Book Review: Haghani School Oral History
September, 2005
ISBN: 2-074-419-964
Since, the concept of Ijtihad has always made it possible for the Jurisprudence to be open to change throughout the history, and for the Shia seminaries to be able to define their activities and educational plans in accordance with the time and spatial conditions. The necessity of responding to people’s needs and questions has made the authorities and clergies to always be prepared to respond to the problems of the day. The history of the activities of the Shiite Ulema during the reign of the Umayyads, Mongols, Safavids, Qajars, Pahlavis the first and second, very well attest to this fact.
Nevertheless, since, the transformations of and reforms in the Qom theological school during the reign of Pahlavi the second was enmeshed with the Islamic movement in Iran, it has great significance. This is a very diverse and wide subject and this book does not engage with all its aspects. Therefore, this book examines the establishment and activities of one of the cultural centers of religious forces, Haghani School. This research is premised on oral history methodology and explores new aspects of the movement of the religious.
Haghani School was founded by Hossein Haghani in 1962 with the assistance of Ayatollah Milani and some of the clergymen from Qom. The zenith of this school, academically speaking, is the period in which martyr Ayatollah Ali Ghoddousi was the headmaster and martyr Ayatollah Mohammadhussein Beheshti was in charge of the educational matters. Martyr Beheshti is a key thinker and a well known figure of the Islamic movement. A unique characteristic of this school was that its curriculum encompassed modern scientific subjects alongside the old religious subjects. The school was significant among other religious schools in terms of the political role it played. This was of course because of the unique political and cultural ambiance of the school. The influential role of the students of this school in the success of the Islamic Revolution and its aftermath is concrete. This research is based on interviews with prominent figures of this school and other authorized documents.
The content table of this book is as follows:
Chapter I: Seminaries at the Course of History
Chapter II: Haghani Seminary
Chapter III: Educational Structure
Chapter IV: Political and Theoretical Frameworks
Conclusion: Qom Seminary/Haghani School/ Ayatollah Ghodousi/ Ayatollah Mohammad Hossein Beheshti/ Bahman Shabanzadeh
By: Bahman Sha’banzadeh
Translated by: Jairan Gahan
Number of Visits: 7561
The latest
- Narrative and the "War of Narratives" in the Era of Resistance and Imposed Wars
- Memories of Mohammad Boloori
- Call for Fundamental Questions in the Field of Oral History
- 100 Questions/49
- The Third Regiment: Memoirs of an Iraqi Prisoner of War - 49
- Jasem Ghazbanpour's narration of the first day of the war in Khorramshahr
- Memoirs of Ali Fadaei
- The Relationship Between Oral History and Biography
Most visited
- The Third Regiment: Memoirs of an Iraqi Prisoner of War - 48
- The Relationship Between Oral History and Biography
- 100 Questions/48
- Seventh Theory: The evolutionary duality of document and narrative
- Memoirs of Ali Fadaei
- Jasem Ghazbanpour's narration of the first day of the war in Khorramshahr
- The Third Regiment: Memoirs of an Iraqi Prisoner of War - 49
- 100 Questions/49
100 Questions / 43
How can narrators and interviewers reach a common understanding?We asked several researchers and activists in the field of oral history to express their views on oral history questions. The names of each participant are listed at the beginning of their answers, and the text of all answers will be published on this portal by the end of the week.
Documentary Pathology of the US Embassy Documents
The Necessity of Scientific Rereading and Content Analysis of DocumentsMore than four decades have passed since the publication of the first collections of documents from the US Embassy in Tehran. However, despite the relatively easy access to this treasure trove of documents, systematic research exploitation of it has not been adequate. We still do not have a “comprehensive picture” of the content of these 11,000 documents.
100 Questions / 42
What is the importance of the narrator and interviewers shared understanding of the past in oral history?We asked several researchers and activists in the field of oral history to express their views on oral history questions. The names of each participant are listed at the beginning of their answers, and the text of all the answers will be published on this portal by the end of the week.
Validation: Challenges and Necessities
Where does truth stand in oral history? How can the correctness of a narrative be recognized? Does fact-checking matter? If there is exaggeration in the reporting of some accounts, how can it be detected? Is it possible to record an event accurately through the recording of a narrative? Readers and users of oral history works are often faced with these questions, and sometimes encounter doubts about some oral history works.






