The Relations Between Imamyya Shiite and Ahl-e-Sunnat In Seljukid Era Up To The End of Sanjar, s Sultanate

The Seljukid era, historically, is a transition period from Buyids to Mongols during which  The  shiites enjoyed a relative freedom. Roughly one century after shiite Buyids^, domination, the political sovereignty was handed down to a group who showed incompatibility to the shiites^, religious tendencies, employing the structure of political power in the service of  the Abbasid Caliphates and the sunni majority. As a matter of  fact, the twelve – imam shiites,  first, faced the seljuki rulers^, hostility. Ahl-e-Sunnat and supporters of khilafa recaptured the lost power and shiites were marginalized again. Sheikh-e- Toosi even was forced to leave Baghdad and settled in Najaf, while shiites were being socially scorned and sometimes excommunicated by the sunni majority. This situation deeply affected the relations between imamyya shiites minority and sunni majority now politically dominant. During  Seljukid era, the attitude toward shiites changed gradually. They entered to official positions and after the death of Nizam-ul-mulk (485. Hijri) some of them achieved ministry. They even had the chance to freely celebrate their rituals (like reciting merits of their first imam, Amir-e- Mumenan,  and commemorating their third imam, Hussein^, s uprising), being able to confront their thoughts opponents. Shiites^,  position were so strong that not only the last seljuki sultans^,  ministers were Imami, but also the abbasi caliph^, s ministers converted to this denomination. In addition to shiite Amirs (rulers) presence in seljukid era, the shiite people themselves enjoyed political authority, strengthening it through bureaucratic positions in seljuki system. Anyhow, the relations between  imamyya  shiite  and Ahl-e-Sunnat experienced a great deal of transformations which is to be clarified in this thesis, surveying political, social and cultural situation of shiites in seljukid era.