Iranian Journal for the History of Islamic Civilization
Year:2021 | Volume:54 | Issue:2|Papers Count:12

After the Persian Constitutional Revolution, the press continued and developed its role as the most effective means of mass communication. During this period, due to political freedom, the critical role of the press grew in all aspects, especially in political structure. The present study, based on a historical method and sources, addresses these issues: the interaction between the press and the government during the first parliament (1324-1324 A. H. ), the approach of the press in reporting the news and events. According to the evidence, after the Persian Constitutional Revolution, the press freedom in a critical approach to the social and political circumstances, especially to the regime, increased progressively. This critical approach and the publication of informing articles, occasionally very intense, disrupted their interaction with the government so that eventually, Mohammad Ali Shah Qajar limited them by restrictions.

One of the most important sources about the music and the situation of musicians in the Umayyad and Abbasids period is the twentieth chapter of al-ʿIqd al-Farīd (the unique Necklace) by Ibn ʿAbd Rabbih, titled "Kitāb al-yāqūta al-thāniya fī ʻilm al-alḥān wa-ikhtilāf al-nās fīh" (The Book of the Second Ruby on the Art of Song and Dissenting Opinions Thereof). In this chapter, he argues in favor of religious permission for music and related arts such as playing music and singing. He also introduces seventy-seven musicians of the Umayyad and Abbasid period, most of whom were men artists of the court, he portrayed a friendly relationship between the caliphs and the artists. He informs us about several common musical instruments of the time. In this article, a statistical and analytical review of his opinions and arguments about music and musicians will be presented.

Many historical illustrated manuscripts have used a fixed aspect of iconography for prominent characters to facilitate their recognition. This study aimed to analyze the pictorial pattern of Imam Ali's (PBUH) clothing, the design, form, and color in the paintings of the Khāvarān Nāmih's Manuscript, a sample of Turkoman school preserved in Golestan Palace. The results showed that the clothes of Imam Ali (PBUH) in the paintings consisted of a turban, cloak, and robe, which was the customary clothing style of his time, the conventional three-piece clothing. Moreover, depicting Imam Ali (PBUH) in the same clothes as other characters in the picture reflects his lifestyle as a normal person in society.

After the eighth century AD., following the Arab conquest of Iran and the decline of local stability, some the Iranians rose against the Arab rulers. According to some scholars, the purpose of the leaders was to achieve Iranian independence and restore the Zoroastrian religion. If these uprisings were nationally motivated and patriotic, how would the clerics, who were the custodians of the Zoroastrian religion and Iranian culture and customs in the absence of the Shah, react to these uprisings? This study shows that the Iranian movements had more social and economic aspects, their founders and participants were mostly the followers of Zoroastrian sects such as Beh­Afridiyeh and Khorramdini (Nomzdakian). They sometimes had eclectic beliefs that their clerics considered heretical and dangerous for the Zoroastrian community. The clerics considered these beliefs as heresy, which destroys Zoroastrian unity and cohesion, so they didn't support and even opposed these movements.

The rise of Salafist movements in recent decades suggests inquiries into the political, social, and intellectual aspects. The ideology put forward by the leaders of these groups is based on a return to veritable Islam. The relationship between these groups' ideology and Islam, the book and tradition of the Holy Prophet is a matter of question. This article seeks to trace the origins and genealogy of these ideas and the contexts of their emergence. The findings show that although the roots of Salafism go back to the early days of Islam, under the influence of Ibn Taymiyyah's thoughts. The ideology reproduced when Islamic civilization was in weakness, which led to the creation of Salafism. The article is about two case studies: Maududi and Sayyid Qutb.

Baghdad flourished during the Abbasid period as the center of the Islamic caliphate in political and economic aspects. In the eighth century AD., this city was the center of trade in Islamic civilization due to its geographical privileges. This research seeks the reasons and grounds for this economic flourishment in the first period of the Abbasid caliphate. The findings indicate that Baghdad's geographical and political situation was the reason for this growth. Baghdad was at the intersection of business roads and seaways between the east and west of the Islamic civilization, the city also had security and facilities. This commercial function of Baghdad plays a crucial role in the Islamic civilization's development in agriculture, industry, education, and science.

The study of the relation between architecture and Islam, considering the nature of architecture, provides a basis for a proper understanding of Islamic architecture. This study presents an epistemological explanation of Islamic architecture by a phenomenological method. Research on Islamic architecture is essential due to its relation to various subjects, including achieving a contextual-local model to coordinate formal-spatial in the process of physical development and meet the requirements of users of architectural products. The present study, assuming architecture as a human structure and Islam as a sacred idea, shows that Islamic architecture forms the dialectic between the user's requirement and formal-spatial architecture.

The medical traditions of Iran and India have been interconnected for centuries in a mutual transaction. The Indian medical tradition is influenced by Ayurveda, which was the only medical tradition in India for centuries, and later interacted with other medical traditions such as Buddhism, Daoism, Tibetan, and Iranian Islamic medicine. In the 16th century AD., the Iranian physicians immigrated to India, so they wrote their Persian medical books under the influence of Indian medicine. The traces of Indian treatment in these works are special methods such as musical and magical treatments. Khulāsat al-tajārib and 'Ilājāt–i Dārā Shukūhī are two instances that include frequent references to the Indian medical tradition.

The iqṭāʿ in various forms was a method for land management, especially for centuries in the history of Iran. It was not very popular during the Ghaznavid period due to their dependence on the plunder. The iqṭāʿ rule was that when the government could not pay the troops in cash, it would cede the land to them. Why the iqṭāʿ was not applied even when they had problem in paying the troops during the late Ghaznavid period? This research seeks to answer this question and also to explain the system of iqṭāʿ in the early Ghaznavid period through descriptive and qualitative analysis. The findings show that the early Ghaznavids profited from the iqṭāʿ system, but Sabuktigin's reform in land management prevented the iqṭāʿ system. The later Ghaznavid sultans replaced it by paying the troops from peasants' properties.

Mīr ʿEmād Ḥasanī and ʿAlīrizā ʿAbbāsī are both calligraphers form the Safavid era. Mīr ʿEmād Ḥasanī was renowned for his expertise in nastaʿlīq script, and ʿAlīrizā ʿAbbāsī’s fame was due to his works in nasḵ, ṯolṯ, and nastaʿlīq. This study explores the dissimilarities in the composition of nastaʿlīq pieces by the two afore-mentioned calligraphers. This research purpose is to compare the composition (tarkīb) and seating (korsī) to have a good layout (ḥosn-e ważʿ). In this article, ten pieces of nastaʿlīq works in the forms of four diagonal sentences (chalīpā) and one sentence were analyzed. Mīr ʿEmād Ḥasanī had a better commitment to the rules and principles of calligraphy in comparison with ʿAlīrizā ʿAbbāsī. In addition, minor differences between the two artists’ works were detectable: the differences in the seating of letters, execution of stretched letters, words and letters, the angel between calligraphy pen and the paper while writing dots, composition methods, and dispersion of stretched letters, and the signature of each calligrapher.

One of the most valuable sources of Safavid Iran is historical maps produced by Europeans in the 16-18th centuries. While these maps portray different aspects of Iran's history and geography, they also offer crucial information concerning the boundaries, particularly with India. By studying the Safavid maps, this research attempts to examine the evolution of the territorial boundaries of Iran with India. The findings show that European cartographers in the 16th century had an ancient notion of boundaries, which developed and grew closer to the reality of the Safavid era during the 17th century. In the 18th century, cartographers began to record additional details, such as routes and demographic categories.

There are certain treatises among the music treatises handed down within the recent centuries whose author, date, and place of compilation are unknown. Most of them are attributed to the Safavid era (1501-1736 AD. ) by specific characteristics in form and content. A treatise, attributed to the Safavid era by various sources, is an undated anonymous treatise copied in Safavid (four manuscripts) and Qajar (one manuscript) period. There are pieces of evidence in this treatise that makes its attribution to the Safavid era unreliable. Thus, in this paper, we try to determine its date and musical tradition by studying its structure and terminology, also analyzing its modal, metric, and rhythmic systems.