Religious Authority

Abdullah ibn Mas'ud (c. 594–653 CE) was among the earliest converts to Islam, a close companion of the Prophet, and the scholar who carried the Quranic and legal tradition to Kufa. His teaching circle became the intellectual ancestor of the Hanafi school of law.

Historically Persia, the one major region taken by the early Muslim armies that kept its own language and culture while reshaping Islamic civilisation. Its Shi'a identity dates from the Safavids of 1501, and its clerical leadership governs the present republic.

The division between Sunni and Shia Islam, originating from disputes over leadership succession after Prophet Muhammad's death, evolved into distinct theological, legal, and political traditions that have shaped Islamic civilization.

The Mihna (833–848 CE) was a fifteen-year inquisition begun by Caliph al-Ma'mun to enforce the Mu'tazilite doctrine that the Quran was created. Its failure, symbolized by Ahmad ibn Hanbal's resistance, established the independence of religious scholarship from political authority.