فصلنامه تاریخ اسلام
پیاپی 12 (زمستان 1381)

As a jargon idiom, "tÇmah" has had different meanings and senses in Muslim administrative and financial organizations during different historical periods. In Prophet Muhammad's lifetime, it meant to cede or assign specific shares of public land harvest to individuals. Next, during the era of the khilafah, it meant a kind of an allotment of real estates that actually granted the right to the revenues of a particular piece of government estate to other parties.Using historical proofs and records, this paper discusses the meanings (in use) of the term "tÇmah" in early Islam, in the Prophot's lifetime, and during the rule of the Rashidin (Guiding) Khalifahs and the reign of the Umayyad Dynasty.

The Bani-Ghaniyah were a Berber clan who, in the 6th century AH, rose to power in eastern Andalusia and Ifrighiyyah (Muslim Africa). The first emir of the new Berber dynasty was muhammad bin Ali bin Ghaniyah al-Musufi and the last, Abdullah bin Ishagh.Following the fall of al-Murabitun with whose support they had come to power, and during the rule of al-Muwahhidun; the Bani-Ghaniyah continued to rank among ardent supporters of Almoravid (al-Murabitun) thought. The raids of the Bani-Ghaniyah on the Almohads (al-Muwahhidun) withheld peace and stability from the new dominant power in Muslim Spain for a long time to come. The army that they had mustered from immigrant and desert Arabs caused chaos and instability in Ifrighiyyah in the Second half of the 6th and first half of the 7th centuries (A H). Nevertheless, constant military blows inflicted upon them by al-Muwahhidun and the Hafsids (in modern Tunisia) finally ended the presence of Bani-Ghaniyah in Ifrighiyyah.An offshoot of Bani-Ghaniyah dynasty was present in Mayurghah which was conquered by al-Muwahhidun in the closing years of the 6th century (A H) and kept by them until their defeat by the christians in the 13th century AD.

At the same time when the Spanish Christians were planning an all out invasion against Muslims, along with the Crusaders; and while the Abbasid Khilafah was busy containing the spread of Shiَah Islam and trying to establish a degree of stability and order in al-Maghrib (the Muslim West-to be exact, NW Africa) to secure the interests of the Sunni branch of Islam; al-Muwahhidun (the Almohads) took control of Maghrib based on their ideology of Mahdism. Two centuries of controversy in the spheres of philosophy and theology finally led to a valuable result during the al-Muwahhidun period. Although the spread of Ibn Rushd's philosophical views in the Christian West was met with severe reactions on the part of the church, christian theologians welcomed al-Ghazzali's word. Integration, assimilation, and compilation of various philosophical and theological concepts are among the outstanding scholarly features of the Almohad period.

A social outcome of the rise of Islam was the appearance of a social class called "Sadat" (descendants of Prophet Muhammad's clan, Bani-Hashim) in the Muslim community.With the expansion of Islam into other territories, the Sadat spread east and west to the outer-most borders of the Muslim World being considered a respectable and influential group in every community they lived in.Iran was among the lands wherein the Sadat excerised great influence and achieved prominent social position constantly adding to their good fame and esteem. Nonetheless, the Sadat's social prominence was naturally affected by the changing political, social, economic, and religious conditions of different periods in the history of Iran.This paper investigates the Sadat's status in Iran of the Mongol age.

Ali's political concept and his views on power have always attracted historians and scholars. Among the various approaches to this issue, there is one that distinguishes Ali ibn-e Abitalib from other Muslim rulers. According to this approach, Ali is an ideal ruler and a man of principle who views power as an arbitrary phenomenon.The present writing, merely an introduction on this matter, tries to discuss this approach based on a number of historical records.

The text whose translation follows is one of the first investigations on the topic of "Jihadiyah" in the Qajar Period. After a brief look at the precept of jihad in early Islam; the writer has discussed the status of jihad in the Shiَite fiqh and theology in four major periods of shiَah history namely the BÇyid; Il-Khanid; Safavid; and, in particular, the Qajar. For each one of these four periods, he has cited the viewpoint of one of the most prominent faqihs, or jurists, of that time reviewing his opinions on the issue of jihad. Accordingly, in the concluding part of the paper, the writer has discussed the relations of the Çlama, or religious Scholars, with the government during the reign of the second Qajar king, Fath Ali Shah; and having in mind the most important issue of the period, the Russo-Iranian Wars, he has referred to the necessity of issuing fatwas (decrees) of jihad against Russia by the Çlama. As a case study, the writer has selected the "Jihadiyah" chapter of "Kashf-ul-GhitÈ", a work by shaikh JÈfar al- Kashif-ul-GhitÈ. While reviewing this particular case, the writer has also translated part of its original Arabic text into English and incorporated it in his article.

Because of its contacts with the Western World's culture, and also because it was suffering from many fundamental problems at home, the Ottoman Empire took up the task of instituting reforms on all fronts in the 19th century. The period in Which these reforms were made is called the "Tanzimat Age". These reforms that are known as the "Tanzimat" were in fact begun when the first reform edicts were issued on ShÄban 26, 1255 AH; Nov. 3, 1839.Undoubtedly, one of the most influential players on the Ottoman reformation scene is the Turkish liberal politician, Midhat Pasha. The present text is a translation of the entry, "Midhat Pasa", of the "Grand Islamic Encyclopedia" in the Turkish Language, in which the writer has discussed this major Ottoman stateman's biography and political record in detail