The role of Jaʽfari̇sm in Ottoman-Iran relations

Various theses have been put forward regarding the emergence of the Jaʽfarı Sect. According to the common view in all Shiite sects, Ali was elected to the caliphate by nass and appointment, and those who are accepted as imams are innocent. The Twelve people, including Ali, his sons Hasan and Huseyin, and 9 grandchildren were called as imams and this period was defined as the period of imams. In the small occultation period (874-941the intellectual foundations of the sect were first laid and the members of the sect began to be called as the Twelver. With the death of the fourth ambassador, who was appointed by the twelfth imam, the period of minor occultation ended and the period of great occultation (941) began. From the beginning of the great occultation to the present day, Jaʽfarı Sect has made various developments. The dynasties that dominated Iran and Baghdad, where the sect was widespread, had serious effects on the developments. Especially during the Safevîd period, an akhbari fiqh understanding prevailed. The sect began to be known as Ja'farism in the period of Nadir Shah, the first ruler of the Afshar Dynasty. During the Afshar period, the sect did not only change its name, but also changed from Ahbarî fiqh to procedural fiqh. The aim of this study is to examine the Ottoman-Afşar relations in this transformation phase and to examine their contributions to the process. Namely, Nadir Shah studied the desire for sectarian transformation in the society well, made technical preparations and applied for the help of the Ottoman State to get foreign support in this transformation. The most important issues intended by the transformation were the acceptance of Ja'farism as the true sect and giving the bow in Mecca. From the diplomatic negotiations, the desired level of political support did not emerge for Nadir Shah's project transformation of Ja'farism. However, scientific support for Nadir Shah's thought was obtained from the scientific consultations held in Najaf in 1743 and attended by Sünnî scholars, among whom were appointed by the Ottoman State administrators, and the reconciliation text was signed by a total of 43 scholars. Recent scholars' explanations similar to the issue and Mahmud Şeltût, one of the al-Azhar sheikhs, issued a fatwa on October 1, 1958 that Jafarism is the true sect, and the establishment of a Jafari fiqh chair in Azhar, reveals that the debate will continue for a while.