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THE ROLE of the MUJTAHIDS of TEHRAN in the IRANIAN CONSTITUTIONAL REVOLUTION 1905-9 Thesis Submitted for the Degree of Ph.D. By

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THE ROLE of the MUJTAHIDS of TEHRAN in the IRANIAN CONSTITUTIONAL REVOLUTION 1905-9 Thesis Submitted for the Degree of Ph.D. By THE ROLE OF THE MUJTAHIDS OF TEHRAN IN THE IRANIAN CONSTITUTIONAL REVOLUTION 1905-9 Thesis submitted for the Degree of Ph.D. by Vanessa Ann Morgan Martin School of Oriental and African Studies University of London 1984 ProQuest Number: 11010525 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a com plete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. uest ProQuest 11010525 Published by ProQuest LLC(2018). Copyright of the Dissertation is held by the Author. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States C ode Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. ProQuest LLC. 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106- 1346 - 1 - ABSTRACT The thesis discusses the role of the mujtahids of Tehran in the Constitutional Revolution, considering their contribution both in ideas and organisation. The thesis is divided into eight chapters, the first of which deals with the relationship between the Lulama and the state, and the problem of accommodation with a ruler who was illegitimate according to Twelver Shi'ite law. The second chapter discusses the economic and social position of the Lulama, concentrating on their financial resources, their legal duties, and their relationships with other groups, and attempting to show the ways in which they were subject to pressure. In the third chapter, the role of the ^ulama, and particularly the mujtahids, in the coming of the Revolution is examined, especially their response to the centralisation of government, and the financial crisis at the turn of the century. The ideological contribution of the leading pro-constitutional mujtahid is discussed in the fourth chapter and an attempt made to identify the influences upon his ideas. Chapters five and seven deal with the role of the pro-constitutional mujtahids as the Revolution developed, considering their relationship with their following, the part they played in political organisation, and in the legitimising of the new Majlis, as well as their reactions to financial and legal reform. Chapters six and eight concentrate upon the arguments of the leading anti-constitutional mujtahid, and examine his relationship with the supporters of absolutism. The main themes of the conclusion are the contribution of both pro- and anti- constitutional mujtahids, ideologically and in organisation; their relations with their following; their attitude in general to reform; and the effect upon the Uulama of the long term trends, of which the Revolution may be said to form a part. The conclusion also draws in the work of other scholars on the subject, especially Hairi, Algar, Lambton and Arjomand. - 2 - TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Abstract 1 Acknowledgements 3 Transliteration and abbreviations 4 Introduction 5 Chapter I: The Basis_of the Relationship between the lUlama and the State. 32 Chapter II: The Social and Financial Position of the cUlama. 62 Chapter III: The iUlama and the Coming of the Revolution. 94 Chapter IV: fabatabaJ i and the Campaign for the Council of Justice. 128 Chapter V: The cUlama and the Establishment of the National Consultative Assembly. 163 Chapter VI: Constitutionalism and the Law of Islam. 196 Chapter VII: Reform and Reaction - September 1907 to June 1908. ‘ 232 Chapter VIII: Shaikh Fazlallah and the Absolutist Cause. 266 Conclusion 202 Appendix A 799 Bibliography 222 - 3 - ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS My thanks go first and foremost to my supervisor, Dr Malcolm Yapp, for his invaluable guidance in the planning, research and writing of the thesis. Much would not have emerged without the questions he raised, and a great deal of improvement was due to the criticisms and suggestions he made. I am also grateful for the advice of Dr Norman Calder, who has given much time and assistance, particularly on the subject of the relations between religion and state. The thesis could not have been started without the financial assistance and, interest shown by the British Institute of Persian Studies. I am especially indebted to Mr David Stronach, the former Director, for encouraging me to embark on the project in the first place. My thanks are due also to the School of Oriental and African Studies, whose award of an Exhibition made the completion of the thesis possible. I owe a great deal to the support and encouragement of my parents, and of my husband, Javad Golmohammadi, who has reviewed some of the translation, and given considerable time to checking the transliteration. Finally, I am most grateful to my sister, Stella, and Mr Stephen Evans for undertaking the task of proof reading. A Note on the Transliteration The transliteration system is basically that of the Cambridge History of Islam with the Persian additional and variant forms permitted under that system. Well-known place names, such as Tehran, Isfahan, have been rendered without diacritics, as have been commonly used words of Persian or Arabic origin found in the Oxford English dictionary, such as 'bazaar' and 'mullah', and the names of dynasties, e.g. Qajar, Safavid. Where an Iranian author has published a work in English their name has been rendered in the form they have chosen. Abbreviations BMFA Belgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs BSOAS Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies CUL Cambridge University Library II ZDMG Zeitschrift der Deutchen Morgenlandischen Gesellschaft - 5 - INTRODUCTION This thesis examines the events of the Iranian Constitutional Revolution from 1905-9, and the part played in those events by a particular group of the tulama. Strictly speaking the lulama are those possessed of uilm (knowledge of the sacred texts), and in the narrowest definition should include only those who have completed many years of theological study. In Qajar Iran, however, the term tended to be used of those who made their living from religious offices or connections, such as rhapsodists (rau£a khvans), certain descendents of the Prophet (sayyids) and students (tullab). In this thesis the term lulama is used in the same sense, that is to denote what might be called the religious estate. In the delimitation of the thesis attention has been focussed on the highest ranking of the 1u1ama, the mujtahids y but it is on occasion artificial or distorting to mention only the muj tahids, in which case the Lulama as a whole are referred to. The Constitutional Revolution formed p^rt of a process of change which began in the early 19th century. This process comprised new institutional developments and ideological influences, trends which affected, amongst others, the lulama. These changes arose primarily as a result of the influence that Europe exerted upon Iran, politically, economically and ideologically. The Shah and his governments were aware of the weakness of Iran as compared to Europe and inaugurated reforms in the fiscal system, the administration and the army, which, however, made little progress. As McDaniel has pointed out, such attempts to centralize the government amounted in a traditional Islamic society to a policy that might be called unconstitutional.^ It brought the government into conflict 1. R.A. McDaniel, The Shuster Mission and the Persian Constitutional Revolution (Biblioteca Islamica, Minneapolis 1974); p.20. - 6 - with powerful interest groups, notably the landowners, the provincial authorities, the tribal leaders and the ^ulama. The movement towards reform had tentative beginnings in the reign of Fath '•Ali Shah (1797-1834) when the Crown Prince, LAbbas Mirza, began a reform of the army. Other efforts at reform followed throughout the century, but as McDaniel has remarked, without the support of a modern centralizing bureaucracy, the army succumbed to inefficiency and the 2 peculation of bureaucrats. Amir Kabir, the chief minister between 1851 and 1853 tried to reform the legal system by establishing loose control of the sharila courts, an attempt which brought him into conflict with the lulama. In the 1870's, Mirza Muhsin Khan, Sipah Salar, imposed similar measures with equal lack of success. In 1872, in an attempt to develop the country's resources, the Sipah Salar advised Nasir al-Din Shah (1848-1896) to grant a concession to construct railways to a British subject, Baron de Reuter, but he was defeated by a combination of his personal enemies, and the 1ulama, fearful of foreign penetration. A few years later the Shah attempted further administrative reforms along the lines of the Ottoman Tanzimat, but the measures were thwarted by the provincial - 3 authorities, including the *-ulama. The lulama perceived all these proposals as a threat to Islam, but they made little or no distinction between the interests of Islam and those of the lulama. The movement towards centralization threatened the independent power base of the religious estate. Attempts at law reform questioned by implication the functions of the mujtahid, the highest ranking of the ^ulama, and suggested government control of an important source of revenue. In the late 1880's, the Shah, partly to replenish the treasury and partly to assist the 2. Ibid. p.22 . 3. For an example see Abbott to Rosebery, No.6, 6th April 1875, Incl.2, FO 60/374. - 7 - development of the country, adopted a policy of selling concessions to foreigners. As Lambton has pointed out, this seemed to the lulama to encourage foreign intervention, 4 threatening the Islamic basis of the state. Thus the centralizing policy taken up by the government in response to pressures from Europe exacerbated relations between the lulama and the state, whilst an increased foreign presence from the 1880's led them to believe the Shah was failing in his duty to protect Iran, the land of Shiism. The West was a source of tension in another sense.
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