From the School of Naser al-Haqq to the Nizamiyya of Amol: Schools of Amol in the Tenth and Eleventh Centuries CE

Abstract

The rise of the Alid dynasty in Tabaristan influenced the scientific and religious structure of the region not only politically and socially, but also culturally. Before religious schools were established in Khurasan during the first half of the tenth century CE, Naser al-Haqq, the leader of the Alids, founded a school in Amol in the late ninth century CE, where he taught Islamic sciences and Zaydi jurisprudence. Following this initiative, centers of religious learning expanded throughout Tabaristan and laid the groundwork for the development of Shiʿi studies and education in Iran. The present study, conducted using a descriptive-analytical method and based on library research, examines the process of establishment and development of educational centers in Amol during the tenth and eleventh centuries CE. The findings indicate that the Zaydi Alids established the Amol center of religious learning with the aim of consolidating the foundations of the political and social order in Tabaristan and preventing the influence of Sunni denominations and Ismaʿilism. Subsequently, however, this institution contributed to the development of the educational system and scientific and cultural institutions in Tabaristan. This process culminated in the establishment of the Nizamiyya of Amol and the growing interest of scholars, through which the hadith scholarly tradition of Tabaristan reached its zenith in the eleventh century CE.