Formation of a Religious Landscape: Shi‘i Higher Learning in Safavid Iran

Maryam Moazzen, Ph.D. (2011), University of Toronto and Ph.D. University of Tehran (1999), is Assistant Professor in Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies at the University of Louisville. She has published several book chapters and articles in Iranian Studies and Studia Iranica.

• PrefaceAcknowledgementsNote on Transliteration and StyleIntroductionImperializing Twelver Shiʿism and Its Impact on Shiʿi Higher LearningThe Reaction of the Sunni ʿUlamāʾMadrasas and the Consolidation of Shiʿism in PersiaThe Permissibility of Collaborating with Temporal PowerShiʿi Higher Learning in Safavid Iran1 Mosque-Madrasas of Safavid IsfahanPre-Safavid Mosque-MadrasasSafavid Mosques and MadrasasAfter ʿAbbās the GreatThe Largest Shiʿi MadrasaConclusion2 The Madrasa-yi Sulṭānī: Waqfs, Administrative Structure, and Academic LifeShāh Sulṭān Ḥusayn’s Objectives in Establishing the Madrasa-yi SulṭānīThe Deeds of Endowment of the Madrasa-yi SulṭānīAnalysis of the Endowed PropertiesThe Administrative Structure of the Madrasa-yi SulṭānīConclusion3 Reshaping Shiʿa Cultural Memory: Commemorative Rituals and Constructing IdentityContextualizing Cultural MemorySafavid Madrasas and Commemorating Cultural MemoryThe Instructional Values of Commemorative RitualsMadrasas and Social CoherenceReconfiguring Cultural MemoryConclusion4 The Safavid Curriculum: Conflicting Visions, Contested TriumphsSafavid Scholars and the Concept of Knowledge (ʿilm)Towards Reconstructing the Curriculum of the Safavid MadrasasThe Uṣūlīs and the CurriculumThe Curriculum of the Madrasas of Safavid IsfahanAkhbarism and Its Impact on the Safavid CurriculumThe Curriculum of Safavid Madrasas during the Reign of Shāh Sulṭān ḤusaynConclusion5 Engagement with Religious Knowledge: Dialogical and Hermeneutical Modes of TransmissionSafavid Pedagogy: Legal Rationalization or Authentic KnowledgeTeaching and Learning MethodsThe Place of Texts in Learning and Etiquette Pertinent to Writing and Shelving BooksTeachers and LearningThe Language of InstructionTravel in Pursuit of KnowledgeStudying and MarriageGraduationConclusion6 Safavid Pedagogical Approaches: Theories, Application, and PracticesMullā Ṣadrā and the Problem of Conventional (rasmī) LearningMuḥsin Fayḍ Kāshānī and Epistemic CertitudeMuḥaqqiq Sabzawārī’s Review of Safavid Higher LearningMuḥammad Zamān Tabrīzī’s ObservationsConclusionConclusionAppendixBibliographyIndex of PlacesIndex of Subjects and TermsIndex of Persons

"This is a work of considerable scholarship. It is based on many primary sources, for instance, "biographical dictionaries, autobiographies, ijāzas, deeds of endowment (waqfiyyas), chronicles and historical sources, European travelers’ accounts, anthologies and polemics written by Safavid ʿulamā, administrative accounts and chancery literature, and works written by Safavid ʿulamaʾ” (p. 24). All are supported by a notable command of the secondary literature in the field. The outcome is a book that, for the first time, tells us how Safavid madrasas worked, and what and how they taught. It is a considerable achievement." - Francis Robinson, Royal Holloway, University of London, in: Journal of the American Oriental Society 139/3 (2019)