فصلنامه تاریخ اسلام
پیاپی 9 (بهار 1381)

The Khazars were a nation of Turkic origin and language who from the 7th to lOth centuries A.D., Ist to 4th A.H., had a strong and independent state in the northeast regions of the Black Sea and the northwest areas of the Caspian sea. In early Islamic sources, the cities of Atel, Balenjar, and Samandar have been mentioned as different capitals of the Khazarian state. In the 2 nd half of the 8th century, the ruling class and the majority of the Khazars embraced Judaism, driven by political motives. In the Ist century A.H., relations between the Muslims and the Khazars were marked by endless and inconclusive wars on both sides of the Caucasus Mountains. Following the conversion of the Khazars to Judaism and the establishment of relatively cordial relations With the Abbasi khalifahs in Baghdad, though the intensity of these conflicts subsides, they sporadically continued until the conquest of the Khazars by the Russians in the 4 Th century A. H. Muslim travelers and geographers have given accounts of large populations of Muslims living in the country of the Khazars. The endeavor of this paper has been to portray a clear picture of the history of the khazars with an emphasis on their relations with the Muslims, based on ancient Islamic texts, and the reconstruction of the existing scattered information on the final fate of the Khazars.

An elite person in the 2nd century A. H. was Abdulmalik ibnöe A¨yan, the brother of the famous hadith relator, Zurarahtö ibnöe A¨yan.Although he has been highly praised by Imamö JÄfar as ö Sadigh and various other Sunni and Shi¨i scholars, ibnöe A¨yan has remained unknown to some religious biographers. Although the present article is not a biographical investigation, it tries to shed light on the dark corners of ibnöe A¨yan's life, and examine the reasons for his undermining by a number of Sunni genealogists. The article has also tried to give a relatively complete account of ibnöe A¨yan's genealogy.

Following two decades of religious, political, and military activity and invitation in Arab Africa and alö Maghrib, the Fatimis succeeded to establish their Khilafah in Ghairuwan in modern Tunisia in 297 A. H.One factor that contributed to the establishment of this Khilafah was the favorable commercial situation of Arab Africa and Arab Maghrib which enjoyed major transportation routes and trade centers. The special trade status of these regions practically provided ideal territories for the establishment of the Fatimi Khilafah.This article tries to examine the role that the trade routes and centers of Arab Africa and Maghrib had played in the establishment of the Fatimi Khilafah.

This article is based on the hypothesis that in order to realize thier intentions and goals in Iran, the Gharmatians tried to approach the centers of power and ruling classes in that country in the 4th century A. H. Through this strategy, they aimed at converting the top echelons of governments to the lsmaÕli faith and pave the way for the spread of their particular brand of religious ideas and beliefs among the people. They were well aware of the effectiveness of the principle of "the people practice the religion of their Kings" and viewed it as the best means of expanding and spreading their religious views among the people.In this article, the level of their success in achieving their goal has been discussed and examined.

During the eight centuries of their presence in Andalusia, the Muslims produced and left priceless scholarly works. Among such works, geography was one of the major subjects that Muslims extensively dealt with.In this article, Andalusian geographers and thier works will be examined. Such geographical works can be classified in different ways. Some are written in a method called masalik in Arabic. This method came into prominence by the Alö e Razi (Razi Family) in the 4th century A. H. The most important work written in this style is "Alö Masalikö a Wal ö Mamalik" by Alö Bakri of which only scattered parts have remained.In Muslim Andalusia, special attention was also paid to writing travel accounts and drafting geographical maps.This article tries to discuss in brief geographical works produced in each of the abovc mentioned categories.

Understanding how Kufah was established, and how its population makeöup developed, since its founding in 17 A. H. until the beginning of Imam Ali's rule in 35 A. H. have a fundamental role in describing and explaining the Kufi political factions in early lst century A. H. (the middle of 7th century A. D.).These factions had a major role in the trend of events which led to the Killing of Uthman, the third Khalifah, and Which also gave rise to the various political positions during Ali's five ö year Khilafah.The author believes: by studying the social fabric of Kufah at the time, the socioö ideological background of the central core of the forces who led the 35 A. H. uprising against Uthman and who took confused positions over the issue of Arbitration (in the siffin Battle) and the Nahrawan Rebellion during the government of Ali ibnö e Abitalib will better come to light. Redefinition of the conditions which caused the rise and formation of such groups, and the explanation of their political positions are the objective of this article.

The aim of this article is not to Write a "history of a1ö Muwahhidun" but to explain the process of the rise of a religious leader who began with an lslamic doctrine and then proclaimed himseif alö Mahdi. He stood against an empire, and gradually gained momentum and power to the extent that his doctrine materialized into an organization which finally led to the establishment of an empire itself. Ibnöe tumart, both in the history of North africa and lslam,is reganded as a revolutionary figure. He was not an exceptional human being rather he managed to exploit the prevalent conditions of the time including the crisis of ideological belief to formulate his doctrine of moral reform. lbnö e tumart's movement which began calling for an equal and harmonious community later took a political nature, because of the fast changing conditions of the time, and succeeded to establish the Muslim Berber state with its capital at Tinmel in the end.