فضاي گفتماني تدوين بحارالانوار در عصر صفوي

The Discoursive Circumstances of Composing Bahar al-Anvar in the Safavid Era

Any research on Bahar al-Anvar (a twenty-five volumes encyclopaedic collection of hadith, history of Islam and... by ʹAllama Mohammad Baqir Majlisi) cannot be carried out without examining its social and historical background. In this paper, the social and historical environment in which such a cultural phenomenon was composed is examined. For this purpose, the social, political and religious structures of Iran under the Safavids, as well as ʹAllama Majlisi\s way of socialisation, his connections and political experiences are considered. Majlisiʹs motive for writing the book, the .structure of the book and the methodology used by him arc also discussed, while his other writings and similar works by other contemporary authors are touched upon. It is argued that ʹAllama Majlisi in his official position as Sheikh ul-Isiam, the superior religious authority in Ivan under the Safavids, in order to help the state to expand and maintain its authority had to respond to a variety of audiences.