Jame-e Abbasi (Persian: جامع عباسی) is a 17th-century Persian encyclopedia on feqh (Islamic jurisprudence) in Shia Islam, composed by Baha al-Din al-Amili under the orders of the Safavid ruler Shah Abbas I (r. 1587–1629). During the reign of Shah Ismail I and Shah Tahmasp I, there was minimal interest in collections of Shia tradition, with the exception of the writings of Husayn ibn Abd al-Samad. There was a greater push to expand and preserve Shia tradition under Shah Abbas I. Shia tradition was the subject of writings by authors such as Baha al-Din al-Amili, Mir Damad, and Sayyed Ahmad Alavi. The juridical encyclopedia that was most widely used was Jame-e Abbasi. It covered topics such as Islamic customs, the correct birth and death dates of the Imams, monetary donations, sales, marriage, divorce, vows, atonement, and criminal law. Abbas I instructed that Jame-e Abbasi be delivered in "a clear, comprehensible language in order that all people, the learned and the lay, would seek benefit from it," in a deliberate attempt to provide an example of Persianized Shia Islam to the Iranians. The works that Abbas I commissioned catered to a broad audience, in contrast to the expert texts written by the ulama (Islamic clergy). Jame-e Abbasi marked a turning point in the spread of Shia legal literature by promoting unification throughout the realm. The work was translated into Georgian by Parsadan Gorgijanidze (1626–c. 1696).
References
Sources Abisaab, Rula Jurdi (2004). Converting Persia: Religion and Power in the Safavid Empire. I.B.Tauris. ISBN 978-1860649707. Giunashvili, Jemshid (2016). "GORGIJANIDZE, PARSADAN". In Yarshater, Ehsan (ed.). Encyclopædia Iranica (Online ed.). Encyclopædia Iranica Foundation. Rizvi, Sajjad (2020). "Jāmeʿ-e ʿabbāsi". Encyclopaedia Iranica Online. Brill. doi:10.1163/2330-4804_EIRO_COM_3890. Retrieved 10 September 2024.
