The First Shaykh al-Islām of the Safavid Capital Qazvin

Bibliographic Data

ID3962665
AuthorsDevin J Stewart (0000-0002-1138-4834, corresponding author)
Year1996
Volume116
Issue3
Pages387
Publication date1996-07-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of the American Oriental Society (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0003-0279 • E-ISSN: 2169-2289
PublisherJSTOR (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.2307/605145
OpenAlexW2517640058
LanguageEN
Citations received9

Previous scholarship on the Safavids has noted the importance of the office of shaykh al-islam, or chief jurist, of Isfahan during the seventeenth century as an institutionalized locus of the highest religious authority of the empire. It is suggested here that this special status dates to ca. 963/1555-56, when Shah Tahmasb appointed Shaykh Husayn b. Abd al-Samad al-Harithi al-Amili (d. 984/ 1576) shaykh al-islam of Qazvin. The abrupt dismissal of al-Harithi from this office ca. 970/1563 probably resulted from his being challenged and replaced by his outspoken contemporary, Sayyid Husayn b. Hasan al-Karaki (d. 1001/992-93), who enjoyed the support of the Qizilbash and was known for his extreme anti-Sunni views

Ancient history · Families in Therapy and Culture · History · Islamic Finance and Banking Studies · Islamic Studies and History

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