7 an Islamic Jurist's Thought, Politics, and Practice
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The Iranian Constitutional Revolution and the Clerical Leadership of Khurasani Modern Intellectual and Political History in the Middle East Fred H. Lawson, Series Editor Other titles in Modern Intellectual and Political History of the Middle East Becoming Turkish: Nationalist Reforms and Cultural Negotiations in Early Republican Turkey (1923–1945) Hale Yilmaz The Essentials of Ibadı Islam Valerie J. Hoffman Ethnicity, Identity, and the Development of Nationalism in Iran David N. Yaghoubian A Guerrilla Odyssey: Modernization, Secularism, Democracy, and the Fadai Period of National Liberation in Iran, 1971–1979 Peyman Vahabzadeh The International Politics of the Persian Gulf Mehran Kamrava, ed. Mirror for the Muslim Prince: Islam and the Theory of Statecraft Edited by Mehrzad Boroujerdi Pax Syriana: Elite Politics in Postwar Lebanon Rola el-Husseini Raging Against the Machine: Political Opposition under Authoritarianism in Egypt Holger Albrecht The Iranian Constitutional Revolution and the Clerical Leadership of Khurasani Mateo Mohammad Farzaneh Syracuse University Press Copyright © 2015 by Syracuse University Press Syracuse, New York 13244-5290 All Rights Reserved First Edition 2015 15 16 17 18 19 20 6 5 4 3 2 1 ∞ The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of the American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48-1992. For a listing of books published and distributed by Syracuse University Press, visit www.SyracuseUniversityPress.syr.edu. ISBN: 978-0-8156-3388-4 (cloth) 978-0-8156-5311-0 (e-book) Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Available from publisher upon request. Manufactured in the United States of America For Maryam and Maya Born in Iran, Mateo Mohammad Farzaneh migrated to Southern California in 1984. After receiving a PhD from the University of Cali- fornia Santa Barbara, he joined the faculty of history at Northeastern Illinois University in Chicago, where he now teaches the history of the Middle East and Islamic civilization. He has published articles on history of Iran, Iraq, and the role of Shi‘i jurisprudence and ideology in politics. Contents List of Illustrations ix Acknowledgments xi Chronology xv Introduction 1 PART ONE The Iranian State and Religion 1. Tribal Fighters Become Shahs 19 2. Apprehensive Modernization and the Birth of Iranian Intellectualism 37 3. Unhappy Merchants and the Revolution for Law 56 4. Shi‘ism and Key Institutions of Leadership 71 5. Shi‘ite Iran and the State 95 PART TWO Khurasani and Constitutionalism 6. Akhund Khurasani: His Life and Works 119 7. An Islamic Jurist’s Thought, Politics, and Practice 131 viii Contents 8. Religious Justifi cation and Khurasani’s Perception of Constitutionalism 152 9. Ijtihad and Politics 173 PART THREE A House Divided 10. Shaykh Fazlullah versus Akhund Khurasani 191 11. Fundamental Differences between Nuri and Khurasani 207 Conclusion 225 Appendix A. List of articles presented at Khurasani’s centennial conference in 2011 249 Appendix B. Article 27 (asl-i 27) of the supplement to the constitution signed by Muhammad Ali Shah on October 7, 1907 253 Appendix C. Articles 71 and 72 (asl-i 71 va 72) of the supplement to the constitution signed by Muhammad Ali Shah on October 7, 1907 255 Notes 257 Glossary 295 Bibliography 301 Index 319 Illustrations Following page 235 1. Akhund Khurasani 2. Khurasani in classroom 3. Akhund Khurasani 4. Akhund Khurasani and Shaykh Mazandarani 5. Ayatullah Bihbahani and Shaykh Fazlullah Nuri 6. Ayatullah Tabataba’i 7. Pro-constitutionalist ulama 8. Khurasani, Tehrani, and Mazandarani 9. Shaykh Fazlullah Nuri 10. Shaykh Fazlullah Nuri’s execution Maps 1. The Middle East in the nineteenth century xxiv 2. Iran and Iraq in western Asia today xxv ix Acknowledgments The Iranian Revolution in 1979 and the ensuing Iran-Iraq confl ict be- tween 1980 and 1988 were the main infl uences on this book. Many indi- viduals, institutions, and organizations have played an essential role in its completion. To begin, I would like to thank professors Jochen Burgtorf, Touraj Daryaee, Cora Granata, and William Haddad at California State Uni- versity Fullerton, where I fi rst started studying history between 2000 and 2004. I am also grateful to all my professors and advisers at the University of California Santa Barbara, where I spent six wonderful years earning my doctorate between 2004 and 2010. I especially want to thank Nancy Gallagher, Lisa Hajjar, Stephen Humphreys, Dwight Reynolds, and Paul Spickard for patiently listening to my abstract ideas and helping to bring them to some sort of understandable ground. Thanks for all the hours of passionate teaching and intellectual discussions. Just as important, you made it possible for me to fi nancially sustain myself and to have a happy life in Santa Barbara. I am indebted to Professor Ali Gheissari at University of San Diego, who was instrumental in critiquing the dissertation on which this mono- graph is based. Thank you! I also would like to thank Professor Mohsen Kadivar, who took time to help me better understand Khurasani and the complex world of Islamic jurisprudence. Several institutions helped to fund my education and I owe them my deepest gratitude. The US Department of Education Title VI Pro- gram provided me with several Foreign Language Area Studies (FLAS) grants, which allowed me to study Arabic initially at UCSB and then xi xii Acknowledgments at the American University in Cairo. The American Institute of Iranian Studies 2007 fellowship partially funded a productive six-month research trip to Iran. While in Iran, Hesamuddin Ashena and Nader Motallebi Kashani helped signifi cantly in making the bureaucratic less cumbersome and I was fortunate to have their assistance. I would also like to thank the friendly staff at the Iranian Library of Parliament (Kitab-khanih-yi Majlis) for responding to my archival requests promptly. Northeastern Illinois University’s history department deserves thanks for being so accommodating and providing me with a collegial environ- ment while I wrote this book between 2010 and 2013. I am especially indebted to Patrick B. Miller for being meticulous about every detail of my employment in order for me to be happy and content on campus. Patrick, along with Zachary Sayre Schiffman, Charles Steinwedel, and Francesca Morgan, took the time to read parts of this manuscript and I am forever indebted to them. I would like to thank Provost Richard Helldobler, Dr. Wamucii Njogu, Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, and Dr. Michael Tuck, the chair of the history department, who all generously supported this project. Stephen Cavendish’s suggestions on the fi nal draft of this book were very helpful in completing it on time; thank you, Steve! I thank the North- eastern Illinois University graduate teaching assistant Nicholas Kunkel for patiently drafting the maps exclusively for this book. Most important, I thank Maryam S. Sobhani for fi lling our home with love, laughter, and a supporting atmosphere that are the main ingredients of a meaningful life. My dearest Maryam, you spent hours alone while I was busy writing and were there to greet me with a smile every time I took a break. That meant the world to me. I don’t know how to thank you. I took two courses with Francisco Marmolejo, an American history professor at Irvine Valley College in California, when I fi rst became inter- ested in history in summer 2000. Frank awed me with the way he taught history and made it relevant to my life. It was in his class that I fi rst thought being a historian was the coolest thing in the world. Thank you, Frank, for the inspiration. Acknowledgments xiii My parents, Azam and Abbas Farzaneh, departed much earlier than they should have, but I’m sure they are looking down and smiling. Their memory leads me. If I have left out any individual or institution to whom I owe thanks, it is unintentional. I bear sole and full responsibility for any errors in this book. Chronology 1501 Shah Ismail establishes the Safavid dynasty 1721 The Safavid Shah, Tahmasp II, asks Qajar tribal militia to help quell a possible Afghan invasion from the east 1722 Afghan invasion of Isfahan and the end of the Safavid dynasty 1736–1795 The Afsharid dynasty partially rules Iran 1750–1796 The Zand dynasty rules parts of Iran 1779 After escaping Karim Khan Zand’s captivity, Aqa Muhammad Khan leaves Shiraz to establish the Qajar dynasty 1785 Aqa Muhammad Khan proclaims himself as the fi rst Qajar shah 1797 Aqa Muhammad Khan is assassinated 1797–1834 Fath Ali Shah, Aqa Muhammad’s nephew, rules Iran as the second Qajar shah 1800 Shaykh Murtiza Ansari is born 1804 Publication of the fi rst Iranian travelogue to India 1807 Treaty of Finckenstein guarantees Napoleon’s cooperation in safeguarding Iran’s territorial integrity and aid in repelling Russian threats Mirza Taqi Khan (Amir Kabir) is born (d. 1852) 1812 Crown Prince Abbas Mirza, governor of Tabriz, asks the ulama to get Islamic courts rid of unjust judges; Abbas Mirza and a small group of ulama succeed in exonerating an Iranian Jew wrongfully accused of the kidnap and murder of a Muslim juvenile xv xvi Chronology 1813 Signing of the Treaty of Gulistan 1815 Mirza Salih travels to Europe to receive a modern education in order to launch Iran’s modernization effort instigated by Abbas Mirza 1827 Signing of the Treaty of Turkamanchai 1831 Nasir al-Din Mirza is born (d. 1898) 1833 Fath Ali Shah’s crown prince Abbas Mirza dies 1834–1848 Muhammad Shah, Fath Ali’s