نشریه تاریخ اسلام در آینه پژوهش
سال ششم شماره 4 (پیاپی 24، زمستان 1388)

A study of the Holy Prophet's life clearly shows that he always enjoyed divine special assistance and favor. The assistance of this sort, happening on a number of occasions in the Prophet's life, was of extensive dimensions such asexpansion of his breastand spiritual development, good tidings of victory and his being immune from the enemy's guile, granting peace to him as well as direct and indirect aids and assists, etc. The article deals with some examples of these, citing related verses from the Qur’an and Islamic traditions as well as history.

After the First World War when Iraq gained its independence from Ottoman Empire, all subsequent governments which came to power in Iraq, despite their various forms and attitudes, failed to prepare the ground for all sections of society to participate in sociopolitical activities. Meanwhile, notwithstanding the fact that shi'ahs constituted the majority of population and that they made considerable effort to gain and ensure independence, Shiites were less favored than any other group. The revolution of 1958 AD by Abdul-Karim Kassem and implementation of some reforms by him as well as the diffusion of non-religious ideologies, including communism, provoked Shi'ah clerics to react . It seems that this reaction has had a considerable impact on the revival of Shi'ah political identity in Iraq in that period and afterwards. In the meantime, Jamā'at al-Ulamā was one of the first groups playing an invaluable role in this regard. In the present paper, writer has tried to consider and study the role played by this group in the political evolutions of the Shi'ah community in Iraq while investigating the conditions leading to the emergence of Jamā'at al-Ulamā.

To begin with, the present study presents a definition of the term irhās (an extraordinary event) and makes a distinction between this and a miracle (mu'jiza) or a charismatic act (kirāmat), and goes on to deal with some of the strange and exotic events in the life of the earlier prophets. It then makes a historical study of the exotic events, i.e irhāsāt, in the holy Prophet's life before his prophetic mission in three periods: a) on the eve of his birth, b) throughout his mother’s pregnancy and when he was born, and c) during his childhood and adolescence. This study is thus focused on the discussion about the nature as well as the veracity of irhāsāt in the holy Prophet's life up to his prophetic mission.

The governments of the divine prophets David and Solomon were based on law, justice, scientific development and deism, leaving effects that even today after some 3000 years still suggest the existence of a dynamic civilization in those days.
A governmental attitude towards the ruling model of these two prophets would make us familiar with clear horizons of a combination of religion and state, civilization and dynamism of science. This is especially true when we notice that the terms "God's vicegerent" and "God's role model servant" have been used for David and Solomon respectively. Thus, we may consider their ruling system as a complete standard for a government pleased by God in those days' circumstances, and as an example of a progressive economics based on spirituality, scientific development and civilization created on religious beliefs.

Historically critical and monumental events are effective, just as much as they are important, in screening the influential figures of the society. In the case of an event as great as Ashura, the individuals' positions, whether positive or negative, are scrutinized by scholars and researchers. Accordingly, the researchers on Ashura have always been exposed to the following question :"why were some of Imam Hussein's relatives who were expected to precede others in assisting him not among his companions in Ashura?" Muhammad Hanafiyya, Imam Hussein's brother, is one of these figures, whose absence in Karbala has raised the question of why he was absent in Karbala and bereft of accompanying his brother. Providing an answer to this question through an investigation of early sources of Muslims' historiography is our major concern in this paper.

In Islamic history, monarchy began with Mu'awiya's caliphate, and was preserved and spread thereafter. In the present study, the features of this system, i.e. rule by hereditary, aristocracy and royal private behaviour (hijābah), are re-identified from Muslims' general view. Herein, what is discussed is that in monarchial system, rule by hereditary is a principal feature and a factor for emergence of political crises; aristocracy expressed itself in the behavior and attitude of the monarch and his conceding unjust privileges; and royal private behaviour was accompanied by the monarch's tendency to keep himself hidden in the court, being unavailable to the people and, consequently, being unaware of cruelty and oppression of his agents as well as being incapable of exercising public supervision, which led to the monarch’s weak-mindedness and corruption. To sum up, the three abovementioned features were such that they made the monarchial system distinct from the Prophet's form of government and his caliphates, leading to his denial of monarchial system.

"Woman from the Islamic viewpoint" has always been one of the important subjects in the sphere of Islamic thought. No doubt, historical consideration of this issue has made significant contribution to the elucidation of the issue and clarity of the theorizations. The historical explanation of the women's status in Islam requires recognition of their position and status before the advent of Islam. The main lines of discussion in the present study are reflected in the following questions: a) What was the women's status before Islam? B) What was Arabs' attitude to women in pre-Islamic period (Jāhiliyyah(? and c) To what extent did women participate in social, political, economic and cultural affairs? Recognizing the women's status on days of ignorance serves as an introduction to the course of social evolutions of Islam and Islam's viewpoint on issues related to women.