Abstract
Soon after its beginning Islam gave birth to a cultural tradition of intellectual analysis and curiosity unrivalled among contemporary cultures. By this tradition, scholars adhering to other faiths were held in high esteem and given refuge and hospitality in Islamic societies. Consequently, an atmosphere of tolerance and freedom prevailed in most Islamic countries, including Iran, where education was free from domination by theologians. But towards the end of the 16th Century AD the clergy began to extend their control over academic life; and by the middle of the 19th Century the country's educational institutions, like the judiciary, had been turned into a realm of the clergy.