The Sun and the Lion

A team that did not look like a caravan was moving along the road. They started from Najaf, the Shiite holy land in Arab Iraq, and went north along the Tigris River. After arriving in Mosul, they turned east and came to Tabriz. .

After completing their pilgrimage to the Holy Land, these ulema from Lebanon and Arab Iraq took less than two weeks to arrive in the capital through the post system and waited for Sadr to assign them jobs.

The guide of the team returned with a low-ranking official to meet with the Ulama: "Gentlemen, Sadr is waiting for you at the government office."

Under the guidance of officials, they entered the city of Tabriz, passed through various urban areas divided by rivers, and came to the official government office in the castle area. The official signaled everyone to wait and went in to report.

The ulema were invited into the reception room without waiting long. Yusuf was sitting on the main seat. When he saw the ulema coming in, he stood up to greet them. After arranging everyone's seats, he began to say: " Dear learned ulema, I am the servant of Shah Khan Shah, the perfect leader, and the follower of the Imam’s envoy, Yusuf. I am temporarily assuming the position of Sadr in charge of religious affairs. I invite you all by your Majesty’s command. The purpose of coming to Azerbaijan is to revitalize the Shia faith. Now the twelfth Imam is in hiding, the believers are scattered all over the place, and they are reduced to a situation of being oppressed. The world is plunged into darkness. Our Lord Ibrahim wants Change this status quo, spread the true faith, purify Tianfang religion and the world to welcome the reclusive Imam to come and establish the rule of Huda on earth."

Yusuf repeated the contents of the invitation letter with these brief words. The ulema who were invited had some ideas. Seeing that the monarch they were about to serve was so ambitious, their interest also rose. .

"Originally, when I received your invitation letter, I was still doubtful about your country. But when I learned that your monarch specially sent an envoy to Cairo to negotiate with the Egyptian Sudan, and asked the local officials to allow us to leave Lebanon, and in After performing pilgrimage to the holy places in your country, I can be sure that this is a country where true faith can truly be promoted." One of the ulema used Ibrahim's funds to renovate Karbala and Najaf as material to flatter Yusuf.

Then other ulama also followed suit and praised Safavid's religious policies.

Yusuf was very satisfied with the attitude of the Ulema, and started arranging work and promising benefits: "Currently, although His Majesty has eliminated all hypocrites, it has also caused a significant reduction in the number of mullahs in society, which cannot meet the religious needs of the people. . To this end, His Majesty ordered the expansion of the seminaries in Qom and the establishment of new religious schools in Tabriz, Ardabil, Tehran, Isfahan, Kermanshah and Shiraz.”

The Ulama who came to teach and preside over local religious affairs not only taught students to become qualified clergy, but were also responsible for producing hadith and annotating scriptures based on the words and deeds of prophets and imams of all generations.

At this moment, a guard entered the reception room. After greeting the senior priests present, he informed: "Your Majesty heard that the Ulama have arrived, and specially summoned all gentlemen to come to see them."

"Okay." Yusuf nodded, and the Ulema left the government office and headed to the castle under the guidance of the guards.

Ibrahim, who summoned the ulema, was watching Gutenberg's printing press at work in a vacant warehouse in the citadel - the first printing press in Iran and the beginning of Iran's printing industry.

This printing press purchased from Italy cost the craftsmen of the Imperial Property Department a lot of effort. The original movable lead type used in the printing press was in Latin letters, while the Arabic letters were used in the Middle East. The foundry craftsmen imitated these original movable lead types and manuscripts on the market to cast movable lead types of suitable sizes, and only then did Ibrahim see this great progress in history. And he was not satisfied with this small step. He immediately ordered specialized craftsmen to imitate Gutenberg's printing press and movable type. He wanted to set up printing workshops in major cities in Iran.

The workers responsible for operating this printing press were basically scribes. They were not very familiar with the operation of the printing press, but they still printed a considerable number of leaflets in a short period of time.

Ibrahim took one of them, and according to his instructions, the content of the leaflets was to attack Sunnis and spread the "glorious history" of Sunnis persecuting Shias.

"Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman, false caliphs, blasphemers of God, betrayers of the Prophet..."

"Mu'awiyah, usurper, murderer..."

"Yazid, the creator of the Karbala tragedy, the devil's brother, a frequent visitor to Hell, a humanoid creature wearing human skin..."

Among the poignant words, highly skilled painters also specially drew exquisite propaganda posters to highlight the ugly faces of Sunni dignitaries and the situation in which Shiites were oppressed and rose up to resist.

The content of the leaflets also promoted Shiite poetry and prose mixed with Sufism. All the contents were easy to understand, making it easier for dervishes and mullahs to preach to the lower classes with low cultural levels.

"Your Majesty, the Ulema you want to summon has arrived." Ibrahim turned his head at the reminder of his servant and saw the high-ranking priests pouring into the warehouse.

"Dear Shahan Shah, God bless you for your achievements." The Ulema solemnly paid tribute to Ibrahim.

"Huda also protects you." After the courtesy greetings, he continued: "My guards informed me that you accepted Sadr's hospitality, and Sadr also told you your responsibilities. I summoned you, in addition to discussing the religious school. Beyond the details, I would also like to ask you about theology.”

"Excuse me, Your Majesty." The leading Ulama responded calmly.

"Do you think the Gate of Ijtihad has been closed?"

The so-called Ijtihad means that when faced with new situations, new problems, and new things in the new historical period, the legal authority uses reason to deduce new legal conclusions and regulations that are consistent with the purpose of the entire teaching through public discussion and analogy. The content may include the interpretation and application of scriptures and hadiths and even the formulation of new specific laws. The scholars who carried out this legislative activity were called Mujtahids.

Such innovative activities are encouraged in the scriptures, but later, in order to prevent the breeding of heresy, most scholars began to preach that the door of Ijtihad had been closed, advocating conservatism and entering "taglid" (traditional tradition or authority) During the period of unconditional obedience, academic research and innovative activities on teachings basically stagnated.

The recognition and promotion of Ijtihad is also a major point that distinguishes Sunnis from Shias. To this, Ibrahim unsurprisingly received a positive answer and received their criticism of Taglid.

"When do you think the reclusive Imam will appear? During the great recluse period, do you think he and Huda will send envoys to the world?" Ibrahim tried to make these new Ulema admit it. And supports the sect’s long-standing deification propaganda.

The ulema understood what he meant, and the invitation letter to them to come to Tabriz had already eliminated scholars who had different views and did not meet the requirements. For Shias, only the Mahdi, the reclusive Imam who was born, can establish a Shia state on earth. People other than Mujtahid have no right to represent the Imam in public and political affairs. No one can guide Shia Muslims in their private lives, and no one can replace the Mahdi in governing Shia Muslims.

"Your Majesty, it seems to me that the Imam's envoy not only exists, but is standing in front of us!" an Ulama standing in the back row stepped forward and shouted, "He was ordered by God and the Mahdi to represent them. Come to the world and establish a fair and just rule on the earth!”

As soon as these words came out, the ulema present were in an uproar. Although they didn't mind submitting to the political power, they really didn't expect it to play such a big role.

"Okay! This is the mission given to me by Huda!" Ibrahim clapped his hands and signaled the imams to be quiet. He glanced at the scholars and was very satisfied to see that none of them came out to debate the scriptures with him or that supporter forcefully.

After finishing the theological questions, Ibrahim continued to discuss the issue of religious schools with them: "As you know, the local Shiites in Iran are weak, but before I raised an army, find Shuyuan www.zhaoshuyuan.com I didn't expect it I can't collect a complete Shia classic in all of Iran! As a result, the work of cultivating mullahs has stalled, and I can only rely on you and the classics you bring. But the number of classics that can be brought over long distances is limited, and There are so many students you will face in the future, and it is too inefficient to rely on hand-copied books, so..."

Ibrahim stepped aside and allowed the printing press to attract their attention.

"This is a mechanical device invented by the Franks and has been popular in their land for decades. Through this magical technology, a paragraph of text can be printed on paper effortlessly. A printing press can work for half a day. It took a dozen or more scribes a day’s work.”

Theologians looked at the machinery invented by the pagans with curiosity, but did not seem to reject it.

Religion’s desire for dissemination is instinctive. For this machine that can efficiently print all kinds of printed matter, the Holy See uses it to print indulgences and anti-Protestant leaflets, and the printing presses in North Germany use it to print the German version of the Bible and support for Protestantism. Leaflets and Jewish printing houses in the Ottoman territory continued to produce Hebrew classics.

The servants present took the opportunity to praise Ibrahim: "The pious king spreads the faith at all costs and wants everyone to have the opportunity to read the scriptures and hadiths of the prophets and imams."

After secretly confirming that those extreme religious leaflets were hidden, Ibrahim ordered the printing press on the spot to print Shia classics donated by thousands of ulema for use in religious schools. He also ordered Sadr to draw up a draft granting them religious ranks, titles and salaries in Iran, which will be implemented after his review and approval.

After gaining the obedience of the Ulema, Ibrahim ended today's inspection with satisfaction, leaving the Ulema who were still chatting with each other, and left the castle with his entourage.