Shia political jurisprudence and the tobacco movement

Political jurisprudence and its developments in different eras is one of the topics that has always been discussed in the debate about the position of the political system in Islam and its rights and obligations. Its progress and effects on its subsequent periods, including the constitution, are presented. Now we will review this article together.
¤¤¤
Political theory and, as a result, political action is a subject that can be studied in the historical background of each school and in order to understand the perspective of that school on the issue of society and politics. Shia religion as a school of Islamic law after the age of imams has a history of ups and downs in the social field. The religion that started in the beginning against the flow of the caliphate originated from Saqifah and continued its life and activity in a way during the age of each of the Imams of Athar (pbuh). The Shia view of society and politics, or in other words, the Shia political philosophy, has a distinct feature from other schools of thought, and that is that this view is tied to the theological foundations of Shia, and originally, the discussion of political philosophy is a discussion within the framework of explaining Imamate as one of the principles of religion. Imamiyyah is Shia in the word.
The foundations of politics and government in Shia thought are presented in a way that in the era of the Infallibles (peace be upon them) there is clarity and clarity in the discussion of rights and duties and how to form the government and its duties, but this discussion is a topic that is discussed in the position of the absence of the Infallible Imam. A lot has been said and sometimes there are differences in opinion and practice.
The point that should be taken into consideration in the discussion of Shia political philosophy is that always in the era of the disappearance of the innocent (peace be upon him), in accordance with the social background, the position of Shia political theory is to look at the element of time and place and the possibility of social emergence of this debate in It is a practice, but it is possible that the lack of attention to the social conditions of the Shia in every era causes the feeling of conflict in the political theory of the Shia. Because many of the people who have commented in this field have reached wrong conclusions about Shia political theory due to neglecting this issue.
Many Shiite scholars have tried to analyze the relationship between opinion and action in their historical context by analyzing social conditions. One of the classifications presented in this field is the division of the history of the age of occultation into five historical periods, each of which has intellectual coordinates corresponding to the background of its social emergence.
In this classification, there are 5 periods of political theory with the hypothesis of an evolutionary view according to the context of society, which are: 1.
1- The beginning period of ijtihad (from Sheikh Mofid to Mohaghegh Karaki)
2- Safavid period (from Mohaghegh Karaki to Mohaghegh Naraghi)
3- The regularization period of political theory (from Mohaghegh Naraghi to Mohaghegh Naini)
4- Constitutional period (from Naini to Imam Khomeini)
5- The tenure of the jurist in the field of practice
The subject of this article is not the analysis and study of each of these periods from a theoretical and practical point of view, as the study of this division itself requires another area, but the discussion in the direction of the political theory of Shia and the discussion on the rise and development of this theory, especially in two centuries. is the last
Naturally, during the first period of this division, the Shiites were socially under the pressure of the Abbasid caliphate, but even in this period, we witness the formation of limited Shiite governments, for example, we can mention the Al-Buyeh, the Hamdanites, and the Fatimidites of Egypt. The importance of this period is due to the fact that it can be claimed that regardless of the theoretical issues raised for this period, the Shias seized the opportunity to form a government as soon as the space was created, and in this way they had the help of Shia jurists, and this can be He observed Al-Buyeh’s request from the first martyr to organize a Shia jurisprudence course.
The second period of the mentioned division goes back to the Safavid era, where Shi’ism shows itself for the first time in the scope of a single country and Shi’ism is declared as the official religion of Iran. In this period, due to the Shiism of the Safavid kings and the invitation of the scholars of Jebel Amel, a new chapter of the relationship between religion and the state is revealed in the practical field, and it shows itself to the extent that the legitimacy of many Safavid kings is considered through the jurists. And this issue shows itself in the coronation ceremony 3.
The third period of the above division has been considered as a kind of rule-making period of Shia political theory, which manifests itself on the same basis in the next period. But the discussion is about the historical period that from this era onwards, the turning point of the political view of the jurists in the last two centuries is placed in their political action, and that is the entry of the late Mirzai Shirazi into the issue of politics. The school of Samara is defined, therefore, the study of a period of history known as the tobacco movement is of great importance.
The importance of this period of history can be found among the comments and writings of the opponents and supporters of this movement, but one of the most interesting of these words is related to Yahya Dolatabadi, who analyzes the issue from his point of view as follows: “Mirzai Shirazi’s intervention in politics, although it was beneficial to preserve the country’s independence and protect it from foreign aggression, but it sowed a seed in the field of spirituality, which is not known what the result will be and what result it will have in the future for the politics and spirituality of this country and which strong hand will be able to He will disrupt this confusion and force each of the politicians and clerics to do their duty.” 4
Dolatabadi’s view on this issue shows the view that many intellectuals throughout contemporary history viewed the entry of spirituality into politics from that point of view. This type of analysis shows that although Mirza Shirazi’s entry into politics was not the first entry of jurists into politics during Shia history, it is considered a turning point in this regard in contemporary history, and as Dolatabadi writes: “There is a seed in the field of spirituality, the fruit of which will be determined later”.
Throughout the history of Shia, many jurists and scholars have entered the field of politics, both in thought and in practice, and the turning point of contemporary political developments is when Mirza Shirazi, as the leader of Shia, seriously entered this field, and most of those who Constitution and after that, they are influential in Iran’s political developments.
According to this claim, another issue that can be mentioned is an issue that has been raised especially in the last few years in the explanation of the political theory and practice of the students of Mirza Shirazi during the constitutional process. In this position, some make the claim that the late Akhund Shirazi was the inheritor of the Samara Fiqh School, who also defended the constitutionalism against the opinion of another student of the Samara School, namely Sheikh Fazlullah Nouri – the drafter of the legitimate constitution. In their claim, these people wanted to prove that, firstly, the concept of constitutionalism was legitimate as a popular theory among scholars, especially Mirza’s students, and secondly, Mirza Shirazi and his ilk believed in the same speech that some intellectuals had about constitutionalism. There have been that this is proof that the opinion of the likes of Sheikh Fazlullah Nouri, Seyyed Mohammad Kazem Yazdi, etc. is wrong.
Regarding this claim, it should be mentioned that the interpretation that some so-called religious intellectuals have presented of the political theory of the late Akhund Khorasani and Mirzai Naini is not in accordance with reality, because for example, the late Naini, who many of these intellectuals used to confirm the constitutionality of the works They refer, firstly, he accepts the popular representation of the jurist according to the acceptability of Umar bin Hanzalah 5 and secondly, he considers the originality of the constitutional government to be usurpation 6 and his emphasis on the usurpation of the constitutional government and its analogy to the black maid who washes her hands His kind of view on constitutionalism and the illegitimacy of constitutionalism in the age of occultation.
However, regarding the apparent difference between the scholars of Iran and Najaf in the discussion of constitutionalism, it should be said that the type of news that has reached each of the jurists of Iran and Iraq has brought about different analyzes regarding the situation of constitutionalism in Iran. In this regard, this sentence of Sheikh Fazlullah Nouri can be a guide in explaining constitutionalism and the reason for the difference of scholars. They analyze it like this: “These gentlemen are far from Iran and do not see the truth of the situation closely, and the telegrams that reach them are from the constitutionalists.”
This view of his, together with the narration that Kesravi has in his constitutional history of events, shows the difference in the views of the scholars regarding what was happening. Kaseravi writes about Isfahan’s constitution and its difference with Tehran and Tabriz: “Constitution in Isfahan had a sloppy attitude…” 7
It can be concluded that the differences of the scholars on constitutionalism were not based on the foundations, but on the type of news and events that, for example, the scholars of Isfahan understood less the non-religious face of constitutionalism due to the prevailing conditions in Isfahan, or due to the connection of the constitutionalists with Najaf. Some Iraqi scholars have not been aware of many facts that are happening in the constitution.
Also, the evidence of the truth of this analysis should be sought in the events after the conquest of Tehran, where after the execution of Sheikh Fazlullah, the late Akhund expressed great sadness and when he decided to reform the affairs of Tehran, he died a suspicious death. 8
Also, Mirza Naini collected his book9, and the late Behbahani was assassinated, and Tabatabayi stayed at home and isolated.
All this shows that the scholars did not have a fundamental difference during the constitutional process that some intellectuals have claimed, and in some cases and analyzes the conditions were in conflict with each other. Later jurists – such as Imam Khomeini – the opinions of Shaz Faqih have been incorrect.
As a result, it should be acknowledged that the course of Shia political thought has always existed with a single basis and according to the social conditions throughout the history of Shia, whether when Shia was under the pressure of the Abbasid Caliphate or during the Safavid period and after that, which led to The Islamic Revolution became the idea of forming a government based on the Sharia. This thought has always been in the eyes of the Shia community and its leaders from the first martyr to Mirza Shirazi and from Mirza Shirazi to Imam Khomeini, and the political opinion and action of Mirza Shirazi has become a turning point in the political history of Shia in the contemporary era. The basis of the constitutional movement before its deviation and after that in the Qajar and Pahlavi period was in the political struggles and during the struggles of the Islamic revolution.
He wrote:
1- Reference: Yaqub Ali Borji, Velayat Faqih in the Thought of Faqihan, 2015
2- Rack: Ibn Athir, al-Kamil fi al-Tarikh, vol. 8 and al-Tabari’s Tarikh, vol. 5
3- Mirza Mohammad Ali Kashmiri, Astronomy of the Names of Sahar in the Translations of the Scholars; P. 1309
4- Yahya Dolatabadi, Hayat Yahya, p. 137
5- Al-Makasab and al-Baya, vol. 2, p. 336
6- Tanziyyah al-Mulleh, pp. 75 and 76
7- Ahmad Kaseravi, History of Iran’s Constitutionalism, p. 387
8- R.K.: Hamid Kafaei, Death in Light
9- Reference: Mehdi Ansari, Sheikh Fadlullah Nouri and constitutionalism (confrontation of two ideas)