Islamic East Research Articles

Iranian Madrasa Historiographies on the Fate of Falsafa after Averroes: The Structure, Scope, and History of ‘Islamic Philosophy’ from Mīr Dāmād to ṬabāṬabāʾī and Āshtiyānī

Abstract Iranian philosophers train in a living tradition of falsafa that gives them a different perspective from that of modern European scholars. They call their profession philosophy, and philosophy for them is not a historical phenomenon, though it has a past. Contemporary falsafa has a narrative of its past, which I outline in this article, calling it the madrasa narrative. It is presented in the form of historiographies of falsafa, which, though less than a century old, form an extensive body of texts. After introducing this narrative, I focus on Mīr Dāmād’s (d. 1631) conception of the course of falsafa and his relation to his predecessors. I argue that he should be credited as the initiator of ‘Islamic philosophy’, both conceptually and terminologically. I emphasize the continuous line he draws linking himself to Fārābī (d. ca. 950-1) through Avicenna (d. 1037). Thereafter, I outline the formative contributions of Muḥammad Ḥusayn Ṭabāṭabāʾī (1904–81) in the contemporary practice of falsafa, and in historiography of Jalāl al-Dīn Āshtiyānī (1925–2005) who, together with Henry Corbin (1903–78), shaped the modern madrasa narrative. I show that Āshtiyānī’s historiographical effort was a reaction to what he considered Europeans’ unawareness of the continuity and vitality of falsafa in the Islamic East. I conclude with some observations on the scope, structure, and historiography of contemporary falsafa in Iran.

Public State Services for Merchants in the Islamic East in the Book Masalik al-Ibsar fi Mamlik al-Amsar by Ibn Fadl Allah al-Amri, who Died 749 AH / 1349 AD

Commercial activity in the countries of the Islamic East required care for merchants and trade caravans and hospitality through the efforts made by the Arab Islamic state and the rulers of the provinces in the East to eliminate dangers, achieve political and administrative stability, establish security, conclude agreements with countries and kingdoms neighboring the East, and establish guard posts on the roads. In addition to that, there was the nature of the people of the East who were accustomed to welcoming and caring for guests and trade caravans passing through the cities and regions of the Islamic East. Many ribats and inns emerged in the cities, and these ribats became rest stops for merchants and travelers to stock up on what they needed for themselves and their animals for long journeys, in addition to what they found of security, reassurance, and peace during the buying, selling, and banking operations.

The Social Aspects of the Pilgrims from the Islamic East during the Hajj (132 AH - 656 AH)

The Social Aspects of the Pilgrims from the Islamic East during the Hajj (132 AH - 656 AH)

Peter Adamson and Fedor Benevich. The Heirs of Avicenna: Philosophy in the Islamic East, 12-13th Centuries.

Peter Adamson and Fedor Benevich. The Heirs of Avicenna: Philosophy in the Islamic East, 12-13th Centuries.

الاستشراق: الماضي والحاضر

This paper sheds light on the various stages, reasons, goals and agendas that the discourse of Orientalism has gone through since early centuries onwards. It exposes the critical ideological hostility between the West and the East, as well as Christianity and Islam, which has resulted in the proliferation of countless fabrications, misconceptions and lies within the discourse of Orientalism considering the Orient. The paper attempts to prove that Orientalism is a solely Western style that has never ever been pure or realistic in representing the Islamic East. However, it has always been negative and unfair in dealing with everything related to the Orient. Indeed, it is used as both a preparation and justification for the Western military and ideological clashes and colonization on the Orient. This paper includes an introduction, two sections and a conclusion. The first section provides a detailed background about the various reasons behind the appearance and development of Orientalism throughout history while the following section tracks the origin of Orientalism from the past up to the present day. The paper concludes that Orientalism is not a new phenomenon and it cannot be understood as a homogeneous discourse, yet it has changed, transformed and mutated throughout history. It is the huge Western body of literary, historical or sociological texts that only aims at dominating, restructuring and having authority over the Orient.

Corruption of ministers in the countries and emirates of the Islamic East ( AD1220.820 / AH617-205)

This study aims to explain the phenomenon of corruption among ministers in the countries and emirates of the Islamic East in the period between the year (205 AH / 820 AD) to the year (617 AH/1220 AD). This phenomenon was one of the dangerous developments that took place in those emirates, as a group of ministers could ascended that position in those emirates, and were able to reach a high position in the society. A group of them gained an absolute power and interfered in the affairs of the government. The prominent feature of the ministry's position in the countries and emirates of the Islamic East was that it was offered for sale, so everyone who paid the most would get it. In order to restore the huge amounts they spent to get these high positions, they had illegal strategies such as raiding and bribery, and this was a reason for the spread of corruption in the highest positions of the state. The study is divided into eight axes, the first of which was devoted to mentioning the corruption of ministers in the Tahirid emirate, while the second was about the corruption of ministers in the Zaydi emirate, and the third axis dealt with the corruption of ministers in the Samanid emirate, and the fourth axis was devoted to talking about the corruption of ministers in the Ziyarid emirate, while the fifth axis dealt with the corruption of ministers in the Buyid state, whereas the sixth axis dealt with the corruption of ministers in the Ghaznavid state, and the seventh axis focused on the corruption of ministers in the Seljuk state, and the eighth and final axis was about the corruption of ministers in the Khwarizmi state.

THE CONTRIBUTION OF THE ALAWITES TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF ISLAMIC CIVILIZATION IN THE ISLAMIC EAST - NISHAPUR AS AN EXAMPLE

The Arab Islamic state expanded its geographical area, and the Muslim Arabs rushed to carry out many conquests, including their orientation towards the countries of the Islamic East. It becomes clear to us that the Alawite delegations to Nishapur go back to the beginning of the Islamic conquests of Persia in the Rashidun era, in order to establish the rule of the Arab Islamic state and spread the Islamic religion and the Arabic language. Because of the policy of the Umayyads and Abbasids towards the Alawites, which was known as persecution, injustice, abuse, and killing, the movement and settlement of the Alawites to the Islamic East increased, including the city of Nishapur, where they settled. Their delegations to this country had a great and important impact that led to the formation of a base that created an intellectual and cultural impact for them in Nishapur. This research dealt with the biographies of some of the Alawites who came to the Islamic East in order to reveal the important aspect of their intellectual, scientific and social life, through their role in spreading Islamic sciences and knowledge. In that country, which contributed to the development of Arab-Islamic civilization.

THE SCIENCE OF SPEECH IN THE ISLAMIC EAST: NISHAPUR AS A MODEL OF THEOLOGICAL AND LINGUISTIC INNOVATION IN THE FOURTH CENTURY AH

This research provides a concise exploration of “Islamic theology” in Nishapur. The city’s profound impact on Islamic civilization has led it to be recognized as one of the three most influential cities of its time. That is why this study, aims to encompass all the cities, districts, and villages of Nishapur that contributed to the development and prominence of theology through the efforts of its scholars, educational institutions, and cultural centers. Following the Islamic conquest of Nishapur in the 31st year after Hijra (AH), during the time of Caliph Uthman bin Affan, the people of Nishapur embraced Islam peacefully. Subsequently, they actively engaged in scientific pursuits across various fields, including both Experimental and Religious Sciences. However, the share of Experimental sciences, particularly the science of theology, did not attain the same prominence as Religious sciences, i.e. those sciences that focused solely on Islamic jurisprudence. This disparity may be attributed to Nishapur’s, in deed all other Islamic countries at that time, intense emphasis on religious sciences, which often overshadowed other areas of inquiry. Notably, religious sciences, especially those related to the Qur’an and Sunnah, were regarded as the most sublime and beneficial among all disciplines. Nishapur, however, played a pivotal role in the development of Theology as a science. The city established specialized schools, like that of Abi Ishaq Al-Esfrayini (418 AH), which nurtured a community of scholars. These institutions became a sought-after destination for those seeking this unique form of knowledge. In this research, we delve into this aspect of Nishapur, employing a descriptive methodology and relying on analysis and deduction.Our investigation draws upon several key references and research works, including: • “Tabaqat Al-Fuqaha” by Abi Eshaq Al-Sirazi (476 AH) • “Ta’rifat” by Ali bin Muhammad Al-Jirjani (816 AH) • “Al-Ghuniah fi Usul Al-Din” by Abi Saeed Al-Nishapoury (478 AH) • “An Introduction to the Arabic Scientific Movements in the Islamic East” by Dr. Tariq Fathi Sultan and others

Исламский Восток: взгляд английского интеллектуала Р. Саути

Исламский Восток: взгляд английского интеллектуала Р. Саути

‘Izz al-Dīn al-Zanjānī and His Scientific Contribution to Mathematics and Astronomy

In this research paper, light is shed on unknown life of a forgotten mathematician. He achieved a fame through his writings and literary works that highlighted his scientific personality. He lived in a tense and dark period of Islamic history in Islamic East. This mathematician is ʿIzz al-Dīn al-Zanjānī, who lived in the first half of seventh century AH/ thirteenth century AD during Mongol invasion of Islamic East. We also try to enumerate his various works in mathematics and astronomy with their locations in different libraries of the world, and refer to books of his authorship that were attributed to others.

A Study on the Status of Shīʿa and Shiites in Today's Middle East Islamic Geography

İtikadî İslâm mezheplerinin önde gelenlerinden biri olan ve özellikle hilafet konusundaki görüşleriyle diğer İslâm fırkalarından ayrılan Şîa, günümüzde dünyanın pek çok yerinde mensubu bulunmakla birlikte Irak bölgesinde ortaya çıktığı ilk dönemden bugüne özellikle Ortadoğu İslâm coğrafyasında yayılmıştır. Birçok ülkede nüfus bakımından çoğunluğu teşkil etmeseler de Şiîlerin yaşadıkları ülkelerin veya bölgenin son dönemlerde yaşadığı siyasi ve dini hareketlilikte etkin ve hatta bazen olayların merkezinde oldukları görülmektedir. Bu sebeple bu makalenin amacı, Ortadoğu İslâm dünyasında Şîa’nın mevcut durumunu tespit etmek ve bu coğrafyada Şîa merkezli olarak ortaya çıkan sorunlara işaret etmektir. Girişte Şiîlerin dünyadaki Müslüman nüfusuna oranı bağlamında genel bir çerçeve çizilmiş daha sonra Şiîlerin yaşadığı İran, Suriye, Irak, Lübnan, Suudi Arabistan, Körfez Ülkeleri, Azerbaycan, Afganistan ve Pakistan’da son dönemlerdeki durumları araştırma ve yayın etiği ilkelerine uygun olarak ele alınmıştır. Sonuç bölümünde ise konuyla ilgili değerlendirmelerimize yer verilmiştir.

THE FOREIGN POLICY OF THE GOVERNOR OF SIJISTAN, PRINCE KHALAF BIN AHMAD AL-SIJISTANI (350_399 AH / 961_1003 AD)

Prince Khalaf bin Ahmed was born in the year (326 AH / 938 AD), and he is from a family of Persian origins. His lineage goes back on the mother’s side to the falconers who ruled the Islamic East after they took Sijistan as their capital. After several decades, Prince Khalaf bin Ahmed was able to take over with his cunning and political sophistication. And administrative, he ruled the province of Sijistan, as he continued to rule this region for several decades from (355 AH / 961 AD) to (393 AH / 1003 AD), as his rule ended at the hands of Sultan Mahmud al-Ghaznawi after the latter invaded the region in the year (393 AH / 1003 AD) and arrested its governor Khalaf bin Ahmed He exiled him to the city of Al-Jawzjan, then he passed the term for a year (399 AH / 1009 AD). The governor Khalaf was able to rule the city with fire and iron because of the large number of internal rebellions that directly affected political life, especially the conflict that took place between members of his family, as well as the external conflict. To secure his relations with the Samanids and the Ghaznavids, and to extend his authority to the cities of his neighboring regions, such as Kerman, Quhistan, and Busheng. However, this policy of his did not succeed and last, as it soon turned against him because of his misbehavior with his subjects, especially his sons.

IMAGES OF PROPHETS IN THE POETRY OF ALISHER NAVOI

This article focuses on the problems of artistic interpretation of the images of the prophets in the lyrics of the great thinker of Uzbek classical literature Alisher Navoi. As is known, the tradition of interpreting the artistic images of the prophets has a special place in the classical literature of the Islamic East, in particular in poetry. In this sense, the poetry of Alisher Navoi is considered to be the leader in the poetic depiction of the prophets. The reflection of the artistic images of the prophets mentioned in the works of Alisher Navoi can serve as a source for a separate scientific study. This article highlights the statistics and classification of this topic. At the same time, some features of the symbolic and metaphorical images of the images of the prophets in the lyrics of Navoi are explored. There are eight Navoi lyrical sofas, seven of which were written in the Turkic language, and one in Persian. The main part of the poet's lyrics consists of four sofas, collected in the vault "Khazoyin ul-maoniy" ("Treasury of thoughts"). The article highlights the stated scientific problem on the basis of this lyrical divan.

The Entanglement of Philosophy, Politics and the Occult: The Hidden Secret of early Post-Avicennan Thought in the Islamic East

By the thirteenth century, philosophy, politics and occult science had become deeply entangled in the Persianate Islamic world. Two of the greatest luminaries in this intellectual milieu were Fakhr al-Dīn al-Rāzī (d.1210) and Shihāb al-Dīn Yaḥyā Ibn Ḥabash Ibn Amīrak al-Suhrawardī (d.1191/2), who at one point were fellow students of philosophy under a certain Majd al-Dīn al-Jīlī in Marāgha in northeastern Iran. Both subsequently sought royal patronage, the former travelling eastwards to Transoxania to secure the generosity of the Khwārazm-Shāhs, the latter travelling eastwards to the Levant to gain the intimate trust of Malik al-Ẓāhir, the son of the Ayyūbid sultan Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn—known in the West as Saladdin. Both composed works devoted to talismanic astral ritual. And crucially, both developed philosophical soteriologies coloured by their meditations on the “craft”—soteriologies with profound implications for the nature of political authority.

Bosnian Multiconfessionalism as a Foundation for Intercultural Dialogue

Abstract Muslim communities in the Balkans where the practice of Islam had been developed in the European context, can be used as an exemplification of the bridge between the Islamic East and the Christian West. Although for over 400 years Bosnia was under the Ottoman rule, Muslims became one of the many first Yugoslav, and then Bosnian communities, contributing to the dynamic, yet moderate area of ontological and axiological negotiations within the cultural borderland, sharing the living space with members of the Orthodox church, Catholics, a small Jewish community, and even Protestants. The history of the Muslim-Christian contacts in Bosnia involves both the examples of collisions, as well as encounters, initiated both by Christians, and by Muslims. This article analyzes the religious diversity (multiconfessionalism) in the historical and contemporary cultural and social context of Bosnia-Herzegovina, revealing its specificity, dynamics and (often unsuccessful) attempts to conceptualize it from the perspective of the Eurocentric discourse. The aim is not only to portray this religiously diverse makeup, but also to emphasize its potential for establishing ground for intercultural dialogue.

The traveler Saad al-Khair al-Andalusi and his trip to China

The importance of the journey comes through its direct role in the life of the person who, since his birth, found himself forced to travel in an effort to earn his living and in search of survival and discovery of the unknown. The subject of this study falls within the framework of cultural and intellectual communication between the scholars of the Islamic East and the countries of the other world through Saad Al-Khair's trip to China and other countries to which he left, confined to the Levantine scientific presence in those countries. From this point of view came the interest in this study and their role in the intellectual, scientific and commercial movement. This research includes three introductions to the demands of the first: his name, lineage, fame, rulers, and upbringing. The second is his scientific standing. The third is his elders and students, and a conclusion and a list of sources and references.

The impact of the scholars of the Islamic Levant on the humanities and mental sciences through Yaqoot al-Hamawi's book "Mujam Al. Buldan".

This study, tagged ( The Impact of the Scholars of the Islamic East in the Humanities and Mental Sciences ) included an introduction, scope of the study, a preface and two paragraphs. The study recommends paying attention to the conduct of scholars and their position in the Islamic community by getting to know them and their writings

'Non-Near' East': the hierarchy of integration potential of eastern migrants as perceived by the receiving societies. A review of the researches in Europe and Russia

The article presents a review of European and Russian studies on the perceptions of the host society towards the integration of migrants. The review demonstrates the diversity of works in this field, including both qualitative and quantitative research, as well as studies focusing on theoretical and applied developments. The article describes research that pays attention to both the general understanding of integration by local residents and its specific aspects. In the conclusions, the authors argue that hierarchies of migrants exist both in Europe and in Russia, corresponding to perceptions of their "readiness for integration." The least prepared to live "together with us" are seen as carriers of norms prevalent in the Islamic East, but these barriers are permeable. The review study shows that the strategy of adapting migrants to the standards of the majority remains popular among the local population. Nonetheless, both in Europe (to the greater extent) and in Russia there are the part of population that is ready for the integration as a process of mutual acceptance and gradual change. “Unpreparedness of integration” of the Eastern-born immigrants is explained not by their religious identity, but rather the existing social norms, which are able to gradually transform. The factors that affect this transformation are not just contacts (deliberate or not), but also the inclusion both locals and immigrants in the collective search for solution to the problems relevant to both groups. Otherwise, the participants of the integration activities do not consider them as necessary or important, meaning that the integration does not occur despite the contacts existence.

The Role of Women in Islamic Civilization: A Historical Reading in Khorasan

The importance of this research lay in the study of the pivotal role played by women in Islamic civilization. Through an evaluation of the political and cultural sides in Khorasan during the ninth and tenth centuries AD (third and fourth AH), it had the aim of revealing the truth about this role and its most prominent stages by following the historical descriptive analytical approach, based on collecting scientific material from its perspectives and then dividing and analyzing it to reach the specified goal. The research dealt with the study in the light of a number of axes: the first being the linguistic and geographical significance of the Khorasan region; the second, dealing with the political role of women in Khorasan through analyzing the most important political events that highlighted and referred to this role; and the third, discussing the role of women in Khorasan socially, culturally. religiously, and economically. The research concluded that the political and cultural influence of women in Khorasan reached its peak in the ninth and tenth centuries AD (third and fourth AH). The historical narratives referred to the active role of Khorasani women scientifically and culturally, and their influential role in objecting to the negative manifestations created by the feudal system and the land ownership system in the economic and social conditions of the time. KEYWORDS Abbasid state, feudalism, Ghaznavid state, Islamic east, Samanid state, Seljuks

Caliphs and Merchants: Cities and Economies of Power in the Near East (700–950)

Caliphs and Merchants: Cities and Economies of Power in the Near East (700–950)