University of California

Los AngelesComment by M: This document is a digital version of a typewritten dissertation that maintains the original line breakshence the uneven line lengthsand page breaks. Being digital, this document uses formatting features and styles not available to a typewriter. Underscored text in the original is now shown with italics. Underscores have been added for two letters representing one Arabic consonant letter. Many minor errors in the original text have been corrected without the use of Tracked Changes. Missing final Hamzas (hamazt) and Ayns (ayun) have been noted in Comments. The definite article (al-) has not been changed when it occurs before an Arabic sun lettersee Appendix B. Hybrid transliterated words formed by adding English endings (e.g. s) have not been corrected, but Comments giving the transliterated Arabic plural have been added in some cases. Missing Endnote References have been placed in the most likely positions, and two out-of-order References have been corrected. The author uses Tehrn (ihrn) for the name of the city and ehrn when it is a name of a person from ihrn. Irn is used instead of rn Some OCR errors may have been missed. Bibliographical information in the Endnotes has been removed since it appears in the Bibliography. The result is that the Endnote sections require some added blank pages to maintain the original page numbering. Level two headings have been added to the Table of Contentsit is still only one page. The all capital letter text and the up-and-down capitalisation used in headings has been replaced with lower-case letters, except for the first word and proper names. Punctuation has been placed where it logically belongs rather than a default position inside quote marks where they exist. Publishing information is given in a commonly used illogical order of place followed by the publishers name. Dual dates represent the Shams Hijr (sh) (the Solar Hijri) calendar (the official calendar of Iran and Afghanistan), followed by anno Domini (ad). Single dates are shown as sh nnnn, or without a label if they are anno Domini (ad). The convention that sh, ad, ah, etc., should precede a date, and bc follow a date has been applied in this document. ibid. is used without a capital I

The development of Shaykh thought in

Sh Islam

A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the

requirements for the degree Doctor of Philosophy

in Islamic Studies

by

Vahid RafatiComment by M: Transliterated as Vad Rafat

1979

The dissertation of Vahid Rafati is approved.

Ismail Poonawala

Michael G. Morony

Andras Bodrogeligeti

Amin Banani, Committee Chair

University of California, Los Angeles

1979

To my parents

ContentsComment by M: Tabs and white fullstops (they are invisible in a printed copy) have been used to add white space either side of the leader tab.Level two headings have been added to the TOC.

Acknowledgements...vi

Introduction...1

IThe religious, intellectual climate of Iran during the first halfof the nineteenth century...12

IIShaykh Amad As his life and works...36

Sources on the life of Shaykh Amad...36

The life of Shaykh Amad As...39

The works of Shaykh Amad...53

IIIThe basic Shaykh ontological doctrines...69

IVThe basic Shaykh eschatological doctrines...102

VDevelopments in the Shaykh school after the death of ShaykhAmad As...126

Sayyid Kims works...131

jj Muammad Karm Khn Kermn and the Shaykhsof Kermn...138

Mrz Shaf Tabrz and the Shaykhs of Tabrz...142

Sayyid Al Muammad Shirz, The Bb and the Bbs...144

VIShaykh teachings that paved the way for the Bb...167

VIIThe relationship of Shaykh doctrines to the religious thoughtof the Bb...191

Conclusion...213

Appendices...218

A:Writings of Shaykh Amad and Sayyid Kim on theQim...218

B:The abjad system...220

Bibliography...221

I.Unpublished manuscript sources...221

II.Published sources...221

A note on transliteration and Quranic references

The transliteration system employed in this work for

Arabic Romanization is that of the Library of Congress.

Persian personal names, words in book titles, and geographi-

cal names, however, are transliterated according to the

standard Persian pronunciation. Titles of certain well-

known figures are given in the form by which they are

usually reproduced in English (e.g., Bahullh).

For the noun, Sha is used; for the adjective,

Sh.

All Quranic references are to the English translation

of the Qurn by Maulvi Muhammad Ali (London, 1917).

Acknowledgements

This dissertation would not have been possible without

the support and encouragement of my advisor, Professor Amin

Banani. His perceptive comments and thought-provoking

insights were of inestimable value. I will always be

indebted to him. I would also like to express my deep

appreciation to Dr Iraj Ayman, the distinguished Persian

psychologist, who encouraged me to continue my graduate work

in the United States. This was a turning point in my life

and gave me new insights into scholarship.

I also wish to express my deep gratitude to the members

of my committee, with whom I had the privilege of studying.

I am particularly grateful to Professor Michael Morony and

Professor Ismail Poonawala, who made several fundamental

comments.

My cordial appreciation goes to Ralph Jaeckel, who read

the entire dissertation and made numerous comments on

various aspects of the work.

I thank my editor, Wendy Heller, for helping me turn

the original draft into its final form, and Ellen Engs, who

typed several drafts of the work with kindness and

courtesy.

I also wish to thank Nina Bertelson, Terry Joseph, and

Evelyn Oder, of the Gustave von Grunebaum Center for Near

Eastern Studies, who helped to make my graduate study at

UCLA an enjoyable experience.

Finally, I would like to express my gratitude to the

Iran-America Foundation which awarded me a grant in support

of this work.

Vita

April 11, 1945Born, Shiraz, Iran

1969B.A., University of Tehran, Iran

1973-1974American University of Beirut, Lebanon (intensive

English and Arabic, non-degree program)

1974-1978Research Assistant, von Grunebaum Center for Near

Eastern Studies, University of California, Los Angeles

1979Persian Instructor, UCLA Extension Program

Publications

1.Fihristh va Alm-i Mujalladt-i Noh

Gna-i Kutub-i Mida-i smn, (Indexes

for the Nine Volumes of the Mida-i

smn, compiled by Abd al-amd Ishrq

Khvar), Tehrn, 1972, 309 p.

2.Seven articles, Mutamimt-i Umn al-

Kitb (The Supplements to the Kitb-i

Aqdas) published in hang-i Bad,

(1976). The series is continuing.

3.Hadaf va Ravesh dar Taqq-i Marif-i

Bah, (Purpose and Method in Studying

the Bah Writings), hang-i Bad, 1977.

4.Gozresh bi Ikhtir dr bra-i Alw-i

rat-i Abdul-Bah Khitb bi Yrn-i

Gharb (A Short Report on Abdul-Bahs

Letters to American Believers). A study

of 1420 manuscript letters in Persian and

Arabic written by the leader of the

Bah Faith. hang-i Bad, 1977.

Abstract of the dissertation

The Development of Shaykh Thought in Sh Islam

by

Vahid Rafati

Doctor of Philosophy in Islamic Studies

University of California, Los Angeles, 1979

Professor Amin Banani, Chair

In the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries,

Shaykh Amad As (d. 1241/1825), a native of As,

founded a new school of thought within the Imm Sha. The

heterodox doctrines of Shaykh Amad laid the foundations for

a new approach to Sh theology and caused the traditional

Sh theologians to denounce him as an innovator in their

polemical works.

Shaykh Amads doctrines were a synthesis of the views

of the Akhbr and the Ul schools. He emphasized the

importance of the imns and prepared his students for theComment by M: Hybrid wordthe plural of imm is aimma

advent of the Twelfth Imm or Mahd, whose appearance had

been expected for centuries.

Shaykh Amad wrote extensively, traveled widely and,

with his erudition and personal magnetism, won over adher-

ents from different parts of the country and from different

social and intellectual backgrounds including many members

of the royal family.

After Shaykh Amads death, the leadership of his

school fell to Sayyid Kim Rasht, his close student, who

continued Shaykh Amads approach and, in numerous works,

elaborated his thoughts. The death of Sayyid Kim was

followed by a series of crises, aggravated by the fact that

he did not designate a successor.

The teachings, particularly the predictions, of both

Shaykh Amad and Sayyid Kim prepared their followers for

the acceptance of the expected Mahd. When the Bb, the

founder of the Bb religious movement, claimed (in 1260/

1244) that he was the expected one, many Shaykhs accepted

his claim.

The Shaykh school was the latter branch of the Imm

Sha, an intellectual link between Islam and the Bb

movement, and a point of departure for a series of religious

and social developments in later periods which had a great