The Royal Seal and the Eternal Power: The quality of Shah Abbas 'Influence upon the Social and Political Status of the Old JĀME Mosque of Isfahan

Abbas I, like many other Iranian kings, devoted special attention to the Jame Mosques. Following Isfahan’s election as his capital, he was trying to renovate the Bazaar and the old mosque, which was faced by the opposition of landowners at the time. Then he decided to build the Naghsh-e Jahan square and set up the Jame Abbasi as a new Jame Mosque in the city. In this paper, the two main components of the Jame mosques have been investigated, Friday prayers and e’tekāf, and its aim is to recognize the status of Atigh Jame Mosque, socially and politically, after establishing Shah Mosque. The method of this paper is historical-interpretative and uses the primary and secondary sources to achieve the result. Friday prayers were revived with the help of prominent Shiite jurists in the Safavid period and the first prayer was held in Atigh Jame Mosque. Abbas I, after completing Shah Mosque, delivered Friday prayers to this mosque, and the mosque was also the main venue for Friday prayers in the next periods. In the same period, the discussion of withdrawal of e’tekāf also caused many quarrels among the jurists. The contemporary jurists of Shah Abbas issued fatwas, about e’tekāf, that let it held in other mosques like Shaikh Lotfollah Mosque. For this reason, it was not confined to Atigh Jame Mosque. Shah Abbas set up an economic stimulus, Naghsh-e Jahan Square and Shah Mosque, and tried to boost this new focus in Isfahan to counter the rivals, the Old Square and Atigh Jame Mosque. The result was that Atigh Jame Mosque was overshadowed by Shah Mosque, and specific religious, political and social activities of Jameh Mosque, such as Friday prayers and e’tekāf, were comprehensively conveyed to Jame Abbasi Mosque.