The Effect of Politics and Geography on the Interaction of Faithful Sects: The Case of Baghdad

Abstract

The rapid spread of Islam through conquests brought with it the encounter of Muslims with different religions and cultures. In these regions conquered by Muslims, societies belonging to various faiths such as Christianity, Judaism, Magianism and Manichaeism were living. As a result of Muslims' coexistence with these societies, theological problems arose and these problems occupied people's minds. The reason why Baghdad was chosen for this study is that the city has a cosmopolitan structure and harbors the aforementioned groups of thought. The intellectual atmosphere created by the politicians in Baghdad also had an impact on the theological sects. As a result of this intellectual atmosphere, new ideas began to be discussed among Muslims with the influence of translation activities, new theological ideas emerged, and the discourses of the theological sects that did not prioritize reason in approaching problems in theology softened. Therefore, in this article, the establishment of the city of Baghdad will be discussed first, then the scholarly atmosphere created by the politicians will be mentioned and the contribution of this intellectual environment to the interaction of the theological sects will be tried to be revealed.