In 1687, the Safavid king, Sultan Husayn, appointed Majlesi as "Sheikh ul-Islam" (Chief Religious Leader of the Land) in Isfahan, the capital of the Persian Empire.

After the death of Majlisi, "this process continued among the succeeding generations of ulama" so that Sufism became "divorced from Shiism and ceased to influence the main stream of Shii development.

[6] Majlesi "fervently upheld the concepts of 'enjoining the good' and 'prohibiting evil'",[5] and in so doing endeavoured to provide fatwa (judgements) for "all of the hypothetical situations a true believer could or might face.

"[7] In one "exposition of virtues of proper behavior", he gave directions on everything from how to "wear clothes to sexual intercourse and association with females, clipping fingernails, sleeping, waking, urination and defecation, enemas, sneezing, entering and leaving a domicile, and treatments and cures for many illnesses and diseases.

"[8] More controversially, Majlesi defined "science" very narrowly as "knowledge of the clear, secure ayat; of the religious duties and obligations which God has fixed in His Justice; and of the Prophetic Traditions (Hadith), which are valid until the day of Resurrection."

"[7] He opposed the school of mystical philosophy developed by Mir Damad and Mulla Sadra, who argued that the Quran was always open to reinterpretation, and valued insights that came from intuition and ecstasy rather than reason.