Mohammad Sadegh Sajjadi Information 4

Seyed Mohammad Sadegh Sajjadi was born on February 10, 1953, in Kermanshah, Iran. From an early age, alongside his formal education in primary and secondary schools in Tehran, he studied the basics of Islamic sciences traditionally taught in seminaries.

In 1974, he entered the Faculty of Theology and Islamic Studies at the University of Tehran. Simultaneously, he studied advanced Arabic literature, jurisprudence, principles of Islamic law, and philosophy under the guidance of his father, Dr. Seyed Jafar Sajjadi, a renowned professor at the university.

In 1979, he was accepted into the master’s program. The Cultural Revolution and the temporary closure of universities provided him with an opportunity for deeper study and research. During this period, he traveled to India and spent several months exploring Persian literature, history, and Iranian culture in the libraries of Hyderabad, Aligarh, and Delhi. Upon returning to Tehran, he focused his research on various aspects of Islamic civilization.

His first major work, Classification of Sciences in Islamic Civilization, marked the beginning of his academic contributions. Around the same time, he and a group of young university professors regularly gathered at his father’s library for discussions and studies. During this four-year period, they studied works such as Sharh Ibn Aqil, Mukhtasar, Mutawwal by Taftazani, Al-Isharat by Avicenna, and Fara’id al-Usul by Sheikh Ansari.

During this phase, Sajjadi also worked as an editor in several cultural centers before joining the Center for the Great Islamic Encyclopedia (CGIE). In 1986, he resumed his academic journey, completing his master’s degree after two years. He later passed the entrance exams for the Ph.D. program at the same faculty in the field of Islamic history and civilization. Three years later, he earned his doctorate with a dissertation titled A Study of the History of the Barmakids and the Treatise Akhbar al-Baramika.

While pursuing his Ph.D., Sajjadi taught at various universities, including the University of Tehran, Al-Zahra University, Islamic Azad University, and the University of Zanjan. He continued to author, edit, and translate numerous scholarly works during this period.

Throughout his career, Sajjadi served as an assistant to the late Dr. Zaryab Khoyi in the history department of the CGIE. Later, he held positions as the director of the science department, the history department, and eventually the deputy for research and culture for 34 years. He also worked as a senior member of the Academy of Persian Language and Literature, contributing to encyclopedias such as the Persian Literature Encyclopedia and the Indian Subcontinent Encyclopedia, where he also served as editor.

Sajjadi’s primary research interests include the history and civilization of Iran and the Islamic world during the early centuries of Islam, as well as comparative studies in Persian and Arabic literature. In recent years, he has also delved into the history of medicine, publishing several articles on the subject. His book The History of the Barmakids was awarded the Best Book of the Year in the History category in 2007.

 Selected Works (Books)

1. Classification of Sciences in Islamic Civilization
2. The History of Islamic Dynasties and Ruling Families
3. The True Vision
4. The Nature of Despotism
5. Islamic Unity
6. The Treatise of One Word
7. Moral and Doctrinal Concepts of the Quran
8. The Prophet and Prophethood
9. Understanding in the Holy Quran
10. Historiography in Islam
11. Geography of Hafiz Abru
12. The Divan of Hafez of Shiraz
13. The Journey of Barzawayh to India and the Origin of Kalila wa Dimna
14. Another Banquet (A Collection of Dr. Zaryab Khoyi’s Essays)

 Selected Articles

1. A Biography and Critical Analysis of Ahmad Jam’s Works
2. Two Travelogues from the South
3. A Glimpse at Persian Words Common in Egypt and the Levant during the Mamluk Era
4. Amir Kabir’s Letters and Documents
5. Correction or Distortion: A Critique of the Translation and Editing of Hudud al-Alam
6. An Overview of the Earliest Translations of Kalila wa Dimna
7. Schools of Historiography: In Memory of Dr. Abdolhossein Zarrinkoub
8. Pharmacological Resources in the Islamic Era: An Overview

He has also contributed 145 articles to the CGIE (Danishnameh-ye Bozorg-e Eslami).