تاريخ اسلام در آينه پژوهش

The dissemination of modern medicine during the Qajar period was accompanied by numerous challenges. Multiple factors during this era could either hinder or facilitate this expansion. One under-examined aspect is the role of religious scholars (ʿulamāʾ). This article investigates this subject, addressing the question of how religious scholars encountered modern medicine and what the consequences of this encounter were. The investigation reveals that religious scholars voiced certain objections to modern medicine, yet there were also contextual grounds for these objections. The results of this study, based on an examination of contemporary documents and reports, demonstrate that the scholars' opposition was not directed at the medical achievements of modern medicine in their entirety, but rather manifested primarily in aspects that conflicted with Islamic jurisprudence (fiqh) and Sharia. These objections, predominantly observed during the early spread of modern medicine in the Qajar period, had a significant impact on the perspective of the religiously devout and adherents of Sharia towards modern medicine and its accomplishments.