FROM THE BIRTH OF ISLAM UNTIL TODAY:
TASHAYYU (SHIA SECT) AS A
GOVERNMENTAL IDEOLOGY-IV (FROM THE SAFAVIDS UNTIL PAHLAVI)
The Afghan invasion during the last days of
the Safavid State and the establishment of the Afshar State,
which calls itself the inheritor of the Safavids, put an end
to the influence of the Shia scholars on politics and state
structure and caused them to shift their influence from Iran
to Najaf, Karbala, Samarra and Kazemein. Despite the
expectations, no reaction was observed in history to the
Afghan invasion of Iran by the Shia scholars. Even after the
fatwa of the Sunni leader Mollah Zafaran stating that he
regarded the Shia Iranians as infidels; the Shia clergymen
remained silent and showed no reaction.
The scholars, who chose to remain silent
vis-à-vis the Afghans, emigrated from religious cities like
Esfahan and caused the cities like Najaf to gradually gain
religious importance.
During the first half of the 18th century,
in which the Afghan invasion, the fall of the Safavid State
and the establishment of the Afshar State was experienced;
Iran also witnessed the phase of religious tolerance
becoming permanent. In the same period the rivalry between
England and Russia to take over Iran were accelerating. In
this important period in history the formality of the Shia
sect disappeared and religious tolerance began to take a
structural shape in all parts of the country. As usual, the
responsibility of preserving the integrity of Iran was left
to the state, which was left over from ancient
civilizations. Actually we should mention the influence of
the tolerant sword of Nader Shah Afshar in this respect as
his sword was nothing less than the sword of Shah Ismail.
Nader Shah, who had not received religious training, sought
to put the notion of religious understanding aside as the
first thing to free and preserve the integrity of Iran, a
country on the verge of dissolution. Following the era of
the Afshar Kingdom, the Zandiyye Dynasty, which held the
sovereignty of Iran under its control, also kept the
structure of the palace and the sect separate while letting
religious tolerance rule over the country.
For a couple of centuries, starting with the
Safavids going on until the Qajar era, the clergymen were
dominant in the fields of thought, education, arts and
social life and always had the first say. However everything
began to change after the Iran- Russia war, which ended with
the ratification of the Torkmanchay Treaty. The war broke
out with the encouragement and incitement of the scholars of
the Qajar era and ended with Iran losing it. So the real
encouragers of this war were the scholars and the clergymen.
The fatwa given by Seyyed Mohammad Mojahed also facilitated
it.
As the sorrowful end approached in the war,
the morale of the scholars changed entirely. They believed
that existence in this world could only be possible through
science and the establishment of a modern army. That is why
the clergy cadres (mullahs), who began to have a limited say
in the palace, did not approach negatively to the decision
of Crown Prince Abbas Mirza, who stated that “teachers
should be brought from abroad to establish an army”.
The foreigners began to have a more say
after the war and thus, the door, which led to the Western
civilization, began to open. After 30 years a school with
the name “Dar-ul Funun”, the first school with a Western
style, was opened. There were those among the clergy, who
were interested in these changes. Seyyed Jamal Asadabady,
who was the establisher of a school in the Islamic world,
was one of these clergymen. Asadabady, who was a member of
the freemason, provided for the Islamic world to reach new
horizons. Despite all these, the Iranian people could not
easily accept these changes taking place in their social and
cultural structure. The greatest challenge in this period
was the opening of schools, which were the sources of new
and modern science. The teachings of these schools, which
were regarded as the rivals of Elmiyye schools, were
completely different from that of Elmiyye and other
religious schools. The clergy and the teachers of religion
working at the Elmiyye were totally foreign to these
scientific issues and they knew that things would get worse
and that their present harmony would somehow be disrupted.
Voices of change began to be heard in the Howze-ye Elmiyye
during the last years of the Qajar era and in the Mashrute
years.
The centers, which provide religious
education in the Islamic world and especially among the
Shia, are called the Howze-ye Elmiyye. In these Elmiyye
Howzes, the first of which was built in the 9th century by
Sheikh Tousi in the Najaf city of Iraq, lessons like Fiqh,
the principles of Fiqh, proper speech, hadith,
interpretation, Arabic literature and philosophy were
taught. As of the 10th century, the city of Qom (Ghom),
which was considered a base of education by the Shia
scholars, and the religious schools located there like Saad
Salat, Nasir Olmolk, Zeyneddin, Zahiraddin etc. became the
center of the Shia during the Seljuk era. In the Seljuk era
numerous equipment and books were available in these schools
in Qom (Ghom) needed for the education of the Shia sect. The
students studying in these schools were called “pupils” and
those who graduated were called “clerics”. When the pupils
complete a certain stage of their education, they reach the
level, which is called “external lessons”, and upon
completing this level receive the title Mojtahed. The
Mojtahed, who are at the highest level, are granted the
title Marja'eh Taqlid, which is a Mojtahed, who can be
imitated.
The Howze-ye Elmiyye was one of the special
fields of interest of the statesmen in the Safavid era.
These schools became more active when geniuses like Mullah
Sadra and Sheikh Bahai began to work in the “Howzes”. The
Feyziyye Madrasa is one of the most significant schools of
the Safavid era. A new term began for the Elmiyye Hawzes
during the Qajar period. With the arrival of Ayatollah Haeri
to the Hawze, everything began to change. Ayatollah
Boroujerdi replaced him after his death and large schools,
libraries, publication houses and Islamic Science Research
Centers began to be established.
In order to comprehend the influence of the
Elmiyye Hawzes and the clergy cadre in the Qajar era, the
only thing we need is to remember the role played by the
clergy during the Mashrute Revolution. The activities of
Ayatollah Tabatabaei, Ayatollah Behbahani, Ayetollah
Shirazi, Sheikh Fazlollah Noury and Sheikh Muhammad
Khiyabani during the Mashrute era, show how rooted the
influence of these clergy among the society is.
A new period began for the clergy when Reza
Shah Pahlevi overtook the administration of the country.
Everything began to be as they were during the period of the
Afghan invasion. The clergy, who feared the dictatorship of
Reza Shah Pahlevi, began assisting the government in
establishing civilized and modern institutions. For example
the judicial system was established by the intellectual
clergy following the combination of the Western laws with
the Sharia principles. What the clergy actually wanted was
the power to control these two fields: judicial and the
education system.
