The Ways Through Which Religious Confessions Affect Urban Life: A case study on Rayy during the Saljuqid era

Consolidation of Saljuqid rule on Iran in 12th/6th century prepared a new situation forurban life which gradually conduced to arrange social affiliations based upon religiousconfessions. For example, Ash’ari’s prevalence in expense of Mu’tazelis which in thistime represented the most remarkable intellectual trend in Islamic world inevitablyresulted in growth of religious dogmatism, sectarian dissent and social/religious strife.Moreover, this sectarian milieu paved way for a kind of urban localism in accordancewith fractional beliefs. This new situation affected Rayy -a distinguished urban centerof medieval Iran- too and here it leaded to a more critical situation which in somecases had mortal consequences. This constant and frustrating current ofsocial/sectarian strife by its turn weakened the urban society of Rayy on the eve ofMongol invasion and was an important cause of the city’s prompt conquest byMongols. So, we might considerate this state of sectarian dissent and its socialconsequences as a sufficient evident to understand the debilitating situation of urbanlife in Iran just before Mongol invasion.