فصلنامه پژوهش های تاریخی
سال پانزدهم شماره 2 (پیاپی 58، تابستان 1402)

In the present study, by employing Inference to the Best Explanation (IBE), attempts are made to formulate and defend a theory that can explain rationally and justifiably the uprising of Imam al-Husain (AS). The suggested theory is formulated as follows: from the beginning of his movement, Imam Husain (AS) chose to participate in war and seek martyrdom consciously and voluntarily, not as his aim, but as major means to his ends and used other means such as trying for government formation, negotiation with his enemies, and peacekeeping as the minor means to facilitate the major ones. In this study, we try to illustrate that the suggested theory, in comparison to its rivals, can explain some historical events rationally. Such events include Imam Husain’s move to Kufa despite facing significant disagreement and backlash from many people, his uprise against Yazīd’s government but not Muʿāwiya’s, his effort to maintain his move to Kufa despite having no chance to form a government, along with his move toward Kufa despite knowing that the vast majority of people in Kufa are unfaithful and will renege on their promise to fight against Bani Umayyah. The conclusion of the study is that belief in the truth of the suggested theory is rational and justified.

Academic interactions in Islamic civilization have provided the basis for the growth of scientific centers and various fields of science. As one of the important scientific centers of the Islamic world, Neyshabor has been successful in attracting scholars from Isfahan, especially in the field of hadith knowledge in a way that the number of Esfahani hadith scholars in Neishabur reached 70 people in the 4th and 5th centuries due to the conditions of Neishabur. A number of scholars from Neyshabur were also present in Isfahan. Some scholars and muhaddithists of Isfahan, especially those who had the Shafi'i religion, influenced the flow of hadiths in Neyshabur by traveling there. They became among the famous muhaddith scholars of Neyshabur. This article aimed to investigate the following question with a descriptive and analytical method How did the scholars of Isfahan leave the Hadith knowledge in Neishabur? The scholars of Isfahan traveled to Neishabur in the 4th and 5th centuries due to the prosperity of the Shafi'i religion in Neishabur and the privileges that were available to the followers of the Shafi'i religion. They engaged in scientific interactions with the scholars of Neishabur. Also, some muhaddiths of Isfahan, who were present in Neishabur, became among the elders and teachers of the great and famous Shafi'i muhaddiths there The result of this interaction was the noticeable presence of traditions of Isfahani muhaddiths among the famous Neishabori muhaddiths.

In the fourth and fifth centuries of Hijri, Muslims faced new challenges and doubts based on the diversity of the ideological composition of Egyptian and Levant inhabitants and the religious tolerance of the Fatimids. The special attention of Muslim scholars was instrumental in maintaining the coherence and consolidation of Muslim beliefs related to Islam in these areas. The covert and overt attention can be understood from this point of view in Abu al-Fath Karajaki’s writings to defend the righteousness of Islam (449 AD). Therefore, the central question of the current research has arisen when considering the method of the theologians of that period, which was to use history along with hadith and rational reasoning to prove their beliefs, and Karajaki's way of using historical reports to defend Islam. This study was conducted using the meaning analysis approach and the concept of ‘Schemata’. It shows that Karajaki's method was to link famous historical events in defending the authenticity of Islam with the miraculous aspects of God’s book (news of the future) and the Prophet’s life (PBUH). It makes the possibility of miracles more acceptable. As Christians created the negation of the schemata in the region, it led to the creation of the ideas ‘we are like them’ (by emphasizing the commonality of the prophets' miracles) and ‘we are better than them’ (miracles and prophecies connected with history). In this way, the approval of the authenticity of the Prophet (PBUH) and the Qur'an are in line with the approval of these miracles or schemata. Finally, it has also led to the establishment of the legitimacy of Islam.

Interpreting trends in the Sassanid state, the practices of which have been the basis for subsequent Iranian states, can deepen the knowledge of Iran's history. Various interpretations have been presented for its rise, the great kings, the Mazdakian movement, and its fall. This paper supposed that using a theoretical framework for interpreting all the events could provide a more comprehensive and integrated interpretation.  Since the developers of the conceptual framework of the "natural state" have considered it a framework for interpreting the written history of humans, the main question of the current research was whether this conceptual framework could provide a satisfactory interpretation of trends in the Sassanid state. Therefore, this study was based on an analytical-descriptive method and a library approach. In the viewpoint of "natural state", a state incorporates a coalition of elites, who exercise their control over the society's political, military, economic, religious, and administrative activities to provide them the highest rent. Therefore, the state's changes are those occurring to the coalition members, who may be important due to changes in the situation. In this article, the satisfactory ability of this framework to interpret important events in the Sassanid state, regarding the roles of the coalition members in the production of rents and acts of violence, was shown in a 5-period classification, the characteristics of each of which were then presented.

By the collapse of the Ilkhanid state, the Safi family, one of the noble and well-known families of Qom gained power in the Shiite city, and members of this patron of arts and learning family governed over Qom and its outskirts for eighty years (736-816 AH/ 1335-1413 AD). In those days, Iran, especially central Iran was exposed to disorder, invasions, and conflicts between powers like Ale-chuban, the Jalayerids, and Ale-Mozaffar. In such conditions, the wise Safi governors secured Qom from attack by choosing a policy of coexistence with all powers around. However, they sometimes befriended and united with a faraway power to confront the enemy's attack. At the beginning of the second decade of the 9th century AH, Timur’s grandson Iskandar ibn Umar Shaikh (812-817 AH/ 1409-1414 AD) conquered most of the Iraqi ÁJam and threatened Qom too. In those days, Qarayusef Qaraqoyunlo (813-823 AH/ 1410-1420 AD.) had gained great power in western Iran. He was a Shiite. To confront Iskandar’s aggression, Qom’s ruler of the time Ḵhajeh Mohammade Safi (806-816 AH/ 1404-1413 AD) united with Qarayusef and provoked him into war with Iskandar. The Safi government was powerful and Qom had an excellent strategic situation; therefore, Ḵhajeh Mohammad’s decision seriously endangered Iskandar’s condition in the region and provoked him to conquer Qom. Qom was fallen by the treachery of one of Ḵhajeh Mohammad’s confidants.

In the Qajar period, unlike in the past, the formation of a new educational system coincided with the creation of special educational spaces and places. The present study aims to analyze the genealogy of the morphology of the new educational space and the power that make a special function through architecture, organization, and arrangement of educational elements. For this purpose and inspired by Foucault's genealogy, after analyzing the contexts and degree of homogeneous of those schools, and analyzing historical reports and archival documents, it was concluded that a new understanding of the order and discipline of affairs and the uniformity of the elements manifested in the will of the uniformed army and the powerful government, willingly or unwillingly, became the most important feature of the new educational spaces that were being formed. The technology of disciplinary power by fencing, networking, functionalizing spaces, and using rows, tried to put the mind and bodies of the subjects under the same supervision to prepare them for the new order that was emerging. Later, the subjects by playing their role became a tool to advance plans and achieve goals that were unimaginable for both statesmen and the society.