Grand Ayatollah Mohammad Fazel Lankarani (1931 – June 16, 2007) was an Iranian Twelver Shia Marja' . He was student of Grand Ayatollah Borujerdi . He was a child of a Persian mother and an Azerbaijani father.
156-593: Lankarani was born in Qom , Iran . His father was from Lankaran (now in today's Azerbaijan Republic) who studied in Najaf and Qom and eventually settled in the latter. His mother was a woman of Sayed descent. Lankarani was fluent in Arabic , Azerbaijani , Persian , and Russian . Lankarani received his ijtihad , the permission of independent interpretation of the legal sources (the Qur'an and
312-549: A "way of freeing the soul from the distractions of the world". Important early scholars who further elaborated on mysticism were Harith al-Muhasibi (781–857 AD) and Junayd al-Baghdadi (835–910 AD). The early Muslim conquests brought about Arab Muslim rule over large parts of the Hellenistic world . During the time of the Umayyad Caliphate , at latest, the scholars of the emerging Islamic society had become familiar with
468-494: A considerable number of religious buildings were erected. At least ten madrasas are known by name. Two Friday mosques seem to have existed in Seljuk times: the old one was renovated and a new one, located outside of the town area, was built in 528/1133–34 by the order of Sultan Togrel II ( Persian: سلطان طغرل دوم ). Qom must have expanded during this period, but precise reasons for its prosperity are not known. A family of Ḥosaynid Alids
624-514: A good number of community leaders and there is also mention of one prominent female ʿAlid besides Fātimah bint Mūsā. These Alids descended from the Imams and were supported by pensions. Apart from the Shia mainstream, other Shia sects existed in the city and one can also assume the presence of Sunnies . Ḏemmis, or followers of other revealed religions ( Jews , Christians , and Zoroastrians ) must have lived in
780-402: A line of thought developed around the idea of mysticism , striving for the perfection ( Ihsan ) of worship. During the first Islamic century, Hasan al-Basri (642–728 AD) was one of the first Muslim scholars to describe, according to Albert Hourani (1991) "the sense of the distance and nearness of God ... in the language of love". During the 7th century, the ritual of Dhikr evolved as
936-584: A link between the wahhabiyya and parts of the salafiyya movements. The theological differences between the two movements were altogether too large for a complete union of the two doctrines. However, the opening of the Salafi movement towards Wahhabism helped to reconcile the latter with the Islamic public after king Ibn Saud 's invasion of the Hijaz in 1924. The Central Arabian militias ( Iḫwān ) had occupied and looted
1092-729: A month flows" into Lankarani's treasury "from his supporters alone." Fazel Lankarani was a strong supporter of Ayatollah Khomeini, being jailed several times and exiled once prior to the Iranian revolution . After the Iranian Revolution, he was a member of the Assembly of Experts , Iran's leading religious body. As his health conditions deteriorated he moved from the holy city of Qom to Tehran and then to London to receive medical treatment then on Friday 15 June 2007 he moved to Qom and he died on Saturday, June 16, 2007. Politically, Lankarani followed
1248-425: A number of students out of the revenue from religious endowments ( waqf ) , allocated to a specific institution by the donor. In later times, the deeds of endowment were issued in elaborate Islamic calligraphy , as is the case for Ottoman endowment books (vakıf-name) . The donor could also specify the subjects to be taught, the qualification of the teachers, or which madhhab the teaching should follow. Moreover,
1404-628: A period of political instability began with the collapse of the Safavid reign after shah Sultan Husayns death in 1722. In the light of the discontinuity and fragmentation of the central government, two social groups maintained continuity and, consequently, rose in power: Tribal chieftains established, amongst others, the Khanates of the Caucasus , the Afsharid and Zand dynasties . The second group who benefitted from
1560-533: A private activity, largely by medical men, pursued with discretion, and often met with suspicion". The founder of Islamic philosophical ethics is Ibn Miskawayh (932–1030 AD) He combined Aristotelian and Islamic ethics, explicitly mentioning the Nicomachean Ethics and its interpretation by Porphyry of Gaza as the foundation of his philosophical thoughts. In the 12th century, the early Islamic Neoplatonism which had developed out of Hellenistic philosophy
1716-663: A ruined and depopulated city throughout the Ilkhanid period. Besides, the fact that the Ilkhanid vizier Šams-al-Din Jovayni took refuge in the Fātimah bint Mūsā sanctuary in 683/1284, indicates that the city must have experienced at least a modest comeback. The city walls were probably rebuilt and, moreover, four graves of saints are known to have been constructed between 720/1301 and 1365. Additionally, some fine tiles are known from this period. Nothing
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#17330858186731872-491: A sum of 5 million dirhams. The names of those involved have survived. The move of a Hadith transmitter from Kufa to Qom, which took place probably in the middle of the 9th century, indicates the increased importance of Qom as a center of Shia learning. At about the same time another military attack on the city occurred in 254/868, when Mofleḥ, the Turkish officer of the caliph Al-Mostaʿin, executed some of its inhabitants because of
2028-519: Is 140 km (87 mi) to the south of Tehran , and on the banks of the Qom River . Qom is considered holy in Shi'a Islam , as it is the site of the shrine of Fatimah bint Musa , sister of Imam Ali ibn Musa Rida (Persian: Imam Reza ; 789–816). The city is the largest center for Shi'a scholarship in the world, and is a significant destination of pilgrimage, with around twenty million pilgrims visiting
2184-465: Is a movement which emerged in North India in the mid-19th century. By rejecting taqlid (following legal precedent) and favoring ijtihad (independent legal reasoning) based on the foundational scriptures of Islam, they oppose the traditional madhhab and criticize their reliance on legal authorities other than the traditional texts. The Ahl-i Hadith was the first organization which printed and spread
2340-546: Is barely a century old. There are nearly 300,000 clerics in Iran's seminaries. The Fordow uranium enrichment facility is located 20 miles north east of Qom. In January 2012 the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) announced that Iran had started producing uranium enriched up to 20% for medical purposes and that material "remains under the agency's containment and surveillance." Iranian authorities state
2496-513: Is brought to us by former generations and foreign peoples. For him who seeks the truth there is nothing of higher value than truth itself. The works of Aristotle , in particular his Nicomachean Ethics , had a profound influence on the Islamic scholars of the Golden Age like Al-Farabi (870–950 AD), Abu al-Hassan al-Amiri (d. 992 AD) and Ibn Sina (ca. 980–1037 AD). In general, the Islamic philosophers saw no contradiction between philosophy and
2652-523: Is in the southwest of Qom. Qom has a hot desert climate bordering a cold desert climate based on Köppen climate classification ( BWh bordering on BWk ) and has an arid climate based on Trewartha climate classification ( BW ), with low annual rainfall due to remoteness from the sea and being situated in the vicinity of the subtropical anticyclone aloft. Summer weather is very hot and essentially rainless, whilst in winter weather can vary from warm to – when Siberian air masses are driven south across
2808-430: Is known about animal husbandry in the region, but the considerable number of fifty-one mills existed, of which a fifth was in decay. Legends speak of mineral deposits and mines of silver , iron , gold and lead , while Kurds seem to have produced salt from a lake nearby (see Qom Lake ). The production of chairs, textiles, and saddle equipment indicates craftsmanship. The city's taxation has to be distinguished between
2964-409: Is known about the irrigation systems of the town, but nearby a dam was built in the Ilkhanid period and the local administration must have functioned again, as the name of a judge shows. The agricultural situation is described as flourishing with a variety of cultivated plants and a good supply of water, and legends indicate the use of deposits of mineral resources. Information exists concerning taxes for
3120-455: Is known as the ijazat at-tadris wa 'l-ifta ( lit. ' license to teach and issue legal opinions ' ). Through time, this practice has established a chain of teachers and pupils who have become teachers in their own time. The traditional place of higher education is the madrasa . The institution likely originated in Khurasan during the 10th century AD, and spread to other parts of
3276-480: Is now over fifty, and the number of research institutes and libraries somewhere near two hundred and fifty. Its theological center and the Fatima Masumeh Shrine are prominent features of Qom. Another very popular religious site of pilgrimage formerly outside the city of Qom but now more of a suburb is called Jamkaran . Qom's proximity to Tehran has allowed the clerical establishment easy access to monitor
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#17330858186733432-586: Is one of the Ulama signatories of the Amman Message , which gives a broad foundation for defining Muslim orthodoxy. Qom Qom ( Persian : قم ; [ɢom] ) is a city in the Central District of Qom County , Qom province, Iran , serving as capital of the province, the county, and the district. It is the seventh largest metropolis and also the seventh largest city in Iran. The city
3588-411: The ijazah , the scholar's approval by another master, is key to the scholar's reputation, the latter would be greater in regions where the approving masters is more widely known. The second caliph, Umar ibn al-Khattab , funded a group of Muslims to study the revelations, stories of Muhammed's life, "and other pertinent data, so that when he needed expert advice" he could draw it from these "people of
3744-512: The ulama ( / ˈ uː l ə ˌ m ɑː / ; Arabic : علماء , romanized : ʿulamāʾ , lit. 'the learned ones'; singular Arabic : عالِم , romanized : ʿālim ; feminine singular alimah ; plural aalimath ), also spelled ulema , are scholars of Islamic doctrine and law. They are considered the guardians, transmitters, and interpreters of religious knowledge in Islam. "Ulama" may refer broadly to
3900-622: The Abadan refinery on the Persian Gulf . Qom gained additional prosperity when oil was discovered at Sarajeh near the city in 1956 and a large refinery was built between Qom and Tehran. Some researchers have considered the word "Kom" (in the ancient name of Komidan (Komiran)) to mean "city" and believe that there is a lexical connection between the words "Komiran", "Shemiran (near Tehran)", "Tehran", "Chamran (in Saveh areas)" and "Iran", and they considered
4056-524: The Alborz Mountains by blocking over Europe – frigid. An example of the latter situation was in January 2008 when minima fell to −23 °C or −9.4 °F on the 15th, whilst earlier similar situations occurred in January 1964 and to a lesser extent January 1950, January 1972 and December 1972. The highest recorded temperature was 47 °C (117 °F) on 11 July 2010 and the lowest recorded temperature
4212-705: The Ayatollah Khomeini led his opposition to the Pahlavi dynasty from Qom. On 19 February 2020, the Iranian Students News Agency reported that the first two cases of the COVID-19 pandemic in Iran were detected in Qom. At the time of the 2006 National Census, the city's population was 957,496 in 241,827 households. The following census in 2011 counted 1,074,036 people in 299,752 households. The 2016 census measured
4368-803: The Ja'fari and Zaidi schools. Minor madhhab also mentioned in the Amman message are the Ibadi and the Zahiri schools. All Sunni madhhabs recognize four sources of sharia (divine law): the Quran, sunnah (authentic hadith), qiyas (analogical reasoning), and ijma (juridical consensus). However, the madhhabs differ from each other in their conception of the Principles of Islamic jurisprudence , or uṣūl al-fiqh , as briefly summarised by Hourani (1991). The Hanbalis accepted only
4524-401: The madrasas focuses on the law, but also includes what Zaman (2010) called "Sharia sciences" (al-ʿulūm al-naqliyya) as well as the rational sciences like philosophy, astronomy, mathematics or medicine. The inclusion of these sciences sometimes reflects the personal interests of their donors, but also indicates that scholars often study various different sciences. Early on in Islamic history,
4680-573: The ummah . His temporal authority would be set up in the Hejaz , whilst he would hold religious authority over the entire Muslim community, "assisted ... by a consultative council nominated by the Muslim rulers". Al-Kawākibīs idea that the Arabian doctrine represented a more puristic form of the Islam, according to Cleveland and Bunton (2016), prepared the ground for the 20th century Arab nationalism as well as
4836-762: The 11th century on, the Muʿtazila was suppressed by the Sunni Abbasid Caliphate and the Seljuk Empire , but it continued playing an important role in the formation of Shia theology. The Ash'ari school encouraged the use of Kalām as the basis of fiqh, and was followed in this approach by parts of the Shafi'i madhhab. In contrast, the Hanbali and Maliki madhhabs discouraged theological speculation. Abu Mansur al-Maturidi (853–944 AD) developed his own form of Kalām, differing from
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4992-559: The 16th century, scholars like the Shaykh al-Islām Kemālpaşazade (d. 1534), Aḥmād b. Muṣṭafā Taşköprüzāde (1494–1561), Kınalızāde ʿAli Çelebi (d. 1572) and Ali ben Bali (1527–1584) established a seamless chain of tradition from Abu Hanifa to their own time. Explicitly, some authors stated that their work must not only be understood as the historiography of the Hanafi madhhab , but that it should be consulted in case of eventual disagreements within
5148-757: The 18th century, and shaped the relationship between ulama and government during the reigns of the subsequent dynasties. With the accession of Agha Mohammad Khan Qajar to the Iranian throne, the Qajar dynasty consolidated the central power. However, the Qajar Shahs, in particular Naser al-Din Shah Qajar (r. 1848–1896), whose reign paralleled that of the Ottoman Sultans of the Tanzimat time, failed at obtaining central control over
5304-481: The 1980, the Nahdlatul Ulama schools also offered degrees in economy, jurisdiction, paedagogical and medical sciences. In the 1990s, under their leader Abdurrahman Wahid , the organization adopted an anti-fundamentalistic doctrine, teaching democracy and pluralism. Darul Uloom Deoband , next to al-Azhar one of the most influential madrasas, was founded in the city of Deoband , Uttar Pradesh , in 1867. Initially,
5460-532: The 4th and 1st millennium BC. While nothing is known about the area from Elamite , Medes , and Achaemenid times, there are significant archeological remains from the Seleucid and Parthian epochs, of which the ruins of Khurha (about 70 kilometres or 43 miles southwest of Qom) are the most famous and important remnants. Their dating and function have instigated long and controversial debates and interpretations, for they have been interpreted and explained variously as
5616-453: The Ash'ari view in the question of Man's free will and God's omnipotence. Maturidi Kalām was often used in combination with Hanafi fiqh in the northwestern parts of the Islamic world. A distinct school of theology often called traditionalist theology emerged under the leadership of Ahmad ibn Hanbal in the early centuries of Islam among hadith scholars who rejected rationalistic argumentation. In
5772-582: The Azerbaijani embassy in Teheran . According to Iranian and Islamic law, these sentences are only applicable if either individual freely and wilfully enters Iran and submit themselves to the authorities. Possibly related to the fatwa, Rafiq Tağı died in a Baku hospital on November 19, 2011, after having been stabbed with a knife seven times in public. Lankarani believed strongly in the separation of sexes and opposed President Ahmadinejad 's declaration that women have
5928-538: The Deoband School. Ashraf Ali Thanwi (1863–1943) is one of the most prominent teachers of Darul Uloom Deoband. Thanwi initiated and edited multi-volume encyclopedic commentaries on the Quran. However, he was also able to reach out to a larger audience: His book Bahishti Zewar , which is still widely read in South Asia, as it details, amongst other topics, the proper conduct and beliefs for Muslim women. Ahl-i Hadith
6084-645: The Iranian government itself ceased to do so in a 1998 compromise with the British government. In 1998, Lankarani called for the Iranian government to do "its utmost" to protect Shiites in Afghanistan , then reportedly endangered by the Taliban . Lankarani also issued a fatwa calling for the deaths of another author, Rafiq Tağı , an Azeri writer, and Tagi's editor, Samir Sədaqətoğlu, who were accused of criticizing Islam . Tagi's writings sparked recent demonstrations outside
6240-596: The Islamic doctrine. After Abduh's death in 1905, Rashīd Ridā continued editing al-Manār on his own. In 1924, he published a collection of writings by some ulama of Najd : Maǧmūʿat al-ḥadiṭ an-naǧdīya . Thus, the teachings of the Yemeni alim Muhammad ash-Shawkani (1759–1839), which had already been discussed since the 1880s, gained greater publicity. Likewise, the writings of the Hanbali scholar Ibn Taymiyyah (1263–1328) came to attention again. Ibn Taymiyyah's doctrine provided
6396-576: The Islamic renewal movement of the Nahda . In 1912, the Muhammadiyah organization was founded in Yogyakarta (in modern-day Indonesia ), which, together with Nahdlatul Ulama ("Reawakening of the ulama"), founded in 1926, form the two largest Muslim organizations in the world. Since the 1930s, their religious boarding schools ( pesantren ) also taught mathematics, natural sciences, English and history. Since
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6552-692: The Islamic world from the late 11th century onwards. The most famous early madrasas are the Sunni Niẓāmiyya , founded by the Seljuk vizir Nizam al-Mulk (1018–1092) in Iran and Iraq in the 11th century. The Mustansiriya , established by the Abbasid caliph Al-Mustansir in Baghdad in 1234 AD, was the first to be founded by a caliph, and also the first known to host teachers of all four major madhhab known at that time. From
6708-524: The Islamic world to another can easily integrate themselves into the local Muslim community and hold offices there: The traveller Ibn Battuta (1304–1368 or 1369), born in Tangiers , Morocco, to a family of ulema, was appointed qadi by Sultan Muhammad bin Tughluq of Delhi . Nuruddin ar-Raniri (d. 1658), born to a Gujarati Muslim family, travelled to, and worked as Shaykh ul-Islam in modern-day Indonesia under
6864-473: The Islamic world. ʿAbduh understood Islah as a concept of "reform of mankind" (iṣlāḥ nauʿ al-insān) . In his works, he emphasized the special importance of a reform of the traditional madrasa system, which was taken to disadvantage by the parallel establishment of the secular, state-sponsored educational system in Egypt. He strove at reconciling the traditional and modern educational systems, thereby justifying from
7020-652: The Ottoman law scholars "Hanafi of Rūm [i.e., the Ottoman Empire]" (Rūmi ḫānāfi) , "Scholars of Rūm" (ʿulamā'-ı rūm) or "Scholars of the Ottoman Empire" ( ʿulamā' al-dawla al-ʿUthmaniyyā ). The Shaykh al-Islām ( Turkish : Şeyhülislam ) in Istanbul became the highest-ranking Islamic scholar within, and head of the ulama throughout the empire. The ulama in the Ottoman Empire had a significant influence over politics due to
7176-472: The Ottoman sultan Abdülhamid II of corrupting the Islamic community . The Ottoman despotism "encroaches on the rights of its citizens, keeps them ignorant to keep them passive, [and] denies their right to take an active part in human life". Therefore, the law must be reformed. By the use of ijtihad , a "modern and unified system of law" must be created, and "proper religious education" must be provided. Because of
7332-489: The Quran and sunnah of the Prophet. The capacity of its interpretation lies with the ulama. By the eleventh century, the major schools of Sunni and Shia law ( madhhab ) had emerged. Whilst, historically, the schools were at times engaged in mutual conflicts, the differences became less controversial over time, and merely represent regional predominances today. The four most important Sunni schools are: Shia madhhab include
7488-414: The Quran and Hadith. Supplementing the sharia were customs ( ʿurf ) within a given society. Islamic law and regional customs were not opposed to each other: In 15th century Morocco, qadis were allowed to use a process called ʻamal in order to choose from different juridical opinions one which applied best to the local customs, even if they were not supported by the consensus of the majority. More often,
7644-591: The Saffavid dynasty. By 1503, Qom became one of the important centers of theology in relation to Shia Islam and became a significant religious pilgrimage site and pivot. The city suffered heavy damage again during the Afghan invasions, resulting in consequent severe economic hardships. Qom further sustained damage during the reign of Nader Shah and the conflicts between the two households of Zandieh and Qajariyeh in order to gain power over Iran. Finally in 1793 Qom came under
7800-424: The Shah. Thus, under the Qajar dynasty, the ulama provided a source of religious legitimacy and served as interpreters of religious law in a dual legal system where the state administered law based on custom ( ʻurf ) . Starting in the first half of the 19th century, direct contacts began and gradually increased between members of the ulama and modern Western Europe. The Egyptian alim Rifa'a al-Tahtawi (1801–1873)
7956-464: The Shaykh al-Islām Ahīzāde Ḥüseyin Efendi. In 1656, Shaykh al-Islām Ḥocazāde Mesʿud Efendi was sentenced to death by sultan Mehmed IV . The use of the Sunni Islam as a legitimisation of the Ottoman dynastic rule is closely linked to Sultan Süleyman I and his kazasker and later Schaykh al-Islām Ebussuud Efendi . Ebussuud compiled an imperial book of law ( ḳānūn-nāme ), which combined religious law (sharīʿah) with secular dynastic law ( ḳānūn ) in
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#17330858186738112-455: The Sunnah), from Ayatollah Boroujerdi at the age of 25. He led the prayer in the haram of Bibi Masouma A.S in Qum . Grand Ayatollah Fazel Lankarani was declared as the most knowledgeable specialist in the field of Islamic law ( Marja al-taqlid ) by the central Shi'a school of religious studies in Qom, Hawza 'Ilmiyyah, after the death of Ayatollah Khomeini . At the time of his death, he was one of seven Grand Ayatollahs in Iran. His Resalah ,
8268-463: The Sunni Hanafi doctrine which then served as the official religious doctrine of the empire. The formal acknowledgment by decree of the sultan became a prerequisite to issue fatwas. In the 17th century, the annalist al-Hamawi used the expression "sultanic mufti" ( al-ifta' al-sultani ) to delineate the difference between the officially appointed religious leaders and those who had followed the traditional way of education. Other authors at that time called
8424-399: The Sunni concept of analogy (qiyās) , Shia ulama prefer "dialectical reasoning" ( 'Aql ) to deduce law. The body of substantive jurisprudence ( fiqh ) defines the proper way of life through interpretation of sharia , which Muslims should follow if they want to live according to God's will. Over time, the madhhabs established "codes of conduct", examining human actions in the light of
8580-498: The affairs and decisions of state. Many Grand Ayatollahs possess offices in both Tehran and Qom; many people simply commute between the two cities as they are only 156 kilometres or 97 miles apart. Southeast of Qom is the ancient city of Kashan . Directly south of Qom lie the towns of Delijan , Mahallat , Naraq, Pardisan City , Kahak, and Jasb . The surrounding area to the west of Qom is populated by Tafresh , Saveh , and Ashtian and Jafarieh. Arak city (Industrial Capital of Iran)
8736-424: The agent (wakil) responsible for the pensions of the Alids. The first Friday mosque in Qom was built in 878–79 on the site of a fire temple, although there are also confusing reports concerning a possible earlier Friday mosque. In 881–82 Qom was occupied by the Turkish military leader Edgu Tegin (Arabic: Yadkutakin b. Asātakin or Aḏkutakin), who tried to collect the tax arrears for seven years which partially ruined
8892-420: The armies of the Mongol generals, Jebe and Sübedei, in 621/1224 and left the city in ruins for at least twenty years, when the sources (Jovayni) tell of the levying of taxes. Twenty years later, reconstruction and repair works, probably sponsored by some wealthy inhabitants, were being done on the mausoleums of Shia saints in the city, which contradict those sources, such as Ḥamd-Allāh Mostawfi, that describe Qom as
9048-416: The attempt to enforce collective responsibility by the taxpayers had failed. The information in the Tāriḵ-e Qom on taxation also mention by name 21 tax districts (rasātiq) in the region with 900 villages. Little is known about the time until the period of Seljuki dominance. In 387/997, Qom became involved in internal Buyid quarrels and was subsequently unsuccessfully besieged. In 418/1027–28, Qom fell under
9204-452: The basic principles of Islamic jurisprudence in his book ar-Risālah . The book details the four roots of law (Qur'an, Sunnah , ijma , and qiyas ) while specifying that the primary Islamic texts (the Qur'an and the hadith) must be understood according to objective rules of interpretation derived from scientific study of the Arabic language. According to Feldman (2008), under many Muslim caliphate states and later states ruled by sultans,
9360-408: The beginning of the 19th century, the Ottoman ulama still retained their political influence. When sultan Selim III tried to reform the Ottoman army , the ulama opposed his plans, which they rejected as an apostasy from Islam . Consequently, his reform failed. However, Selims successor Mahmud II (r. 1808–1839) was more successful: He called the new troops, organised according to European models, by
9516-418: The belief in God and in life after death, which together provide the foundation of action in the pursuit of sa'āda (Happiness). According to Shia Islam , the authority to interpret the messages of the Quran and the Hadith lies with the Imamah , a line of infallible interpreters of the truth. The Sunni majority, however, reject this concept and maintain that God's will has been completely revealed in
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#17330858186739672-407: The belief that secular institutions were all subordinate to Islamic law, the Sharia ( Turkish : Şeriat ). The ulama were responsible for interpreting the religious law, therefore they claimed that their power superseded that of the government. Within the Ottoman hierarchy of ulama, the Shaykh al-Islām held the highest rank. He exerted his influence by issuing fatwas, his written interpretations of
9828-434: The bench". According to Tamim Ansary , this group evolved into the Ulama The formative period of Islamic jurisprudence stretches back to the time of the early Muslim communities. In this period, jurists were more concerned with pragmatic issues of authority and teaching than with theory. Progress in theory began to develop with the coming of the early Muslim jurist Muhammad ibn Idris ash-Shafi'i (767–820), who codified
9984-451: The bigger settlements that were loosely connected by defense installations. It is difficult to decipher the actual process of the Arab conquest of Qom from the extant Arabic sources. According to Balāḏori, the first tentative conquest of Qom took place in 23/644 by Abu Musa Ashaari after a few days of fighting (although Abu Musa's route through Western Persia , as narrated by Balāḏori, appears somewhat confusing). It remains unclear who
10140-477: The book including his interpretation of Islamic laws on different topics, is available in Arabic, English, Persian, Turkish, and other languages. Lankarani taught in the areas of the interpretation of Islamic law ( fiqh ) and Usul al-fiqh for the last 25 years of his life. As a Shia Grand Ayatollah, he received generous contributions from his many followers. According to author Hooman Majd "one of Lankarani's aides" told him that "approximately ten million dollars
10296-469: The central position of the Arabic peoples in the ummah and the Arabic language in the intellectual discourse, but also because "Arabian Islam is ... free from modern corruptions and the bedouin are free from the moral decay and passivity of despotism", the balance of power must shift from the Turks towards the Arabs. The Ottoman dynasty must give up their claim to the caliphate , and a new caliph of Quraysh descent must be elected by representatives of
10452-402: The city every year, the majority being Iranians but also other Shi'a Muslims from all around the world. Qom has developed into a lively industrial center owing in part to its proximity to Tehran. It is a regional center for the distribution of petroleum and petroleum products, and a natural gas pipeline from Bandar Anzali and Tehran and a crude oil pipeline from Tehran run through Qom to
10608-406: The city's refusal to pay taxes. Mofleḥ became governor of Qom and lasted in that position for at least five years. During his governorship important Alids moved to Qom and there are references to close contacts between the representative of the 11th Shia's Imam, Hassan al-Askari , in Qom and other Qomis. The representative Aḥmad b. Esḥāq was at the same time administrator of the Fāṭema sanctuary and
10764-404: The city, too, as the payment of poll tax (jezya) indicates, although their number can only be very roughly estimated at a few thousand at the end of the 9th century and must have shrunk drastically in the 10th century. The majority of these non-Muslims were Zoroastrians, who made their living mostly as farmers. Jews must have lived in Qom as well, but information on them is scant. It is striking that
10920-575: The classical philosophical and scientific traditions of the world they had conquered. The collection of classical works and their translation into the Arabian language initiated a period which is known today as the Islamic Golden Age . According to Hourani (1991), the works of the classical scholars of antiquity were met with considerable intellectual curiosity by Islamic scholars. Hourani quotes al-Kindi (c. 801–873 AD), "the father of Islamic philosophy", as follows: We should not be ashamed to acknowledge truth from whatever source it comes to us, even if it
11076-401: The competing Seljuk factions in Jebāl and the city changed hands many times. The most stable period seems to have been the 14 years (513–27/1119–33) when Qom lay in Sanjar's sphere of power and witnessed the construction of a second Friday mosque. Qom enjoyed relative prosperity in its economy in the Seljuk period. The rigidly Sunni Seljuks seem to have practiced a pragmatic policy and one of
11232-538: The consensus of the Companions of the Prophet (aṣ-ṣaḥābah) , which gave more leeway to independent reasoning ( ijtihad ) within the boundaries of the rules of qiyās . The Hanafis hold that strict analogy may at times be supported by a limited use of juristic preference ( istihsan ) , whereas the Maliki school also allows pragmatic considerations in the interest of public welfare ( istislah ) are also acceptable. Instead of
11388-543: The control of Agha Muhammad Khan Qajar . On being victorious over his enemies, the Qajar Sultan Fath Ali Shah was responsible for the repairs done on the sepulchre and Holy Shrine of Hæzræt Mæ'sume, as he had made such a vow. The city of Qom began another era of prosperity in the Qajar era. After Russian forces entered Karaj in 1915, many of the inhabitants of Tehran moved to Qom due to reasons of proximity, and
11544-570: The course of the 19th century, this new elite carried on the Sultan's reforms and helped initiating a new era of reform, the Tanzimat . In parallel, the political influence of the ulama was circumvented and reduced step by step. A ministry for religious endowments was created in order to control the finances of the vakıf . Thus, the ulama lost direct control over their finances, which significantly reduced their capacity to exert political influence. In Iran,
11700-460: The deeds of the Ottoman sultans in terms of idealised Islamic ghazi warriors. According to Burak (2015), the Ottoman literature genres of the "rank order" ( Turkish : tabaḳat and the "biografic lexicon" ( Turkish : Eş-şakaiku'n ) compiled the biographies of scholars in such ways as to create a concise and coherent tradition of the doctrine and structure of the Ottoman imperial scholarship. During
11856-552: The defenders of Qom were; probably fleeing Sasanian nobles and local soldiers returning from the great battles against the Arabs formed the core of the resistance. The area remained largely untouched for 60 years after the initial conquest and was probably administered from Isfahan . The first permanent settlement of Arab settlers in Qom took place during the revolts of Mukhtar al-Thaqafi and Moṭarref b. Moḡira b. Šaʿba in 66–77/685–96, when small groups of refugees moved there and Qom itself
12012-456: The donor is free to specify in detail the curriculum, as was shown by Ahmed and Filipovic (2004) for the Ottoman imperial madrasas founded by Suleiman the Magnificent . As Berkey (1992) has described in detail for the education in medieval Cairo , unlike medieval Western universities, in general madrasas have no distinct curriculum , and do not issue diplomas . The educational activities of
12168-415: The educated class of such religious scholars, including theologians , canon lawyers ( muftis ), judges ( qadis ), professors, and high state religious officials. Alternatively, "ulama" may refer specifically to those holding governmental positions in an Islamic state . By longstanding tradition, ulama are educated in religious institutions ( madrasas ). The Quran and sunnah (authentic hadith ) are
12324-421: The eighth Imam of Shias Ali al-Ridha in the city in 201/816–17 proved to be of great importance for the later history of Qom. Fātimah bint Mūsā died while following her brother to Khorasan , a region in northern Iran. The place of her entombment developed from 869–70 into a building that was transformed over time into today's magnificent and economically important sanctuary. In 825–26, a major rebellion against
12480-499: The establishment of the office of the jahbaḏ (financial officer) as the tax broker for the city, which fostered local self-determination. In 909 Hosayn ibn Hamdan ibn Hamdun was appointed governor of Qom and Kāšān by the caliph Al-Moqtader and had to assist the caliph's army against the Saffarids in Fars . Altogether he stayed in power only for two years before he had to return to Baghdad. In
12636-592: The execution of ʿEzz-al-Din Yaḥyā, the naqib of the Shias, by the Tekesh in 592/1196 and the work on the tiles of the sanctuary (probably in 605–13/1208–17), which indicate a certain economic prosperity at a time of unstable political conditions. From 614/1217–18 until the Mongol attack, Qom remained under Muhammad II of Khwarezm . The Mongol invasion led to the total destruction of Qom by
12792-463: The facility is built deep in a mountain because of repeated threats by Israel to attack such facilities, which Israel believes can be used to produce nuclear weapons. However, attacking a nuclear facility so close to a city considered so holy in Shia Islam brings concern of a potential risk of a Shiite religious response. The city has a number of streets and roadways. Ulama In Islam ,
12948-800: The form of Greek names in two ancient geographical works (the Tabula Peutingera and Ptolemy's geographical tables) remains doubtful. The Sasanian epoch offers many archeological findings and remnants, besides the fact that various sources mention Qom. The most interesting building from an archeological point of view is the Qalʿa-ye Doḵtar in Qom itself, which was long thought to have served religious purposes, while more recent research points to an administrative use. The wider surroundings of Qom also contain numerous traces from palaces, religious, military and administrative buildings. Some of these are mentioned by Qomi, who also names many more fire temples in
13104-417: The formerly dominant Ashaaries had lost their leading positions by the end of the 10th century. This points at a new social situation that allowed assimilated Persians to join the local establishment. The city's topography in the 10th century still reflected the evolutionary merging of the original six villages; these were still separated by fields. The town center was located in the village of Mamajjān, which
13260-645: The founders of the School of Isfahan , and Ahmad ibn Muhammad Ardabili (d. 1585). By their teachings, they further developed the Shi'a Islamic teachings and religious practice. However, as religion did no longer suffice to support political power in Persia, Abbas I had to develop independent concepts to legitimise his rule. He did so by creating a new ghulam army, thus evoking the Turco-Mongol tradition of Timur and his reign. By
13416-440: The founders of the political Islam and of the late 19th and 20th century Salafi movement . The Egyptian Grand Mufti Muhammad Abduh (1849–1905), who was granted the degree of 'Alim by al-Azhar university in 1877, was the first who used the term Islāh in order to denote political and religious reforms. Until 1887 he edited together with al-Afghani the newspaper al-ʿUrwa al-Wuthqā ("The firm bond"). The gazette widely spread
13572-453: The group of Ashaaries that emigrated from Kufa to the region of Qom. It is not exactly clear why they migrated, but it might have also been a general opposition to the Umayyad dynasty. A central element was the early contact with the leading local Zoroastrian Persian noble Yazdanfadar. As the Arabs required a great deal of pasture for their large herds of cattle and were much wealthier than
13728-426: The guarantors (some of whom are known) of these taxes. At about the same time the early orthodox Shias achieved their victory in the town. In 893–94, at the latest, all extremists (ḡolāt) were driven out of town by the leading Shia shaikh of Qom, Aḥmad b. Moḥammed b. Isa Ashaari. Probably one year later, in 1895, the famous Islamic mystic Ḥosayn b. Manṣur Ḥallaj stayed in Qom, where he was arrested. From 895–96 onwards
13884-526: The history of Qom was connected with a family of Turkish military leaders from the army of the caliph Al-Mu'tadid , including the governor Berun (Birun). In the same year, Berun destroyed a big and probably still active fire temple located on the territory of the evolving city and probably opposite today's sanctuary of Fātimah bint Mūsā. In these unstable political times, Qom was visited by the vizier of Al-Moʿtazed, Obayd-Allah ibn Solayman, and two tax assessments were organized. An administrative peculiarity of Qom
14040-665: The holy towns of Mecca and Medina, thereby destroying monuments which they considered pagan ( shirk ). Starting with the Pan-Islamic Congress in Mecca in 1926, the pro-Saudi movement developed into one of the most relevant currents of Islamic thought. In his Egyptian exile, the Syrian alim Abd ar-Rahman al-Kawakibi (1854–1902) met al-Afghani, Abduh and Rida. In his books Ṭabāʾiʿ al-istibdād ("The nature of despotism ") and Umm al-Qurā ("Mother of villages [i.e., Mecca]", 1899) he accused
14196-421: The imperial bureaucracy, and Ottoman secular law into Islamic law. In contrast, Shah Abbas I of Persia was unable to gain similar support by the Shi'a ulama, who retained a more independent position. During the late Safavid empire, the Shi'a ulama developed into one of the warrantors of continuity in a period of instability of the central government, thus securing a relative independency which they retained during
14352-502: The influence of Sufi mysticism weakened, the Shah's role as the head of the Safaviyya lost its significance as a justification for his political role. Abbas I thus sought to associate himself with eminent ulama like Shaykh Bahāʾi (1574–1621 AD), whom he made Shaykh al-Islām in his new capital, Isfahan. Other famous ulama working under Abbas's patronage were Mir Damad (d. 1631 or 1632 AD), one of
14508-416: The intellectual circles of one region could be unknown in another. The ability of scholars from one region to support their argument in another might therefore be limited by the familiarity with the respective texts of the community they are working in. In an era without book print or mass communication media, a scholar's reputation might have remain limited if he was unfamiliar with the local canon of texts. As
14664-476: The intention of the school was to help Indian Muslims, who had become subjects of the British Empire after 1857, to lead their lives according to Islamic law. The Deobandi propagate a Sunni Islam of the Hanafi school, which was the most prevalent madhhab in South Asia. Still today, they aim at a revival of the Islamic society and education. Following the example of Deoband, thousands of madrasas were founded during
14820-670: The irrigation channels between 733 and 900. The Ašʿaris were also the proprietors of the water rights, which were safeguarded in the water authority (divān-e āb) that regulated the water shares. The system made the Ašʿaris the wealthiest inhabitants of Qom and stayed in place until 347/958–59 when they were expropriated by the Buyids, which consequently brought about a decline in the whole system of irrigation. Although there were attempts at restoration in 371/981–82, only three of originally twenty-one channels had flowing water which meant enough drinking water
14976-444: The issuing of fatwa as well as the use of Arabic, and later also Persian as common languages of discourse constituted the religious authority of the ulama throughout the entire Islamic world. Zaman has demonstrated that, as personal contacts were key to acquiring knowledge, Islamic scholars sometimes travel far in search of knowledge (ṭalab al-ʿilm) . Due to their common training and language, any scholars travelling from one region of
15132-574: The known 18 tax figures ranging over 160 years there are great differences and the tax figures vary from 8 million to 2 million dirhams with a mean value at around 3 million. In taxation Qom always followed the solar calendar with its own local variation, starting from the death of the Sasanian Yazdegerd III . A highly differentiated tax administration existed and is known in great detail; 24 tax collectors (ʿommāl) are listed from 189/804–05 to 371/981–82 plus two jahabaḏa who acted as mediators after
15288-574: The late 19th century which adopted the Deobandi way of studying fundamental texts of Islam and commenting on Quran and Hadith. By referring back to traditional Islamic scholars, the Deobandi School aims at defending the traditional Islamic madhhab, especially the Hanafi, against criticism which arose from other Islamic schools like the Ahl-i Hadith . During the 1990s, the Afghan taliban also referred to
15444-407: The local Persians, they slowly started to buy land and take over more villages. The decisive step for controlling the area was the elimination of the local Persian noble class that took place after the death of Yazdanfadar in 733. Although a few names of governors and their tax assessments are known from the time after the administrative independence, the death of Fātimah bint Mūsā , the sister of
15600-412: The main sources of this time (ʿAbd-al-Jalil Qazvini) speaks of good relations between the famous vizier Nizam al-Mulk and Seljuk sultans on the one hand, and members of the local nobility on the other. Sultans reportedly visited the sanctuary (although no specific sultan is mentioned by name) and in general no religiously motivated punitive action against Qom is known to have taken place. Under Seljuk rule
15756-626: The more proper rule of the Abbasid tax bureaucracy and the time of the Deylamid warlords where rules were bent arbitrarily. A stunning diversity of taxes is known (often meant to serve the Abbasid bureaucracy and the Deylamid and Buyid war machinery) but the Karaj (land tax), which was composed of many different separate sums, was the most important single tax existing in Qom at least since post-Sasanian times. Within
15912-407: The more visited sites of Qom are: Qom is well known for its many religious seminaries and institutes that offer advanced religious studies, which made this city the largest center for Shia scholarship in the world. There are an estimated 50,000 seminarians in the city coming from 80 countries, including Iraq, Lebanon, Syria and Pakistan. Qom has seminaries for women and some non-Shia students. Most of
16068-566: The most and consisted of Persians and Arabs who had adopted the Persian of the time as their language and many social customs from the Persians, whose proportion was probably smaller than the Arabs. The Kurds lived in the countryside to the west. The Twelver Shia constituted the great majority of the population and many important Shia scholars of the time came from Qom or lived there. As many as 331 male Alids lived in Qom in 988–89, and they produced
16224-488: The most distinguished Islamic law scholars of his territory. In his 2015 study on the "second formation of Islamic law", Burak has shown in detail how the Ottoman state gradually imposed upon the traditional ulama a hierarchy of "official imperial scholars", appointed and paid by the central government. From the conquest of the Mamluk Sultanate of Cairo in 1517 onwards, the Ottoman ulama set up their own interpretation of
16380-478: The name "Victorious army of Muhammad" ( Asâkir-i Mansure-i Muhammediye ). By doing so, he was able to overcome the accusation of apostasy and secure the ulama's support. Mahmuds reforms created a new imperial elite class who spoke Western European languages and were knowledgeable of the Western European societies and their political systems. As the political and economic pressure increased on the Ottoman Empire in
16536-511: The old name of Qom to be "Komiran" (in the meaning of "Iran city"). The present town of Qom in Central Iran dates back to ancient times. Its pre-Islamic history can be partially documented, although the earlier epochs remain unclear. Excavations at Tepe Sialk indicate that the region had been settled since ancient times (Ghirshman and Vanden Berghe), and more recent surveys have revealed traces of large, inhabited places south of Qom, dating from
16692-516: The old thesis of a Seleucid religious building. Besides Khurha, which is already mentioned as Khor Abad at Qomi in the 9th century, the region has turned up a few other remnants from this epoch, including the four Parthian heads found near Qom, now kept in the National Museum of Iran in Tehran. Qomi names Parthian personalities as founders of villages in the Qom area. The possible mention of Qom in
16848-409: The pan-islamistic concept of Islam representing a religious bond which was believed to be stronger than nationality or language. From 1876 on, Abduh edited the newspaper al-Ahrām . Since 1898, he also edited, together with Rashid Rida (1865–1935), the newspaper al-Manār ("The Beacon"), in which he further developed his ideas. al-Manār appeared in print for almost 40 years and was read throughout
17004-571: The person of the sultan. For example, Ebussuud provided a reason why the government could own land, or could levy and increase taxes, as the government was responsible for the protection of the common good of all Muslims. Shaikh Safi-ad-Din Ardabili (1252–1334) was the founder of the Safaviyya tariqa . Safi ad-Din's great-great grandson Ismail , who from 1501 onwards ruled over the Persian Empire ,
17160-450: The point of view of Islam the introduction of modern institutions by the national state. He referred to the Islamic concept of the collective interest or common good of the Muslim community (maṣlaḥa) , to which he accorded overarching importance (al-maṣlaḥa shar) in the interest of his fellow Muslims. The concept of islāh gained special relevance for the future, as it strives at understanding and justifying all aspects of modern life from
17316-415: The population of the city as 1,201,158 people in 356,976 households. Qom, the capital of Qom province, is located 125 kilometers south of Tehran, on a low plain. The shrine of Fatimeh Masumeh, the sister of Imam Reza , is located in this city, which is considered by Shiʿa Muslims holy. The city is located in the boundary of the central desert of Iran ( Kavir-e Markazi ). At the 2011 census its population
17472-438: The post-Mongolian period. Qom paid 40,000 dinars, but more remarkable is the fact that some of the surrounding rural districts paid as much as Qom or even more, which suggests that the whole administrative structure of districts had also changed. In the late 14th century, the city was plundered by Tamerlane and the inhabitants were massacred. Qom gained special attention and gradually developed due to its religious shrine during
17628-693: The protection of Iskandar Thani , Sultan of Aceh . Both scholars were able to move freely in an "interconnected world of fellow scholars". According to Zaman, their offices and positions as respected scholars were only questioned if they proved themselves unfamiliar with local customs (as happened to Ibn Battuta]), or met resistance from opponents with stronger local roots (ar-Raniri). Through their travels and teachings, ulama are able to transmit new knowledge and ideas over considerable distances. However, according to Zaman (2010), scholars have often been required to rely on commonly known texts which could support their fatwas . A text which might be widely known within
17784-483: The reign of subsequent dynasties. After the Fall of Constantinople in 1453, the leaders and subjects of the Ottoman Empire became increasingly aware of its role as a great power of its time. This new self-awareness was associated with the idea to legitimise the new political role by linking the religious scholarship to the political system: Ottoman historians of the 15th and 16th century like Ibn Zunbul or Eyyûbî, described
17940-618: The relatively stable political period until 988–89, but Qom seems to have been isolated inside Persia because of its Shia creed. At the same time, the Fatima sanctuary was enlarged and the number of sayyeds residing in Qom reached a considerable number. In 373/984, Qom and its environs were impacted by the revolt of the Kurdish Moḥammad Barzikāni against the Buyid Fakr-Al-Dawla. The population amounted to 50,000 inhabitants at
18096-448: The religion of Islam. However, according to Hourani, al-Farabi also wrote that philosophy in its pure form was reserved for an intellectual elite, and that ordinary people should rely for guidance on the sharia . The distinction between a scholarly elite and the less educated masses "was to become a commonplace of Islamic thought". As exemplified by the works of al-Razi ( c. 865–925 AD), during later times, philosophy "was carried on as
18252-540: The religious concept of the Muslim collective interest ( maṣlaḥa ) to make his point, thereby applying the idea of ijtihad to public affairs. Positions comparable to the Western Islamic ulama were also taken in the Eastern parts of the Islamic world by Syed Ahmad Khan , the pioneering Muslim modernist in South Asia, and Jamal al-Din al-Afghani . The latter is regarded as the mentor of Pan-Islamism , but also as one of
18408-418: The remains of a Sasanian temple, or of a Seleucid Dionysian temple, or of a Parthian complex. Its true function is still a matter of dispute, but the contributions by Wolfram Kleiss point to a Parthian palace that served as a station on the nearby highway and was used until Sasanian times. The recently published results of the excavations carried out in 1955 by Iranian archeologists have, however, revived
18564-574: The right to attend soccer matches at stadiums despite the fact that they would see male soccer players. He "famously refused for weeks" to meet with President Ahmadinejad in early 2007 after the president attempted to open soccer events to women. Lankarani was also staunchly opposed to Iran joining CEDAW . When the parliament (the Iranian Majles ) was going to debate the signing and ratification of CEDAW , he announced that joining CEDAW and moving toward gender equality would contradict Islamic values. He
18720-519: The royal family's claim at descendency from Musa al-Kadhim , the Seventh Imam, and thus to legitimise the Safavid rule. During the reign of Shah Abbas I (1571 – 1629 AD), the argument of the theocratic unity of religious and political power was no longer sufficient to legitimise the Shah's authority: Shi'a ulama renounced the monarch's claim to represent the hidden Imam by teaching that descendancy did not necessarily mean representation. Likewise, as
18876-575: The rule of Šahryuš from the Kakuyid dynasty and a few years later (1030–40) it became part of the Ghaznavid domain. The Seljuki did not occupy Qom at once but left the town and Jebāl in Kakuyid hands for ten years. From 442/1050–51 on, the city was under Seljuk rule and nothing is known about its fate until 487/1094. Afterwards the growing instability of the Seljuk empire involved Qom in the power struggles between
19032-528: The school of law. This exemplifies their purpose to establish a canon of Hanafi law within the Ottoman imperial scholarship. which modern Ottomanists termed the "Ottoman Islam". After 1453, Mehmed the Conqueror (1432–1481) had established eight madrasas in former Byzantine church buildings, and later founded the sahn-ı şeman or "Eight courtyards madrasa", adjacent to the Fatih mosque , where he brought together
19188-429: The scriptural sources of traditional Islamic law . Students of Islamic doctrine do not seek out a specific educational institution, but rather seek to join renowned teachers. By tradition, a scholar who has completed their studies is approved by their teacher. At the teacher's individual discretion, the student is given the permission for teaching and for the issuing of legal opinions ( fatwa ) . The official approval
19344-443: The seminaries teach their students modern social sciences and Western thought as well as traditional religious studies. The Hawzah (a short form of al-Hawzah al-Ilmiyya), which presently consists of over 200 education and research centres and organisations, catering for over 40,000 scholars and students from over 80 sovereign states. The modern Qom hawza was revitalized by Abdul Karim Haeri Yazdi and Grand Ayatollah Borujerdi and
19500-571: The sharia had authority over the entire Ottoman population. In the 16th century, as the support by the ulama of the sultan and the central government was essential for shaping the still-growing empire, the importance of the office rose, and its power increased. As members of the Ilmiye , the imperial scholars were part of the Ottoman elite class of the Askeri , and were exempt from any taxes. However, by approving scholars and appointing them to offices, over time
19656-441: The sphere of interest of Daylami warlords and was relieved from the direct authority of the caliph, although it changed hands several times between 928 and 943. The Daylamites brutally exploited the city through harsh taxes. With the firm establishment of Buyids control from 340/951–52 on, the political circumstances were less troubled than before, although the economic situation deteriorated. No outstanding events are reported for
19812-466: The sultan's influence increased over the religious scholars, although, as a Muslim, he still stood under the Islamic law. Even the Shaykh al-Islām was subordinate to the sultan; his position, like the ranks of the muftis, was described as a "service" ( Turkish : hizmet ) or "rank" ( Turkish : rütbe or paye-ı Sahn ), to which a candidate was appointed or elevated. Sometimes, the sultans made use of their power: In 1633, Murad IV gave order to execute
19968-495: The tax regulations of the caliphate broke out in Qom. It was caused by the refusal of the caliph Al-Ma'mun to lower the yearly tax assessment as he had done in Ray. The revolt was led by an Ashaari named Yahya ibn Emran, maintaining that taxes should not be paid to an unlawful ruler. Yahya was killed by troops sent by the caliph and the citizens were severely punished; the taxes were raised from 2 million to 7 million dirhams. Two years later
20124-564: The taxes were again raised by 700,000 dirham by the Ashaari governor Ali ibn Isa, who was subsequently deposed because he was strongly rejected by the inhabitants of Qom. But in 833 Ali returned to the post of governor (wali) and forcefully collected tax debts that were laid upon him by the caliph. He destroyed parts of Qom and handed over a wanted rebel to caliphal authorities under Al-Moʿtasem. Between 839–42 two contradicting tax assessments were carried out under turbulent circumstances which amounted to
20280-513: The time of Shapur I and Kawād I the names Godmān/Gomān and Ērān Win(n)ārd Kawād, both of which could be identified as Qom. Altogether one can assume that Qom functioned as a small administrative unit throughout the whole Sasanian era. Probably the urban structure of the Sasanian settlement of Qom can be compared with the type of city of Ctesiphon (Or. Madāʾen) and consisted of several villages and little towns with Abaraštejān, Mamajjān and Jamkarān as
20436-538: The time of the Persian Ilkhanate (1260–1335 AD) and the Timurid dynasty (1370–1507 AD) onwards, madrasas have often become part of an architectural complex which also includes a mosque, a Sufi ṭarīqa , and other buildings of socio-cultural function, like baths or a hospital . Madrasas are considered sacred places of learning. They may provide boarding and salaries to a limited number of teachers, and boarding for
20592-505: The time of the seizure of power by the first Sasanian king Ardashir I , who fought his decisive battles near Qom, and the collapse of the Sasanian empire, which is extensively reported by Ebn Aʿṯam Kufi and the Nehāyat al-Erab and names a certain Šērzād as the satrap of the region. The existence of an urban settlement in the Sasanian epoch is furthermore verified by Middle Persian sources (literary sources, inscriptions, and seals) that mention in
20748-533: The traditional education of an alim, his interest focused on modern French concepts of administration and economy. He only referred to Islam in order to emphasize that Muslims can adopt practical knowledge and insights from Europe. As such, lt-Tahtawi's report reflects the political efforts of Muhammad Ali Pasha, who did not intend to reform al-Azhar university, but aimed at building an independent educational system sponsored by his government. Hayreddin Pasha (1822/3–1890)
20904-473: The traditions of the Islamic Republic in criticizing western corruption in the Islamic world. Fazel Lankarani supported Ayatollah Khomeini's fatwa calling for the death of Salman Rushdie following the publication of The Satanic Verses in 1989 and called on Muslims to kill that author. He (along with some other senior clerics) continued to call the killing of Rushdie a "duty" for all Muslims although
21060-491: The transfer of the capital from Tehran to Qom was even discussed. But the British and Russians defeated prospects of the plan by putting Ahmad Shah Qajar under political pressure. As a center of religious learning Qom fell into decline for about a century from 1820 to 1920 but had a resurgence when Shaykh Abdul Karim Haeri Yazdi accepted an invitation to move from Sultanabad (now called Arak, Iran ), where he had been teaching, to Qom. In 1964–65, before his exile from Iran,
21216-408: The two opponent early modern Islamic empires, both relied on ulama in order to legitimise their power. In both empires, ulama patronised by the royal courts created "official" religious doctrines which supported the dynastic rule. At the high points of their political power, respectively, the development took different paths: The Ottoman Sultan Süleyman I successfully integrated the imperial ulama into
21372-544: The ulama were regarded as the guardians of Islamic law and prevented the Caliph from dictating legal results, with the ruler and ulama forming a sort of "separation of powers" in government. Laws were decided based on the Ijma (consensus) of the Ummah (community), which was most often represented by the legal scholars. The Sunni Ottoman, and the Shi'a Safavid Persian dynasties, rulers of
21528-624: The ulama's support in an attempt to strengthen their authority. Particularly, they associated themselves with a group of ulama who supported the "official" Twelver Shi'a doctrine, established by the Iranian Shaykh al-Islām Mohammad-Baqer Majlesi (1627–1699) during the later decades of Safavid rule. The dispute between the Twelver Shi'a and Mir Damad 's (d. 1631 or 1632) and Mulla Sadra 's (c. 1571/2 – 1640) School of Isfahan , who promoted Sufi mysticism and Islamic philosophy , continued throughout
21684-512: The ulama. The Shiite scholars retained their political influence on the Persian society. They also maintained unrestricted access to the financial resources from the religious endowments. In addition, the Islamic Zakat tax was paid to individual imams and not to state-sponsored tax collectors. Both their religious influence and their financial means allowed the Shiite ulama to act, at times, against
21840-460: The urban area of present Qom and its region, of which no archeological traces are left although the location of one fire temple can probably be equated with today's Masjed-e Emām in the city. According to Qomi, the most important fire temple of the area stood in the nearby village of Dizijan . Tāriḵ-e Qom and some other sources also speak of genuine historical figures of the Sasanian epoch in connection with Qom and its region. They shed new light on
21996-452: The use of sharia led to changes in local customs. ʿIlm al-Kalām , the "science of discourse", also termed "Islamic theology", serves to explain and defend the doctrine of the Quran and Hadith. The concept of kalām was introduced during the first Islamic centuries by the Muʿtazila school. One of the most prominent scholars of the Muʿtazila was Abd al-Jabbar ibn Ahmad (935–1025 AD). From
22152-569: The wake of the Ash'arite synthesis between Mu'tazilite rationalism and Hanbalite literalism, its original form survived among a minority of mostly Hanbalite scholars. While Ash'arism and Maturidism are often called the Sunni "orthodoxy", traditionalist theology has thrived alongside it, laying rival claims to be the orthodox Sunni faith. Islamic theology experienced further developments among Shia theologians . The study of, and commentaries on Quran and hadith, debates about ijtihad and taqlid and
22308-435: The weakness of the central authority was the Shi'a ulama. According to Garthwaite (2010), "the ulama constituted one institution that not only provided continuity, but gradually asserted its role over and against royal authority." A process of change began which continued throughout the 19th century and into the present. Already some of the last Safavids, Sulayman Shah (r. 1666–1694) and Tahmasp II (r. 1722–1732) had sought
22464-417: The years 301/913–14 to 315/927, the people of Qom had, besides another tax assessment (meanwhile the eighth), a caliphal intervention that resulted in the appointment of a governor to stabilize the administrative grip over the region. This move caused more unrest and affected the balance of power in an area that was disputed between the powers of the time (Daylamites, Samanids). Beginning in 316/928 Qom fell into
22620-514: Was 1,074,036, comprising 545,704 males and 528,332 females. Qom is a focal center of the Shiʿah . Since the revolution, the clerical population has risen from around 25,000 to more than 45,000 and the non-clerical population has more than tripled to about 700,000. Substantial sums of money in the form of alms and Islamic taxes flow into Qom to the ten Marja' -e taqlid or "Source to be Followed" that reside there. The number of seminary schools in Qom
22776-537: Was affected by the fighting between the Umayyad state power and the rebels The decisive step for the later urban development of Qom occurred when a group of Ashaari Arabs came to the area. These Ashaaries originated in Yemen and the first important figure among them was the first conqueror of the area of Qom, the above-mentioned Abu Musa Ashaari. ʿAbd-Allāh b. Saʿd and Aḥwaṣ b. Saʿd were grandsons of Abi Musa's nephew and led
22932-524: Was amongst the first members of the ulama who travelled to Europe. As a religious counsellor to a delegation by the Egyptian khedive Muhammad Ali Pasha he stayed in Paris from 1826 to 1831. His report "The Extraction of Gold or an Overview of Paris" ( Taḫlīṣ al-ibrīz fī talḫīṣ Bārīz ) (1849) included some outlines of future reforms and potential improvements in his native country. Although al-Tahtawi had gone through
23088-467: Was an Ottoman Tunisian alim and statesman who reformed the administration and jurisdiction of the province. He was able to explain his ideas in French ( Réformes nécessaires aux États musulmans – Necessary reforms of the Muslim states. Paris, 1868), which he had learned whilst representing his sovereign Ahmad Bey at the court of Napoleon III from 1852 to 1855. In contrast to al-Tahtawi, Hayreddin Pasha used
23244-567: Was connected to other parts of the city on the other side of the river by four bridges. There were about eight squares whose function is not clear and three mosques within the city. There is almost no information about madrasas. The sanctuary must have still been quite small as only two cupolas are mentioned. A bazaar and bathhouses must have existed, too, as well as certain administrative buildings (prison, mint). Five bigger and eight smaller roads indicate good traffic connections, which were supported by at least three or maybe even nine city gates. Qom
23400-570: Was effectively criticised by al-Ghazali , one of the most influential scholars of Islam. In his works Tahāfut al-Falāsifa (The Incoherence of the Philosophers), Mizan al-'amal (Criterion of Action) and Kimiya-yi sa'ādat (The Alchemy of Happiness), he refuted the Philosophy of Ibn Sīnā , and demonstrated that the Aristotelian ethics is incompatible with Islamic ethics: The latter is based on
23556-650: Was influential and provided a number of community leaders. Another important Shia family was that of the Daʿwidār ( Persian: دعویدار ), whose members were judges ( Arabic: قاضی ) in town, which indicates the transformation of Qom from a town governed by the Sunnis to a completely Shai domain. The following epochs of the Eldiguzids and Khawrazmshahs lasted for almost 30 years and brought different systems of rule in quick succession. The two noteworthy events of this period are
23712-488: Was put to an end at about the same time, to wit the independent appointment of judges through the Arab inhabitants of Qom until the time of al-Moktafi, which, together with the dispatch of a joint Arab-Persian delegation to the vizier Ḥamid ibn Abbas indicate the end of the elevated position of the Arabs in Qom. The period of the governor Abbas ibn Amr Ganawi (292–96/904–09) is remarkable for the presence of non-Twelver Shias in Qom and
23868-423: Was supplied for the population, but the available amount could not have been adequate for agricultural purposes. Altogether the state of cultivation in Qom seems to have resembled that of the other regions of Persia, although the thirty different crops and plants are only indirectly mentioned in connection with the tax assessments. The soil is reported to have good quality and produced big quantities of food. Little
24024-580: Was the founder of the Safavid dynasty . Shah Ismail I proclaimed the Twelver Shi'a as the new Persian state religion. To propagate the Safavid faith , he invited ulama from Qom , Jabal 'Āmil in southern Lebanon and Syria to travel around Iran and promote the Shi'a doctrine. In 1533, Shah Tahmasp I commissioned a new edition of the Safvat as-safa , Shaikh Ṣāfī's genealogy. It was rewritten in order to support
24180-455: Was then in a difficult economic and social position. Many houses inside the city as well as bridges and mills were ruined, and the roads and agriculture were suffering from an insecure situation. This has to be attributed to difficult social circumstances and excessive taxation. The water supply seems to have been satisfactory and the Ashaaries seem to have undertaken continuous renovation works on
24336-428: Was −23 °C (−9 °F) on 15 January 2008. Authority for the city lies with the mayor, who is elected by a municipal board. The municipal board is periodically elected by the city's residents. The municipal central office is located on Saheli Street. The current mayor of Qom is Mohammad Delbari. Iran's Cultural Heritage Organization lists 195 sites of historical and cultural significance in Qom. But
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