History of Islam and Iran
Year:2020 | Volume:30 | Issue:47 (137)|Papers Count:7

Recent archaeological discoveries in the Halilrud valley (Kerman province, Iran), especially at the Site of Varamin and Konar Sandal of Jiroft, brought to light a hitherto unknown culture, the so-called “ Jiroft civilization, ” which generally dates back to the third millennium BC. Jiroft became famous between 2002/2003 when thousands of confiscated burial goods, especially elaborated carved chlorite vessels, from a dozen looted necropolises of Halil Rud impacted the media. Consequently, many scholars paid attention to Jiroft; some stated that Jiroft could be the “ the lost civilization” between Mesopotamia and Indus valley. Some referred to it as the core of the production and probability distribution of the already known chlorite artifacts, the so-called “ intercultural style. ” Moreover, some pinpointed the toponym of MarhaŠ i to Jiroft. In this paper, we will attempt to examine the Jiroft or Marhashi Civilization from a historical perspective based on the Mesopotamian cuneiform texts and the archaeological evidence. Importantly, our research indicated that Jiroft and Southern Mesopotamia were closely linked before the first appearance of Marhashi in the cuneiform texts (during the time of the Akkadian Sargon).

Iran's seismicity has historically destroyed many settlements and cities, even the historio-geographical texts have noticed. According to these texts, in some cases of extensive damage and destruction of the city, reconstruction or continuation of that settlement in the same place was not possible. This is why the survivors of these devastating earthquakes have inevitably built t a new settlement in conjunction with the vital factors that each city is affiliated with. Among the most prominent examples are the Meymeh plain settlements of Isfahan province, including Rabat Agha Kamal, Azan, Meyma, Wazwan, and Ghoshghan Carpet. All of these have been abandoned over time due to devastating earthquakes in early Islamic centuries. Once again, a new settlement has been made in connection with the deployed one. This study investigates the role of the earthquakes in the desertification of this plain's historical settlements, based on field research and library studies. The research's central question is why the significant settlements of the Meymeh Plain at the dawn of Islam were abandoned in the same period, and new establishments were made in connection with them? The central hypothesis is that historical texts and archaeological studies show earthquakes in the third century AH and affected this domine.

Hookah smoking was one of Iranians' habits and entertainment in the Qajar period, which, because all classes had resorted to it, had many differences. Therefore the researcher uses a descriptive-analytical method based on library data, especially travelogues. According to Pierre Bourdieu's concept of" social distinction" seeks to find an answer to this question: " hookah as a consumer good and smoking hookah as part of the Iranian way of life, " what role does it play in maintaining and reflecting the distinctions between the social classes of the Qajar period? The findings of this study show that although hookah was a consumer product in the Qajar era. Moreover, smoking hookah was a way to spend leisure time in all classes. However, the upper classes of society, using beautiful, decorative, and precious hookahs-based on aesthetic taste-showed their distinction from other classes. They took the hookah keepers of etiquette principles and, by preserving the customs of smoking hookah, sought to maintain their social and class hierarchy. In contrast, lowers classes smoked hookah only for their refreshment.

In the representation and retelling of the Mani religious movement in the first centuries' historiography, three main approaches can be identified except in a few narrations. These representations (at least in two approaches) are formulated with the central concept of "Zandiq. " These three approaches are: First, the approach of conscious transition and conciseness, based on attitudes and narrations with anti-Zandiq content, with prominent representatives such as Tabari, Abu Hanifa Dinevari, Muskawiyyah, and Ibn Athir; Second, a historical-theological approach based on a heretical reading of the Mani movement with the world-influential historians such as Abu Rihan al-Biruni, al-Maqdisi, Tha'labi, Ya'qubi, and Khawaja Nizam al-Mulk al-Tusi; Third, a relatively descriptive-historical approach with a comparably lower value of judgments with historians such as Masoudi and Gardizi. In a deep entanglement with the discourse of this age, these three approaches create a set of propositions and narratives around the issue of Mani, of which this character and his religious movement are the focal points. The problem of this study is to explain why and how the Mani religious movement is represented in the historiography of the first centuries; With the hypothesis that the various aspects of this re-reading have been the product of the political, theological, and cultural space of this period as well as the ideas, methods, and insights of the historians of this period.

Having tried to disseminate the monotheism (Tū ḥ ī d) in Mecca for thirteen years, the Prophet (PBUH) sought to locate a new center for Islam in response to the pressures imposed by the Quraysh aristocracy upon Muslims and their uncompromising attitude towards the spread of Islam. After introducing Islam to a group of Yathrib residents during a three-year period that paved the way for the introduction and spread of Islam in Yathrib, the Prophet decided to immigrate to this town. The necessary condition for the Prophet and many Muslims who resided in Mecca for immigrating to Yathrib was provided after signing two oral pledges (known as the first and second Pledge of Al-ʿ aqabah). After this migration, the young and upstart Islamic society in Medina faced problems such as the housing shortage, poverty, and unemployment that affected the town's Muslims, especially Muhā jirs. Having acquired a precise knowledge of the roots of the problems and investigated the town's conditions and possibilities, the Prophet (PBUH) performed fundamental actions to resolve them during stages. In the present study, by employing a qualitative method design (descriptiveanalytical), the author investigates the Prophet's methods to face and resolve the immigrants' problems in Medina. This study's main question is designated to identify the most critical challenges faced by the immigrants and the strategies employed by the Prophet for resolving them. According to this study's findings, during the first years of the immigrants' presence in Medina, the significant challenges they were faced included the housing shortage, poverty, and unemployment. The Prophet performed practical actions to resolve them during two main stages: a short-term stage (mitigating) and a long-term stage (resolving).

The present study aims to develop a model for public administration. The authors try to use the science of history to provide this opportunity to decision-makers, policymakers, and government managers that they can use to carefully examine a model of governance. One of the best models in this regard is the governance of Amirkabir. In this study, following the conceptual framework approach and using the documentary research method, focusing on studying and reviewing primary sources and texts, essential data in historical sources have been extracted. While reviewing in the form of an exploratory and inductive plan, we presented a relatively clear picture of the governance of Amirkabir. The proposed conceptual framework of this research consists of 189 concepts organized in the form of 23 categories, 12 themes, and six dimensions. The extracted concepts are also categorized. A number of the concepts are placed in a category, and the related categories locate in a theme, and the related themes form dimension. The identified dimensions are political measures, cultural measures, bureaucratic measures, protection measures, economic measures, and social measures obtained with the cooperation of the Association of Experts. The framework provides a basis for understanding the various aspects of Amirkabir governance and finally provides a conceptual model of this politician's actions that can be a reference for managers and policymakers in public administration in Iran. This study shows that historical data can be used to define new concepts and new components in public administration.

This study's main issue is internal logic, attitude, and the mainstream of Iranian Sunni's currents to Salafism. The Islamic world has witnessed the formation of religious currents in various forms in which they are trying to give a unique interpretation. The Sunni's representative currents in Iran, which are generally classified in the range of political, religious, or both, don't have a long-term background in the contemporary Iranian era since opening the political sphere amid the Islamic revolution in 1979. mean while, they formed In the East and West of Iran and turned the socio-political activities. The main question of the current study is related to how Salafism's example could be explained among the main Sunni currents? The author has used the Methodology of Scientific Research Program (MSRP) as a method and has tried to study the Sunni's mainstream currents within Salafi Research Program. The research shows that Tablighi Jamm'at, Iranian Call and Reform Organization, and Maktab-e Quran as the mainstream of Sunni's current in Iran. They explained their political-religious point of view within the framework of the Salafism research program. However, it's significant to study the visions of preceding currents of Salafism as a means or source of identity to declare their existence in the socio-political sphere in Iran. Despite belonging to Salafism due to theoretical changes and being influenced by national and international conditions, they were far from the Hard Core of Salafism, which has essential components named identity absolutism, interpretationism, extremist reading of Towhid, Jihadism, Takfir, social dogmatism, and Idealism based on the policy of salvation. Instead, they have turned to a particular reading of Moderate Salafism.