Occult Sciences after the Mongol Invasion Case Study of Mullā Ḥusayn Wā iẓ Kāshifī's Works

After the Mongol invasion of Iran, occult sciences prevailed considerably in Iran. Repeated defeats by foreign clans played a major role in this public pursuit. This caused certain beliefs being promoted among people, some of which can be considered as means for intellectual decline of Iranians and as one of the obstacles to growth and development of natural (experimental) sciences. Mullā Ḥusayn Wā’iẓ Kāshifī, who was one of the well-known preachers and scholars and a profuse writer of this period, played a major role in promotion of this science. In his works, he tried to make his works available to the public. The content of his works show that such beliefs as inevitability of fate, exorcising jinn and other unseen forces for fulfilling material needs, resorting to the stars to become informed of one’s destiny, and appealing to incantations and talismans and fabricated supplications to fend off ominous events were quite normal and accepted in those days.