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Shia Institutions and the Cultural Rebirth in World of Islam
By: Muhammad Karimi Zanjani Assl
Preface
The cultural rebirth in the world of Islam in the fourth and fifth centuries A.H. (After Hijrat—the first migration of the Prophet), since bygone days until now has attracted the interest of researchers in the field of Islamic studies. Numerous articles and books have been written on this subject--articles and books that have attempted to review the various aspects and positions of this cultural phenomenon from different perspectives. Among them we can point to the works of Adam Metz, Abul-Rahman Badawi, Muhammad Arkoun, Mark Berg and J.L Kraemer.
Despite this, reference to these works and a profound study of the subject matter and methods of research and scope under review of their authors, reveals them not to be without criticism; and this criticism can be graded in four general fields as follows:
In the foremost field, we must point to the attention of a number of these researchers to the culture of materialism and the numerous aspects of the social–political life in vogue in the world of Islam in the aforesaid centuries and their inattention to the background of the spiritual culture and the hidden layers of the non–material life of the Muslims as Adam Metz has mentioned.
In the second field also we come across imposition of the hypothesis of bygone eras and theoretical solutions of the subject matter under review of such investigations; as Abdul Rahman Badawi. With the adoption of the Spangler finding in regarding cultures to be unique, in affirmation of Ernest Troilich, regards the spheres of the European and Islamic cultures as being in two distinct and incomparable branches. At the same time he engages in finding the Islamic equivalents of the characteristic features of European culture, characteristic such as “humanitarianism.” Gardet and Arkoun have also accepted such a finding. While denying the equality of Islamic humanitarianism with the European humanitarianism of the renaissance era, it undertakes to separate the two “religious” and “cultural” spheres of Islamic humanitarianism from one another. But in the end, it leaves this question unanswered that whether the humanitarianism of his consideration in the manner that has been proposed by the world of Islam, are matters and topics that are incidental to the social–cultural treatise of Islam and must be considered similar to the baseless and inappropriate phenomenon. Or they are issues that have cropped up from the essence and nature of the Islamic teachings and can be taken into consideration like the numerous statements and readings of the fundamental teachings of Islam? Arkoun too does not pay attention to these questions, but he goes so far that he regards “entrusting the duty of logically proving the profound realities discovered from revelation to the intellect of man by the Muslim philosophers” as reason for regarding the talk of Islamic humanitarianism to be legitimate. In spite of this, in the investigations of Arkoun, no clearly defined boundary has been drawn between “Islamic humanitarianism and humanitarianism of Islamic faith.
The third field of criticism of the existing researchers goes back to individualistic observations that by bringing down the spirit ruling over the cultural phenomenon to the circumstances of specific persons, inevitably they resort to a selection that is to some extent random and negligent of certain sources as Mark Berg has done. Finally, the fourth criticism of such researchers pertains to the insistence in equating the reading of the Sunni sect of Islam with them. In this finding by looking at Islam from a single and monotonous perspective that bind with one another the elements of living and tradition and its practice, and by restricting Islam to the current Sunni sect of acceptance to the Umayyad-Abbasid caliphate in the initial centuries of Hijra, that too in a single framework removed from this plan and was in conflict with caliphate system and its peculiar interpretation of Islam, has been regarded as a deviation from the “true Islam.” Therefore, it is not off the course, if in several of the works, we come across certain points of view that, in their approach to the Shia, have an unjust and even anti-Shia bias. In his research, Joel Kramer regarded the caliphate system and the true succession of the messenger of Islam (S) to be one. He viewed the cultural centers of the Shias such as the Borasa masjid as “the center of teaching and subversion of the Shias” by interpreting and praising the issuance of the Qaderi doctrine charter for denial of religious freedom as “restitution of value and credibility of the caliphate system.” In reality, the application of such a viewpoint has resulted in the prevention of the articulation of the role of the Shia cultural institution and establishment in the course of the cultural rebirth of the world of Islam--especially of the enunciation of the role of the Shia institution.
However, the mentioning of these instances does not imply the total rejection of all the accomplishment of such researchers. Rather it is an affirmation on the need to pay attention to points that have been neglected and in which analysis remains to be done. This research work also has chosen its points of beginning from this very place so that in its own right, it articulates some parts of these untold issues of the otherwise brilliant research work of Joel Kraemer regarding the Shia institution. For this very reason, in the first instance, the attempt of the author is to present a clear picture of the structure and mode of operation of the institution as cultural organizations. While the presentation of a summary report of the brief history and establishment and working of each one of them on the basis of the year of their establishment has been left for another chapter, at the end, from inside these discussions, I have resorted to the explanation of my main objective, the presentation (in summary) of an overall view of the role and position of the Shia cultural institution in the course of the cultural rebirth of the world of Islam in the fourth and fifth centuries after Hijra(A.H). This view is presented by making use of methods of historical analysis.
The Shia Institutions: Grounds for their establishment, their structure and their cultural activities
An investigation of the existing document and files reveals that the institutions were charity organizations, were multi-purpose and almost official. They were established in the form of public libraries in independent locations and the emphasis was on religious sciences, education and the organization of gathering debates and discussions. The professors and students resided in them and received stipends for certain services.
In this manner, we come to know that the term “institution” was applied to a cultural complex that is composed of one or several halls, a library and other chambers designed for various purposes. As well, they engaged in the job of transcription and research.
Therefore, it becomes evident that as cultural institutions, they were in reality intermediary organizations between the primary school and the higher institutions of learning. Historical consideration also confirm this view that with their peculiar features, the institutions came into being at the time of the decline of the traditional houses of learning and in the fourth and fifth centuries after Hijrat (tenth and eleventh centuries A.D) as pioneering institutions. They were responsible for the spread of knowledge. However, they were indebted to the former institutions for their founding and their spirit and the main plan of their activity. For this reason too, we must seek the basis of their features and their unique dimensions in the traditional houses of learning and institutions similar to them, especially in the manner of their conversion into these institutions.
We know that prior to the establishment of the institutions from the middle of the fourth century A.H (tenth century A.D) except for the traditional houses of learning and a few similar institutions, there was no particular public and semi-public library existing in the world of Islam. Even in the traditional “houses of learning,” except for copies of the Qur’an, no other book was given in charity. However, a significant part of this problem reverted to the point of view of the theologians on the subject of charity. The proof of this claim is that with the evolution of the religious law and giving of books in charity by the various Islamic sects, and following the coming into being of the scientific and technical needs in the world of Islam, gradually semi-public libraries surfaced within the masjids. Libraries however, were separate from the masjids with regard to their location and management. These earliest libraries that were called “treasuries of knowledge” prepared the suitable atmosphere for the emergence of the institutions.
Finally, at the beginning of the fourth century A.H (tenth century A.D) and in the wake of the influence of the Al-e-Bouyeh dynasty in the caliphate machinery as well as the coming to power of the Shia, the scientific movement of the world of Islam attained considerable expansion and the need for public libraries and institutions for the propagation and promotion of various sciences and especially the Shia theology was intensely felt. In addition to this, the improper functioning of the “treasure houses of knowledge” in the mold of semi-public libraries would not accept just anyone for the attainment of knowledge. The dearth of private collections of books, whose owners would solely place them at the disposal of friends, resulted in many of the learned masses interested in education. In such an atmosphere, some of the elite political–cultural Shia in the fourth century A.H. (tenth century A.D) , in the shelter of the security and peace attained as a result of the coming into power of Al-e-Bouyeh family, brought into being the multi-purpose institutions in the truest sense of the term.
The doors of these institutions were open to all and even to non- native individuals. In certain instances, they were given more facilities than the native individuals. In this sense the facilities such as residence and sufficient stipends as well as pen, ink and paper was placed at their disposal so that they could make copies of the scientific and literary masterpieces of the period. Works that were written and copied by eminent calligraphers or outstanding scholars of the period and were available in the libraries of the institutions.
It is worth mentioning that the library of every institution, which constituted the major section and the most important part of it was, in reality, considered to be only a part of it. In the institutions, in addition to the library services, other academic activities were also in process. However in a few instances, the emergence of more libraries of the institutions, resulted in their being known as “house of books” and “treasure of books,” such that the “Shapour house of learning” in Baghdad was read as “treasure-house of Shabour” and the “Fatimid house of learning”, in Cairo one was known as the “Fatimid house of books” and the “Ibne Savaar house of learning” in Basra was called the “treasure- house of books” and also the “house of books “respectively. In any case, the houses of learning as the intermediary organization between the “house of knowledge” and “treasure houses of knowledge” on one hand, and the traditional schools on the other hand, had inherited some of their most important characteristics and attributes and productivities from the former institutions and transferred them to the latter institutions. The most important of these instances are as follows:
1. Investiture of the religious scholars, organizing meetings and lectures and the coming together of those interested in gaining knowledge.
We know that in the “houses of learning” and in some of the “treasure houses of learning” three sets of religious scholars were present; translators for translating works into Arabic, interpreters for the interpretation of the works and scholars for research and debates. This method was also adopted by the institutions; even though in the year of their establishment, a period had elapsed since the translation of the works and many of the translated texts were available for interpretation and research. In more exact words, the world of Islam was involved in the compilation stage.
In such an atmosphere, the institutions, also on the basis of the existing needs utilized the services of analysts and scholars in numerous academic subjects. In fact, a major portion of their activities revolved around the axis of meetings of debates, discussions and the exchange of views among the distinguished scholars of the era in various sciences. However, the presence of these scholars also had other advantages for the institutions. Foremost it would attract a large number of students around them in the premises of the institutions. With the presence of these students, gradually lecture classes would be organized on the premises of the institutions and numerous students would attend them in order to benefit from the latest scientific discussions going on in these institutions. The presence of these students, not only would enhance the academic stature and the quality of the activities of the institutions, rather the second advantage of the presence of the aforesaid scholars. This meant it also had in its wake the attainment of a kind of scientific–political strength for their founders. In addition to this, it aided in the expansion of the promotional–ideological activities of the institutions. Therefore, it is not at all surprising that if we see in certain instances, the founders of institutions such as Ibne Hamdan and Sharif Razi themselves would endeavor to teach sciences in these institutions. These teachings would fulfill their ideological–political needs better and would strike well with them.
2. Ideological–promotional placement from the “house of learning” to the institution.
We know that the most important of the current lessons in the “house of learning” was the teaching of the mu’tazalite schismatic doctrine. In fact, by establishing themselves in the “house of learning,” the proponents of schismatic, in enriching these institutions, endeavored to expand their influence and teaching in them and through them. It is noteworthy that the schismatic doctrine, continued with its existence without any difficulty in the beginning of the institutions too. It was such that in the Basra institutions, a cleric was engaged in the important teaching of this dogma. The reason for this matter can be found, on the one hand, in the mutual influence of the Shias and the schismatic sect followers in the oral subjects of one another. On the other hand, in the support of the native Shia of the followers of schismatic sect such as Sahib bin Ibaad (born in the tenth century A.D) and Abdul Jabbar Hamedani (born in the fifth century A..D.). Numbers of followers of the Schismatic sect who following the anti- Schismatic coup d’etat of the caliph Mutawakkil in the year 232 A.H. (ninth century A.D.) and under the pressure of the Turks were driven away from the caliph apparatus. Even some of them, in the course of the third and fourth century A.H. (ninth and tenth century A.D.), saw their salvation in assuming the name of “Ash’ari.” They were now able to continue with their existence under the protection of the Al-e-Bouyeh government in Rey and the west of Iran and in the meanwhile, the institutions were appropriate place for their rehabilitation. They never regained their prominent and special position which they enjoyed in the “houses of learning” in the institutions.
It is worth mentioning that some of the contemporary and obsessive researchers of the Sunni sect without regard to the Shia origin of the institutions of the world of Islam, have attempted to portray the founders of these institutions as belonging to the Sunni sect and to make it appear that the Shia had, in fact, forcibly occupied them with the intention of propagating their creed! Included in these researchers we must point to the names of Yusuf Alash, the Syrian researchers and former chief of the French Institute for Arabic research in Damascus who has written on this issue with an opinionated view. According to his opinion, after the establishment of the institutions by the Sunni sect, the Shias who found these premises to be appropriate for their political and sectarian propaganda and in the path of making viable their political and sectarian plots, took control of them and insisted on imposing their doctrine on the mass followers of the Sunni sect? In the speech of Yusuf Alash, this point has been deliberately forgotten that the first institutions were established by the Shias in the political - cultural atmosphere of the beginning of the fourth century A.H (tenth century A.D). In fact, Alash too has followed the route of many of the European orientalists and with emphasis on the political-ideological differences between Shias and the Sunni sect. While attempting to add fuel to the fire of these differences, he strives to give a usurper image to the Shia and to announce that the essence of the activities of the Shias is political in nature. Although by referring to the contexts of the old texts and with regard to the manner of operation of each of the Shia institutions, it becomes clear how even the books and accepted sciences of the Sunnis also were in circulation and the scholars of the Sunni sect and even of the Ashari doctrine could easily hold meetings, discussions and debates on the premises of these institutions and take advantage of the resources of their libraries. We clearly witnessed this situation in the Shapour institution in Baghdad and the Fatimid institution in Cairo.
It is worth mentioning that the characteristic of being a Shia of the first institution of learning and many of the latter institutions, and the fact that their founders belonged to the Shia sect has never caused a decline in the activities of these institutions simply because of a particular political-religious propaganda of the Shia. Contrary to the claims of Yusyf Alash, it was the followers of the Sunni sect in certain instances that have used these institutions as bases for anti-Shia activities with the intent to propagate their own teaching. Whenever they got the opportunity and viewed the institutional activities to be against their political-ideological interests, they would attempt to destroy them as they did with the Shapour institutions of Baghdad which they set on fire and they engaged in political-ideological activities in the Fatimid institution in Cairo. There are even instances when the followers of the Sunni sect took advantage of the established Sunni institutions also to further the specific interests of a particular group and acted against another group of followers of the Sunni sect. The Ibne Marestanieh institution is a good example of this class.
In fact, historical considerations reveal that in instances pertaining to the teaching of the sciences and theology in the Shia institutions, both teachers belonging to the Shia sect as well as teachers of the Sunni sect were employed such as in the Shapour institute. The Sunni Ibne Fazzal and in the Fatimid institute the Shia Abul Fazl Jafar were engaged in the task of teaching. There are instances of teachers belonging to the Sunni sect teaching theology and religious law especially in the Fatimid institution and it was only after the anti-government activities of these Sunni professors that on the orders of Al-Mamoun Vazir , in the year 517 A.H (eleventh century A.D), that the management of this institute was again placed in the care of Daie Ad-Doat and the privileges of the Sunni sect was withdrawn from them .
A look at these issues makes it clear that the activities of the institutions was in the process of change and transformation in accordance with the circumstances and place and time, even though this matter does not imply an upheaval of their internal organization and their administrative structure and does not mean their differentiation from this aspect. Even by talking into view the existing information regarding the renowned institutions such as the Shapour institute and the Fatimid institute, we can sketch a hypothetical model of the administrative structure and the material construction of an institution. On the basis of this sketched model we can organize and expand the existing misleading information about the other institutions of learning such as the Ibne Hamdan and Sharif Razi institutions and in this manner obtain a clearer picture of them.
3. Laying the physical structure from the “house of learning” to the institution.
We know that the house of learning from the point of view of physical structure was composed of a building that incorporated a well-equipped library and a hall for debates and translation of the works. In certain instances, a place of residence would be reserved for the residence of a group of migrant scholars; just as such a place was placed at the disposal of the astronomers. The founders of the institutions, with regard to the characteristic of the house of learning and some of the treasuries of learning based the physical foundation and fundamental of these institutions on the establishment of well-organized libraries in a well-equipped building, and a hall for holding of debates and lectures. But with regard to the new character of the institutions which the house of learning and the treasuries of learning lacked, meaning with regard to their educational character, in these buildings certain locations would be taken into consideration for housing the migrant scholars and their pupils, and in some cases for housing of the scribes. It is obvious that for meeting the materials needs of the residents of the house of learning, including pen, paper, ink and food necessitated of a well - equipped store - room in this institution.
It is worth mentioning that the physical structure of the institutions would take shape depending on certain considerations, the most important of which follow: the financial capability of the founder of the institution; the prominence of the research, educational or debating qualities of the institutions; the general characteristic of the visitors of the institution; and finally, the objective of the founder of the institution for establishment of this multi - purpose institution. As in some of the institution, the physical structure consisted of a library and an assembly hall whereas there were institutions such as the Fatimid institution that with regard to the substantial financial capability and long - term objectives of its founders and management, it had separated the assembly halls and the lecture halls from one another and had created special and specific areas for housing each one of the classes of professors and students. At the same time, there were institutions such as the Sharif Murtaza institution where the place of residence of the founder of the institution was also within the premises of the institution.
4 - The administrative set-up of the institutions as the administrative organization of the institutions was in fact, the perfected form of the house of learning in their explanation.
We must pay attention to the administrative styles of the institutions and the physical structure of each one of them. An analysis of the existing documents reveals that the management of the institutions was, on one hand, connected to the higher management, while on the other hand they were connected with the technical style of administration of these institutions. The higher management of each institution included the administration and trusteeship of the properties endowment of the institution, and the technical management was also employed to the overall administration of the library of the institution and was directly in contact with the libraries and their subordinates.
A) The libraries and the technical management of the library of the institution
Based on certain sources of data, we know that in the institutions, outstanding and highly placed libraries and the well- known scholars of the contemporary era were employed for the technical management of the library. Many of these librarians, as renowned men of literature of their era, in addition to knowledge of literature, were well acquainted with religious sciences as well. Some of them, in addition to the management of the library, were also engaged in teaching at the institution.
However, the job of librarian demanded that the librarians be endowed with the culture of encyclopedia--a culture in which knowledge of poetry, history and philosophy and even of the absolute sciences was an essential requirement. Although at a first glance, it would appear that the main duty of the librarians was talking care and maintenance of the books of the library. In practice, this was only a part of their duties. The sum of their job activities in the library can be considered as follows: maintaining the books and mobilizing the facilities for their protection vis-Ă -vis their wear and tear and destruction, protection of the books from dust and particles, keeping the trustee informed of the need for binding the transcribed books, distribution and allocation of paper, pen and ink among the students of the institution, supervision over the readers; and endeavoring to implement the conditions of the endowment at the time of handing books to the applicant. In addition to this duty, among the characteristic of the librarians was possession of good hand writing. In certain instances they were left with no alternative but to transcript books. It is worth mentioning that on the basis of the existing theories of religious law, in case of negligence in respect of their duties, the librarians were responsible for compensation of the damages incurred. However, this point was only applied in theory whereas in practice it was not observed. For the job of librarian also various sums were paid as remuneration. In many of the cases, this remuneration, in comparison with other occupations in those times, was at a reasonably good level. In the Fatimid institution each librarian was paid 48 gold Dinars annually whereas the head of the Al- Azhar mosque was paid a salary of 28 gold Dinars per year.
B) Higher management of the institution.
In the institutions, the limits of the authority of the librarians and his librarian and his colleagues were confined more to the internal problems of the library and the administration of the affairs delegated to them by the higher management of the institution. However it did not imply that all power was in the hands of the higher management of the institution and the librarian was to be regarded simply as his representative in the library. In certain instances such as in the Shapour institution we witness the librarian acted on behalf of higher management and or his cooperation with higher management in the affairs of administration and trusteeship of the properties of the institution. What is evident is that in most cases, the founder held the responsibility of the higher management of the institution. Otherwise, the financial credits pertaining to the endowment properties would be placed at the disposal of the appointed manager so that in case any deficiency would appear in the affairs of the library and or the housing of the professors and students, they would refer to him for its removal. In this way, the vast ranges of authority of the higher management of the institution, including the delegation of the right to select the librarians and the planning and determining the objectives and policies of the institution, in practice, caused the appointment of this manager to be faced with certain limitations resulting from the idiosyncratic viewpoint of the founder of the institution. It was only the trustee of the institution and the founder of this system who was able to appoint, without any restriction, one or several managers for its administration--managers that had to be among the renowned scholars of the period and educated in the social, political and cultural affairs of that era, and at the same time, also hold a viewpoint close to that of the founder of the institution. It is for this very reason that we see Shapour bin Ardeshir, as the founder of the Shapour institution entrusted its higher management to two persons belonging to the Alawite sect and the chief justice of Baghdad. After him, Sharif Murtaza and Muhammad bin Hassan Toosi took over the management of this institution much in the same way that Al- Hakim Bi-Amrillah appointed Abdel Aziz bin Muhammad bin Naman as the manager of the Cairo institution--a position that was held before him by his father; paternal uncle, paternal cousin and his grand father.
5. Financial credits of the institutions.
It was mentioned that endowments were among the features of the institutions. For guaranteeing the perpetuation of the activities of these institutions, it was essential that clear and well-defined financial credits were made available to them. For this reason too, the founders of the institutions, in order to secure their expenditures, would generally put immovable properties in their trust so that from the annual income obtained from them they could meet the expenses of the aforesaid institutions. So it was that Shapour bin Ardeshir allocated the income obtained from two locations namely “house of verse “and “game companions” for meeting the expenses of the institution belonging to himself and Al-Hakim Bi-Amirallah put the incomes obtained from “house of rhythm “and “wool market “and “house of new music “jointly in trust for meeting the expenses of the Fatimid institution and the Al-Azhar and Rashida masjids. It is worth mentioning that in the memorandum of endowment of the institution, the endower would strive to detail the allocation of the incomes obtained from the endowment properties in an order of important and to clarify the order of their expenditures in case of insufficiency of the initial outlays. Of the memorandum of endowment remaining, such as the memorandum of the Fatimid institution, it appears that generally; the order of consumption of expenses was in the following manner; A) Establishment of building and making necessary repairs B) Maintenance of furniture C) Payment of salary to employee. What is obvious is that for the safeguarding of the institution, in the first stage, its buildings must be maintained in desirable condition; and this made clear the foremost duty of the managing director of the institution. He must allocate sufficient amounts from the perfectly known income of the endowment for building, decorations, repair and expansion of the institution as well as for the maintenance of the shelves, cupboards, and drawers of the library of the institution.
After determining the necessary credits for the upkeep and maintenance of the above mentioned building and movable properties, it was the turn of specifying the expenses pertaining to the rest of the supplies of the institution. These supplies on the library of the institution consisted of the following: equipment and furniture consisting of carpets, mats, curtains and woolen blankets for winter, accessories for repairing, sweeping and cleaning, lighting, water, stationery and the procurement of the needed books.
However, regarding the quantity and cost of these supplies, in addition to the financial condition of the founder of the institution, the environmental factors were also effective such that in the memorandum of endowment of the Fatimid institution, for securing drinking water, washing and ablution, a fixed and considerable sum was allocated because water was reached from the Nile to Cairo. But in Damascus and Haleb, there was no need to allocate any amount for water because every building had a well filled with water. At the same time, in some of the institutions, such as the Bani Ammar institution in Tripoli and the Hamdan institution in Mosul, stationery was given to one and all whereas in other places such as the Sharif Razi institution, these supplies were placed only at the disposal of the students. The procurement of paper for the institution was also dependent upon the circumstance of procuring the books of the library in the process of transformation of knowledge either through purchase or transcription. It was such that in the Fatimid institution, for transcribing, an amount was allocated by way of procurement of stationery while in the Sharif Murtasa institution books would be purchased. In any case, after making these expenditure and allocation of sums related to essential expenses, the balance amount of the income obtained from endowment properties was divided among the staff of the institution on the basis of their academic grade and position and their executive position. In certain instances, the managing director of the institution, after payment of salaries to the staff, would allocate any additional and balance amount for the current expenses of the library. At the same time, in case the incomes obtained from the endowment properties was not sufficient, normally the superfluous thing would be eliminated from the list and the aforesaid amount would be consumed for important expenditures such as repairing of the building. Likewise, in a special case, the managing director and founder of the institution could also undertake to sell the endowment properties. However, in this case, the obtained income would be spent on charity affairs, such as was done by Ghorass An-Naimah.
6. Transition of the position of philosophy from the “house of learning” to the institution.
On the basis of the stress of all the by-gone sources, in the house of learning and similar institutions, philosophy occupied an appropriate and prominent position. Although following the coming into being of new political – cultural circumstances in the world of Islam, this position was on the decline in the institutions.
We know that the movement for the translation of the Greek, India and Iranian works into Arabic from the latter part of the second century A.H (eight century A.D), and the influence of the knowledge–seeking Iranians in the system of the Abbasid caliphate, especially during the reign of the caliphs Haroon and Mamoon, had given a lot of standing to philosophy. But during the reign of the sons of Mamoon and following the influence of radial Sunnis in the caliphate system of Muttawakkil Abbssi, the schismatic were driven away from the caliphate system. In this manner, with the existence of philosophy and the spirit of philosophical research from the caliphate system, religious sciences and Arabic literature took over instead.
However, in spite of the omission of philosophical research by the caliph and those around him, yet again, a group of religious scholars took interest in it. And it was such that in the vicinity of the libraries, instead of the rejection of philosophical books and works, the reaction was in the categorical and superior introduction of Islamic sciences alongside religious sciences. In fact, the common usage of the word “knowledge” was also with the intention of showing this unity, and for this reason, instead of the phrase “house of learning,” the new establishments were named “institution,” in which simultaneously philosophical and Islamic sciences were being taught. In an investigation of the list of the library of Shapour institution and the induction of philosophers such as Hamiduddin Kermani in the Fatimid institution attests to this arrangement.
In any case, despite the translation of an important section of the sciences left behind from the bygone era by the efforts of Caliph Mamoon and his administrators in the translation lobby group, but with the destruction of the institute established for this purpose (house of learning ) and in the wake of the anti- philosophy policy of the caliph Mutawakkil and his ancestral coterie, the activity of the scholars interested in philosophical sciences was drawn towards private gatherings, until that in the middle of the fourth century A.H (around tenth century A.D) . In the wake of the coming into power of the Al-el Bouyeh dynasty, the institutions as academic establishments replacing the “house of learning” and the “treasure–house of knowledge” assimilated their outstanding features and continued with all their former activities including even research in astronomy – however, with the exception of translation. Even though that these activities and special feature on the basis of the new political–social–religious-cultural conditions were manifested in different molds. In this manner with the housing of the scholars and students, and allocation of a regular stipend for them, and by arranging for general education in specific programs and organization of regular meeting of debates and discussions, finally, the institutions as thoroughbred and Shia establishments took over the responsibility of propagation of science and education in the world of Islam.
7. The Institutions: Protection of the Shia works and expansion of knowledge.
We know that the books and the written culture have played an effective and decisive role in the life of religious sects of the world of Islam. Each one of the various religious sects was the creator of special religious works. For this very reason too, whenever the rules and politicians have sought battle with a particular religious sect and have endeavored to obliterate them, they have come to the conclusion that to destroy the outstanding books authored by that sect through ways such as burning and burying and immersing them in water is an essential matter. They repeatedly burnt the work of Shia scholars such as Akhwan As-Safa and Avicenna. The fact of the matter also was that the publication of the books of every sect was equivalent with the propagation of the doctrine and teaching of that sect; and in particular, the talking possession of these sectarian works by cultured and the distinguished scholars of the period, implied a plea from them for reflection and understanding of the doctrines of the aforesaid sect.
By taking advantage of this publicity service, the founders of the institutions also made an effort in the path of propagating their particular scientific–religious teaching by means of books. However, their activities were not solely directed at sciences and sectarian teaching and their vast intellectual spirit and their scholarly view, facilitated the growth of the rest of the sciences and especially the philosophical sciences. Particularly, in those days, scholars were on the one hand deprived of attending the “house of learning” and on the other hand, in the masjids because of the overwhelming Sunni-ancestral inclinations hostility was shown to the development of these sciences and even to the development of “culture”- Arabic version of the Greek term of “paideia”.
In such a circumstance, the generous opening of the doors of the institution on the various scientific subjects and exercising interest in the position of each of the subjects facilitated the existence of “culture” from the masjid and its establishment in the institutions. Even in action, the librarians of these newly founded institutions, were all renowned men of letters and were the cultural teachers of their era. Thus, scholars of other disciplines, in order to protect their works from every kind of attack and with the intent to publish these works on a large scale, took advantage of the opportunity that came their way and gifted their works to these charitable institutions. Thus it was that the philosophical sciences alongside the absolute sciences and Islamic sciences found their way to these institutions. In addition to this, the founders of the institutions by employing professors for teaching religious law besides grammar, conjugation and syntax and other sciences acceptable to the Shia, worked towards expansion of the Shia doctrine and linked the Shia teaching with these sciences.
In this manner, with the organization of get-togethers for debates and discussions, and holding of special educational classes, the institutions were transformed into social associations of scholars and into the earliest public universities of the world of Islam. The expansion of these centers in the large cities such as Baghdad, Basra, Halab, Tripoli, and Cairo transformed these institutions into highly efficient cultural-scientific-political–religious establishments so that in the process of the cultural rebirth of the world of Islam, they turned out to be extremely effective. And of course, these same cultural-scientific-political-religious functions finally evoked the wrath of the Sunni sect and caused them to strive towards the stagnation and destruction of these institutions. With the coming to power of the Sunni Seljuks in Iraq, the Atabaks in Syria, and the Ayyubids in Egypt, these establishments went into decline; and even in certain instances, the Sunni rulers, such as Salahuddin Ayoubi openly displayed their wrath and hatred by setting them on fire. It needs to be said that this issue did not simply rest with the Sunnis and even in certain instances some Shia factions, upon seeing that the manner of the operation of some of the institutions was in conflict with their own cultural-religious–political wishes, decided to destroy them. Finally the Saif-od-Dowla institution and its destruction at the hands of the Fatimid is a case in point of this issue. At the same time these encounters draw our attention to an important point--the link of the triangle of power and knowledge and legality in the current political and cultural proclamations in the world of Islam. It is this very union that explains that despite the above mentioned enmities. Why would the followers of the Sunni sect inevitably adopt the models of the institutions, while at the same time rejecting the facilities and moderateness that was present in them? It also reveals that why did they make a lot of effort to establish institution similar to them, albeit with a different library and objectives.
8. The institutions and the establishment of a class of professors and students.
We know that in the institutions, the students had a fixed salary as well as a special stipend. They were indebted for this salary to their gaining entrance to the institutions under simple forms of lectures and debates and speeches given by the professors of various sciences, an education that had quickly established itself in these newly born institutions and whose activities had been on the increase. In this manner, a class of professors and students ongoing special privileges and rights appeared who also engaged in cultural-political activities.
However, prior to the establishment of the institutions, the groundwork for the arrival of such a class had been laid. In the year 378 A.H. (around tenth century A.D), on the orders of Al- Azia, the Fatimid caliph of Egypt, a home was prepared for the benefit of 35 religious scholars and a commensurate stipend was taken into consideration for them. These religious scholars, on each Friday afternoon, would form a chain in the Al-Azhar masjid. Likewise the experience of the scientific schools of Mesopotamia was at the disposal of the founders of the institutions from the third century until the ninth century A.D.
In any case, with the establishment of the institutions, a newly arrived class of scholars and students came to be based in these premises. With a specified remuneration, they endeavored to receive an important education. In the Fatimid institution, this class enjoyed a lovely position and in the Bani Ammar institution they would receive a high fixed salary. Even during the reign of the Fatimid, the public prosecutors of the administration were also trained at this institution.
9. The classification of the institutions
To classify the institutions, we can resort to making use of several criteria such as financial resources of the institution the style of management, the cultural-scientific-religious-political base of the founders, the objectives of the founders for their establishment and the unique output of the institutions. In spite of this, with regard to the most important characteristic of the institutions, meaning the multi-purpose nature of these cultural institutions, it appears that the most appropriate yardstick in their classification is attention to the unique output of these establishments.
On the whole, reference to the existing sources and documents reveals that in the institutions of the world of Islam, the most important matter of consideration consisted of the following: library services, holding of lectures, organization of oratory and debate classes, providing accommodation to the scholars, and the propagation of scientific-cultural researches. However this matter was not of consideration in a uniform manner in all the institutions and they were looked after in accordance with the environmental conditions and financial facilities and the objectives of the founders of these establishments. In fact, it appears that only at the Shapour, Fatimid and Bani Ammar, all of these activities were given consideration in a uniform manner. This means that in them, all the matters pertaining to giving library services to the students holding lectures, holding oratory and debated sessions, emphasis on research and making housing available to the scholars were available. Whereas in institutions such as Sharif Razi and Sharif Murtaza , attention was given only to some of these activities while the holding of general sessions of oratory and debate was not undertaken except in special instances; and institutions such as Ghorass An-Nemah and Ibne Hamdan with indifference to matters of research would get involved in other activities. From the perspective of this research, we can say that provision of library services was the most important mutual aspect of all the institutions of the world of Islam; and in an overall investigation, the operational characteristic of each one of them can be noted as below:
The Shapour institution: Teaching, debate and oratory, research, library services and providing housing to the scholars.
The Fatimid institution: Teaching, debate and oratory, research, library services, providing housing to the scholars,
The Bani Ammar institution: Teaching debate and oratory, research, library services, providing housing to the scholars.
The Sharif Razi institution: Teaching research, library services, providing housing to student.;
The Sharif Murtaza institution: Teaching , research, library services, providing housing to the students .
The Ibne Abi Al-Baqaa institution: Teaching, research, debate and oratory, library services.
The Ibne Hamdan institution: Teaching, debate and oratory, library services.
The Ibne Savar institution: Teaching, debate and oratory, library services.
The Bait-ul-Moqaddas institution: Teaching, debate and oratory, library services.
The Ibne Marastaniya institution: Teaching, debate and oratory, library services.
The Sharif-ud-dowla Hamdani institution: Debate and oratory, library services.
Ibne Shah Mardan institution: Debate and oratory, library services.
The Alexandria institution: Research, library services.
It is worth mentioning that on the basis of the characteristic of their being public, the institutions were open on all days, and especially in case of the predominance of their educational feature over the research and debating aspects, there was no limitation in this regard such that in cities like Cairo and Tripoli, in the Fatimid and Bani Ammar institutions, they were librarians that provided day and night services and resided on the premises.
10. Decline and destruction of the institutions
An almost official establishment from the point of view of the articles of association and from the point of view of administrative set-up had an almost independent character and was managed like a public endowment institution. Following the weakening of the power of the Shia and the increase in the hegemony of the Sunni sect, the institutions fell into decline. In the meanwhile, the attacks of the crusaders on the world of Islam and the increase in the sectarian differences of the Shias also added fuel to the fire of this problem. Thus, by replacing the institutions with traditional schools or “Madrassa,” the Sunni sect attempted to learn from the experiences obtained from the former towards attainment of their ideological–political-social-cultural objectives. It was that the destruction of the institutions, from the historical viewpoint, coincided with the establishment of the new traditional schools or “Madrassa” such as the Nizamieh and Abu Hanifa Maqbara “Madrassa.” Schools were inaugurated in the year 459 A.H (around eleventh century A.D) – exactly eight years after the destruction of the Shapour institution.
In fact, in talking advantage of the manner of establishment, organization and the working of the institutions, the Sunni sect in their limitation of them, went as far as to bury the respectable political and religious personalities on the premises of the “madrassa.” In this way, they brought honor to these schools. In the Fatimid institution in Cairo, the body of Daie al-Moayyed Fiddin Abu Nasr Habtullah bin Mouse bin Davoud Ash-shirazi (470 A.H-around eleventh century A.D) was buried on the premise of the shrine of Abu Hanifa. A “madrassa” school was established and Salahuddin Ayoubi, by founding the Salahiyya Madrassa school in the year 572 A.H (around twelfth century A.D) in the vicinity of the tomb of Imam Shafeie, worked all the more towards instigation and incitement of the followers of this religious doctrine in fighting with the opponents.
However, the benefiting from the unique feature and operations of the institutions did not end with the followers of the Sunni sect and the Shia, as founders and administrators of these institutions also benefited from them in the planning and establishments of the subsequent cultural centers such as the seminaries. In this regard, the Najaf seminary, built by Muhammad bin Hasan Toosi, the last managing director of the Shapour institution, can be regarded as the Shia successor to the institution.
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