فصلنامه تاریخ اسلام
پیاپی 10 (تابستان 1381)

Despite Al-Hirah's cultural ifluence on He history of Arabia, the lranian schslars and hiotorians have largely dealt with its polotical role, in the past, neglecting its important cultural function in the Sasanian - dominated parts of Arabia.This article tries to trace Hira's footprints in the cultutal life of Arabia, both before and after lslam, and discuss and review its implications.In line with this objective, while having a general review of Hira's geography and history, we will investigate the role of Hira in familiarizing the Arabs of Arabia with different religions, spreading the culture of Sasanian Persia among them, introducing writing to them, etc.

The Prophet of Islam was born, raised, and given his prophetic call in the city of black mountains, Mecca. He preached his divine message to the Meccans secretly and openly for thirteen years. He made many followers and won over a great number of Keen hearts from outside Mecca. Those who answered his call stayed and migrated with him even in the face of torture and to the extent of sacrificing their lives, and those who denied him went as far as to assassinate him, though unsuccessfully, and hence the epic of Laylah-tal-Mabit was brought to life. So, to safeguard and continue delivering his divine message, the Prophet set out for Yathrib (Medina) to test new ways of preaching his heavenly revelation.A Second look at why and how the modern order did not develop in Mecca better depicts the features and constituent elements of the Meccan civilization and culture in Early Islam. The illustration of the contrast between the ancient and new orders in this Mother of Cities (Mecca) has been the main objective of this investigation.

The way Muslim rulers and Khalifahs dealt with ahl-ul-dhimmah (the protected people) who lived in the protection of the Muslim state is among the important and considerable issues in the Islamic culture and civilization. Islam's just and humanitarian approach gave ahl-ul-Kitab (the people of the book) the opportunity to earn certain rights and privileges, through a treaty, while accepting certain other duties and obligations and considering themselves responsible to the relevant Islamic authority. The aim of this article is to present an age-old text on ahl-ul-dhimmah and examine their rights and obligations under Muslim rule.

Why and how the religion of Islam spread relatively quickly in Iran in the early Muslim centuries is among topics that still attracts scholars in the field of history. To Know the religious and political conditions of Iran on the eve of the Muslim Arab arrival helps us better understand the factors and reasons for the Iranian's denial of their former religion and conversion to Islam. The contention of the present article is that in its final years, the Sasanian Empire was entangled in various domestic religious and political crises, a factor that was more instrumental in its fall than all other causes.

The inheritance of uncles and the inheritance of daughters is an issue on one side of which were the Abbasids and on the other side stood the Alawites. In the jahiliyyah age (the pre-Islamic period in Arabia) only the Male offspring had the right to inherit from their ancestors. With the coming of Islam, however, this prejudiced practice was abolished.In their struggle against the Umayyads and their coming in to power, the Abbasids extensively used rallying cries belonging to Alawites and their followers. In the beginning, they even attributed the legitimacy of their rule to Ali ibn Abi Talib, through Abu Hashim's will. Soon, the rise of differences between the Abbasids and Alawites Caused the former to distance themselves from the latler and claim that the khiafah was the heritage of Abbas, the uncle of the Prophet. Based on the jahili practice that girls do not inherit from their ancestors, they claimed Abbas, the only son of Abd-ul- Muttalib (the Prophet's grandfather) who was still alive at the time of Muhammad's Passing, to be the true heir to the Prophet.ln contrast, by citing Passages of the Qur¨an and resorting to rational explanations, the Alawites tried to reject the Abbasid pretense. And hence, the controversy over the inheritance of uncles and the inheritance of daughters was aroused in the political and intellectual circles around the Muslim Khilafah.In this concise article, we have tried to discuss the genesis of the concept of the inheritance of uncles, its roots, and the Alawite reaction, in particular that of the Ahl-al-Bayt (the Prophet's Household), to it.

With the fall of the Sasanian Dynasty in Iran, the Islamic system of law gradually replaced the Zoroastrian legal order. One of the major motives for Iranians to accept Islam was the new religion's emphasis on judgement among the people in Medina himself, but for distant places he sent one of his Companions to conduct trials and settle disputes. In the period of the Rashidin (Guided) Kbalifahs, the judicial power was separated from the executive power both becoming independent. From the beginning of Umayyad period to the early Abbasid rule, the judiciary in the Muslim World, including Iran, was decentralized. Later the influence of Iranian civilization, the organization of the judicial system was changed into a centralized one; and the position of Gahadhi - al Ghudhat (chief justice) that was equal to the position of Magaput of magi (chief magus) in the Sasanian Persia was created to supervise and oversee the judicial function throughout the Abbasid realm. This judicial system, which was based on the Sunni schools of law in both form and content, survived until the fall of the Abbasid Dynasty at the hands of Hulegu.

Nihayah-tul-Arab fi MÄrifah-ti Ansab-al-àrab, a book in àrab genealogy, is a valuable work by ahmad ibn-i Abdullah Ghalghashandi (821AH). Ghalghashandi was a jurist, genealogist, Poet, and literary figure. At 21 years of age,he was given the permission to teach figh¨h (Islamic law) and issue fatwas (legal decress) in the ShafiÕ School of law. Later, by joining the divan of insha (privy council of composition), he wroth Subh-al-Asha fi Kitabah-til-Insha. In addition to these two genealogical and literary works, Ghalghashandi also wrote a number of books in other branches of knowledge.This paper is an effort in trying to put forth a major source in the field of genealogy. Following the introduction, the paper introduces the writer and his works, describes Nihayah-tul-Arab fi MÄrifah-ti Ansab-al-àrab and its distinctiveness and advantages, and discusses the sources of the book and the method used by its writer and reviser.

To know divan and divanocray is very instrumental in understanding the administrative organization of the Muslims. This is especially significant because until before the foundation of the safavid dyasty in Iran, and probably of other contemporany dynasties in other countries, divan had been the only major adminintrative system in the Muslim World.Literally speaking, divan is referred to a collection of poetry, a book of records written in prose, or a specific administrative unit of government.There had been various kinds of divans in the past each of which functioned in the capacity of a ministry in modern times. In this paper, the invention of divan, its historical evolution, the different types of divan, their relations with each other, and their effects on one another are discussed.

The article the translation of which follows is a research, based on original resources, to shed light on Iran-Egypt relations in the first three centuries AH.The topics discussed here include: the effective role of the Yemeni Iranians in the army of ¨Amr ibn-al-¨As in the conquest of Egypt, 19-20 AH, and the temporary and permanent residence of a number of these people there; the decisive role of Khorasani people in toppling the Umayyad dynasty and their pursuit of Marwn, the last Umayyad khalifah, all the way to Egypt; the common spread of Persian words and Iranian divan (Privy council) jargon in the eastern dominions of Islamic khilafah; the migration of groups of Iranians to Egypt and their settlement in that country; the spread of trade by Iranians to North Africa; the Iranian domination of an Egyption province and the establishment of an autonomous dynasty there; the spread of divanocray and other Iranian systems of government in the eastern Parts of Islamic Khilafah; etc.