed to see Imam Zaman (PBUH) compared to the Iraqi Companions, was due to the necessity of this matter and staying away from Imam and lack of access to him

The historical study on the life of the Ahl al-Bayt is considered as one of the methods of evaluating the beliefs of Shiites and guarding it against the incorrect thoughts and perceptions. The footprint (qadamgah) attributed to Imam Hassan Askari (A.S) in the city of Gorgan is documented in a tradition based on which a person named Jafar ibn e- Sharif e- Jorjani visited Imam Askari (A.S) and that Holiness promised him that he would come to Jorjan, and this promise was fulfilled in the promised date by Imam’s folding up of the earth miraculously. The following article, which deals with the historical investigation of this event, shows that only some of the works quoted the virtues of Ahl al-Bayt have narrated this issue, and none of the other scholars and Muslim historians have referred to it. Based on this, due to the lack of antiquity of the existing place and the weakness of the narration's document, even the geographical incompatibility of the place mentioned in the narration with the real location of the footprint, and considering the predominant conditions at the time of Imam Askari (A.S), the authenticity of the place in question cannot be proven.

Poems and literary texts have long been considered as the most important writings to illustrate the cultural and political developments of society. Examining the poems related to the uprising of Zayd ibn e- Ali (A.S) from this point of view, can display the process of poets' attention to this great event and the factors affecting it. The findings of the present research clarify that the content of the poems related to Zayd's uprising reflected axes such as the cautious anger against the Umayyad rulers, fear and hope of poets toward the description of Zayd's uprising, removing the Umayyad barriers, and Zayd's blaming.

The knowledge of history, based on its empiricist tradition in recent centuries, is unable to represent the supernatural dimensions of Shiite imams. Considering the unavailability of a major part of historical sources in the time range of the second to fifth centuries of Hijri, and the importance of the works of Shia muhaddiths, especially Qomi in representing the history of Imams in narrative sources, the question arises as to what path the Qomi muhaddiths should take to represent different dimensions of the character of the Shiite imam. The present research, looking at the method of discourse analysis and drawing historical and theological discourses and explaining their elements in the traditions of Imamology of Qomi muhaddiths in the first centuries of Islam, has explained the increasing trend of using theological data in the form of historical propositions to identify imams and the factors of its expansion. The findings of the research show that social, political and economic factors and reasons such as the mental preparation of the audience have influenced the predominance of verbal discourse in the historiography of Qomi scholars.

The representation of historical events in the legacy of Islamic historiography is based on a previous system of issues, concepts and assumptions that emerged from the discursive conflicts of the Islamic society. The reproduction of this previous system in the minds of Muslim thinkers hinders the dynamics of historical thinking and the presentation of historical reading compatible with the problems of Islamic society. In this regard, presenting a strategy toward an epistemological break from this previous system of issues, concepts and ideas is a condition for any dynamics in the history-research of Muslim thinkers. Considering this important issue, the following article has formulated a theoretical framework in the critical rethinking of Islamic historiography. The formulation method of this theoretical scheme is the answer to three questions about the perspective, historical period as well as the theoretical model of the aforementioned rethinking. Based on this theoretical framework, "sociology of knowledge" should be considered as a suitable perspective in rethinking of Islamic historiography; Since, the sociology of knowledge breathes the spirit of historicity on the Islamic tradition via accepting the "existential determination of knowledge". On the other hand, the continuity and strengthening of the issues, concepts and ideas of the recording era in the framework of historical reports leads us to the point that the role of the crises of the "recording era" in the formulation of theories of cognition should be critically reconsidered. "Mannheim's sociology of knowledge" is also considered as a theoretical model that leads to a critical rethinking of Islamic historiography by recognizing the relationship between the challenges of the recording era and the formulation of theories of knowledge in this historical period; As it presents an adequate explanation of the discursive conflicts in the recording era and provides a methodical and deep understanding of the ruling concepts of Islamic historiography by prescribing diachronic and synchronic studies

Qom was the crossroads of Central Iran and the home of caravans, and due to its border with the desert, during the first and second centuries (A.H), it maintained its political, economic and intellectual independence against the Caliphate and its governors, and as a refuge for the immigrants who opposed the Umayyad rule and the Shiite city refused the Umayyad and later Abbasid governors to enter the city. In the following centuries and in time of Iranian governments, this city was economically and intellectually marginalized and gradually lost its independence. Investigating the role of Iranian movements such as Khorramdin and semi-independent Iranian governments on the political developments of Qom is the issue of this research. The results of this research, written with a descriptive-analytical method and referring to historical texts, illustrate the proximity to cities such as Ray, which achieved considerable significance in the third and fourth centuries, the migration of scholars and the development of the Shiite government of the Buyid sect, whose capitals was Ray city and they made Baghdad the center of theological and Mu'tazili debates favored by Qom's Shiite scholars, causing the decline and marginalization of this city from the fourth century onwards

In 771 AH, Amir Timur Goorkani took over the government of Transoxiana and by uniting the tribes and military forces, he could revive the unity, stability, authority and political sovereignty of this region, which was affected by frailty, and through the military attacks on different regions of Asia, he could establish a vast empire. In order to justify the military attacks and establish the religious legitimacy of his government, he took a special political-religious approach that included adherence to the religious rules and respect for the scholars and Sufi sheikhs. The reasons for this religious policy and its effect as Timur's legacy during the supremacy of his successors, especially Shahrokh and its role in the development of the cultural and religious situation in the 8th and 9th centuries A. H, is the main question of this article, which has been investigated through a descriptive-analytical method. The findings of the article clarify that the governors of Goorkan, especially Timur, have taken a series of measures to identify themselves as pure Muslims and endeavored to describe their government based on the divine destiny and providence and they have taken advantage of religion as a path to achieve their political goals.

Holding the joyful rituals has a deep connection with different human societies. Iranian society has not been far from these traditions during its historical development. Following the development and continuance of the Safavid government (1135-907 A. H), an appropriate ground was provided towards re-creating and repeating different types of joyous rituals. It seems that these joyous rituals can be separated into two "traditional" and "religious" formats. Traditional festivities such as Nowruz, as a historical symbol, were an integral part of the court and the public rituals of the society; while a significant range of these rituals had an inseparable relation with the religious approaches of the government and society. The purpose of this article is to investigate and introduce some rituals related to the religious festivals such as Eid al- Azha, Ghadir e- Khom and Birth of Imams (PBUT) through the descriptive and analytical method and relying on library sources.