The Shi`a of this city revolted against the Umayyad caliphs...

The Shi`a of this city revolted against the Umayyad caliphs and after the inception of the Abbasid caliphate in 132 A.H, they also remained at odds with the Abbasid caliphs. In the year 200 A.H, when Imam al-Ridā (A) was on his way from Madina to Khurāsān, he passed through Qum, and the house where he stayed was later converted into a Madrasah (an Islamic seminary).[^3] In the year 201 A.H, Lady Fatima Masuma (A) came to the city, and after a brief illness, she died and was buried there.

Her sacred grave became a pilgrimage site for the Shi`a, and the city of Qum was thereafter popularly called “Qum-e Muqaddas” (the Holy Qum). Over the centuries, Qum emerged as a Shi`a learning centre. The Islamic Seminaries ( al-Hawzah al-`Ilmīyah ) in Qum became particularly popular after the Islamic Revolution in Iran and also due to the decline of the seminaries in Najaf, following the persecution of the hostile regime in Iraq.

4.3 - The Islamic Seminaries of Qum Qum is well known for its many religious seminaries and institutes that offer advanced religious studies. These collectively make up the Hawzah (a short form of al-Hawzah al-`Ilmīyah ), which presently consists of over 200 education and research centres and organisations, catering for over 40,000 scholars and students from over 80 countries of the world.

From the earliest arrival of the Shi`a in the first Islamic century, schools and Madrasahs were set up for learning and propagating the teachings of the Prophet (S) and his household (A). The first of these Madrasahs is attributed to the Ash`arī family, who settled in Qum towards the end of the first century and set up a Hawzah.

When Imam al-Sādiq (A) heard about this establishment, he gave the good tidings of the future greatness of Qum.[^4] The Hawzah gained strength and was further blessed with a visit by Imam al-Ridā (A) at the beginning of the third century.

The house in which Imam (A) resided was later converted to a Madrasah, known as “ al-Radawīyah ”.[^5] However, it was after Lady Fatima Masuma (A) was buried in Qum, that Shi`a scholars began to gather around her shrine and Qum gained a reputation as a centre of higher religious learning.

During this period there were many great Shi`a scholars, including Ahmad ibn Ishāq Ash`arī Qummī, who was the deputy of Imam al-`Askarī (A) in Qum and who was privileged to have been shown the infant Imam al-Mahdī (A).