Page 15 - ISLAM Rock n Roll

A Twelver Shiʿi Empire
Once in power, the Safawids gradually tempered their extremist, eclectic type of Shiʿism and brought it into con- formity with the tenets of what can be called mainstream Twelver Shiʿism. Thus, to establish their legitimacy in what was still predominantly Sunni Iran, Ismaʿil and his immediate successors claimed to represent the hidden Mahdi of the Twelvers, and fabricated an ʿAlid genealogy for their dynasty. The Safawids also strove to eliminate any major religio-political challenge to their hegemony, and under Ismaʿil and his son, Tahmasp i (r. 1524–1576), who was dei ed by the Qizilbash,
a hostile policy was adopted towards all millenarian and extremist movements, while Su tariqas, popular dervish groups and Sunnism were generally suppressed.
Twelver Shiʿism was imposed on the Safawid realm rather gradually. As Iran did not have an established class of Twelver Shiʿi scholars, the Safawids invited religious scholars (ʿulamaʾ) and jurists from the Arab centres of Twelver scholarship, notably Najaf (in Iraq), Bahrayn and Jabal ʿAmil (in southern Lebanon), to instruct their subjects. Foremost among these ʿulamaʾ was Shaykh ʿAli al-Karaki (d. 1534), known as the Muhaqqiq al-Thani, from Jabal ʿAmil. He was recognised by Tahmasp i as the ‘seal of the mujtahids’ (quali ed to use reasoning in evaluating law), and even as the ‘deputy of the hidden Imam’ (naʾib al-imam), with full authority to oversee the promulgation of Twelver Shiʿism. Indeed, it was Shaykh al-Karaki who elaborated the notion of the ‘general deputyship’ of the Twelver Imam during his occultation – a notion re ned in modern times by Ayatollah Khomeini into the ‘guardianship of the jurist’ (vilayat-i faqih). Under this, the Twelver jurists could consider themselves empowered
by the hidden Imam and could also transfer certain of his prerogatives to themselves, such as holding and leading the Friday congregational prayers. Thus, Twelver Imami hierocracy was rmly established during the occultation (ghayba) of the hidden Twel h Imam. The Safawids encouraged the systematic training in Iran of a class of Twelver Imami legal scholars (faqihs), who would disseminate the established doctrines of Twelver Shiʿism and counter the extremist ideas circulating in the Safawid realm, including the early Safawids’ millenarian Shiʿi beliefs.
Outside the Safawid realm, the Ottoman Empire posed the greatest threat to the newly founded dynasty, and in 1514 at the Battle of Chaldiran Ismaʿil i was defeated by Sultan Selim i. This led to a prolonged stalemate between the Safawids and the Sunni Ottomans, with regular Ottoman incursions into Azarbayjan, although elsewhere the Safawids later developed friendly relations with the Sunni Mughals as well as several Shiʿi dynasties in India.
By the reign of ʿAbbas i (r. 1587–1629), the religious outlook of the Safawids had further developed and their claims to any divine authority or to representing the Mahdi during his occultation were rapidly fading. In addition,
he ensured that the power of the Qizilbash was greatly diminished by establishing new regiments of ghulams or slave soldiers on whose loyalty he could depend. As regards the Su tariqas they had now disappeared almost completely in Iran while the words Su and heretic (mulhid) had become almost synonymous. One of the few that survived, the Niʿmat Allahiyya, transferred its activities to the Deccan, in India. At the same time, Twelver Shiʿi rituals and practices, such as commemorating Imam al-Husayn’s martyrdom, and regular visitations (ziyara) to the shrines of the Imams and their relatives in the shrine cities of Iraq (ʿatabat), including Najaf and Karbala, as well as in Mashhad and Qumm in Iran, had acquired a wide currency.
Indeed, ʿAbbas i’s long reign would represent the golden age of the Safawid dynasty He is generally considered its greatest ruler, responsible for a period of growth and prosperity. Among his main economic accomplishments was the development of the textile (mainly silk) and carpet industries, and the trade of these commodities with Europe. The wealth this generated supported his imperial ambitions and con- nected the Safawids to other contemporary imperial powers. A multitude of European diplomats, emissaries, traders and travellers visited Iran, and many of them, such as Pietro della Valle (d. 1652), Jean-Baptiste Tavernier (d. 1689) and John Chardin (d. 1713), le extensive and vital eyewitness accounts of their experiences of the Safawid court and wider society.
Economic prosperity also made possible a wide range of scienti c, artistic and scholarly activities, especially
in Isfahan, established by ʿAbbas i in 1598 as the Safawid capital. Isfahan had a long history of royal patronage, including that of the Abbasids and the Saljuqs but had not been a centre of power since the 12th century, and among ʿAbbas i’s architectural projects designed for its renewal was the Naqsh-i Jahan (built 1590–1595), a monumental public square (maidan) that was used for commerce, sport, military displays, royal ceremonial and festivities and entertainment. The maidan was also set with portals (iwans) that led to di erent buildings. The north iwan led
to a large covered bazaar with a music pavilion (naqqar- khana), a royal mint and a royal caravanserai. The south iwan led to the Shah Mosque (built 1611–1630). On the western side of the maidan was the ʿAli Qapu the great gatehouse to the royal palace. The east iwan led to what came to be named the Lutf Allah Mosque (built 1603–1609), a er Shaykh Lutf Allah al-ʿAmili (d. 1622), a member of the ʿulamaʾ who was also ʿAbbas i’s father-in-law.
(Following page) Interior ceiling of Isfahan’s Shaykh Lutfallah mosque (built in 1617–1618), built on the east side of Naqsh-i Jahan square. Named a er Shaykh Lutfallah Maysi al-ʿAmili (d. 1622), Shah ʿAbbas’s father-in-law and a prominent religious scholar and teacher, the mosque may have been used exclusively by the Shah and his family. The dome is tted with alternating double-grilled windows decorated with an arabesque pattern and tile deco- ration that form a sunburst of descending medallion-shaped oral motifs.
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Detail of ceramic tile inscrip-tion that visually
links the Safawids to Shiʿism in the entry portal of Isfahan’s Shah mosque (or Imam Mosque) built between 1611–1629 on
the southern end of the Naqsh-i Jahan square. Begun by
Shah ʿAbbas (d. 1629) and completed by his successor
Shah Sa (d. 1642), the mosque’s foundation inscription (detail shown opposite) has the names
of the twelve Shiʿi Imams calligraphed in white thuluth script on a dark blue back- ground and the name of Shah ʿAbbas in the centre high- lighted in turquoise.