نوع مقاله : مقاله پژوهشی
عنوان مقاله English
نویسندگان English
This research provides a sociological analysis of the causes underlying the establishment and consolidation of the Shi'a school of thought in Safavid Iran, with attention to [historical]contexts and [social] functions. At the beginning of his reign in 907 AH/1501 CE, Shah Ismail I declared Twelver Shi'ism as the state religious denomination, thereby altering the religious orientation of the Iranian people and ushering in a profound transformation in Iranian society. The promotion of Shi'ism during this period unified Iran, rendered it cohesive and resilient against external invasions—particularly from the Ottomans, Uzbeks, and even the Portuguese—and inaugurated a new chapter in the endurance of the Iranian state and nation. The aim of this study is to present a sociological analysis of how the Shi'a religious denomination was established and consolidated during the Safavid era, and to examine the relevant variables within the framework of functionalism. For this purpose, a library-based method and the study of documents and authoritative texts were employed. Following the institutionalisation of the Twelver Shi'a faith, Shi'a scholars and jurists played an influential role within the state structure, while the Safavid monarchs, in turn, harnessed the capacities, resources of jurisprudence (fiqh), sacred law (shariʿa), independent reasoning (ijtihād), and Shi'a discourse to strengthen the foundations of the Safavid polity. In this research, the Safavid state is conceptualised as an integrated whole and a system, and its function in formalising and promoting the Shi'a religious denomination is examined through the analytical lens of social systems and the method of structural functionalism. The outcome of this research is a sociological analysis of the causes for the establishment and consolidation of the Shi'a religious denominaion in Safavid Iran, and the identification of the independent variables that influenced this process.
کلیدواژهها English
