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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 24 September 2009
Since the Shī'ī response to constitutionalist notions of government is potentially a very large subject, for the purposes of this discussion Shī'ī will be taken to mean the members of the orthodox 'ulamā, those most committed to the sharī'a and learned in its precepts. Whilst even within this group there is a wide diversity of opinion, it is hoped that, by looking at works written over a longer period, the discussion will show that the response by a particular ‘ālim to constitutionalism is to some extent influenced by the political conditions prevailing at the time of writing. These form a factor together with the restrictions imposed by the sharī'a in shaping the views of particular writers. The ideology under consideration is constitutionalism, but it will be observed that for a large part the subject matter treated consists of ideas such as representation, consultation, legislation, freedom and equality, which are allied to the constitutionalist theory of government, rather than the complete theory itself.
1 For a full discussion on this book, see Hairi, A.H., Shī‘īsm and Constitutionalism in Iran (Leiden, 1977).Google Scholar
2 Marshall, G., “Constitutionalism”, in Mills, D. (ed.), The Blackwell Encyclopaedia of Political Thought (Oxford, 1987).Google Scholar
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4 al-Islām Kirmānī, Mīrzā Muhammad Nazim, Tarīkh-i bīdārī-yi Irānīān (Tehran, 1978–1979), pp. 390–1Google Scholar, 403–5, 444–53. For a fuller account of Tabātabā'ī's views, see also Martin, V.A., Islam and Modernism: the Iranian Revolution of 1906 (London, 1989), pp. 65–85.Google Scholar
5 The origin of this idea is not entirely certain. Tabātabā'ī, like many Iranian reformers, was influenced by ideas emanating from the Ottoman Empire and Egypt. The Ottoman thinker, Namek Kemal, also emphasised government according to the sharī‘a, meaning a law that should both protect and govern members of a society. He likewise conceived of a contract between the ruler and the ruled which could be revoked. See Mardin, S.,The Young Ottomans (Princeton, 1962), pp. 209–308.Google Scholar
6 For the text see Turkamān, M., Shaikh-i Shahīd Fadlallāh Nūrī (Tehran, 1362/1983), i, pp. 231–368.Google Scholar
7 Text in Turkamān, , Shaikh, i, pp. 56–75.Google Scholar A fuller account of Shaikh Fadlallāh's views is given in Martin, Islam, pp. 113–38 and 165–200.
8 Published by Malikzāda, M. in his Tarīkh-i inqilāb-i mashrūtiyyat-i Irān (Tehran, 1328/1949–1950), iv, pp. 211–21.Google Scholar
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12 Ibid., p. 190.
13 Ibid., p. 195.
14 Ibid., pp. 205–7.
15 Ibid., p. 210. This argument had also been employed by Tabātabā'ī and his followers during the Revolution. A discussion on the attempts of this period to distinguish between affairs to be covered by the sharī‘a and those coming under secular law is given in Enayat, H., Modern Islamic Political Thought (London, 1982), pp. 169–72.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
16 Hairi, Shī'īsm, pp. 223–4, 234.
17 Akhavi, S., Religion and Politics in Contemporary Iran (New York, 1980), pp. 29–30.Google Scholar
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19 Khumainī, R., Kashf al-asrār (Tehran, n.d.), p. 186.Google Scholar
20 Ibid., pp. 185–6, 233.
21 Ibid., pp. 182, 222.
22 Ibid., p. 189.
23 Ibid., pp. 180–1, 184.
24 Ibid., p. 292.
25 Ibid., pp. 186–7, 228.
26 Tāliqanī, S.M., Introduction to Nāīnī's Tanbīh al-umma wa tanzīh al-milla (Tehran, 1352/1973 edition), p. 8.Google Scholar
27 Ibid., p. 8.
28 Ibid., p. 10
29 Ibid., pp. 10–14.
30 Ibid., p. 8.
31 Tāliqānī, S.M., Society and Economics in Islam, trans. Campbell, R. and Algar, H. (Berkeley, 1982), pp. 86, 95.Google Scholar It may be noted that despite the negativism in his writings, Tāliqānī's practice up till the time of his death was to share the responsibility for authority, indicating some faith in the popular will. See Akhavi, S., “Islam, politics and society in the thought of Ayatollah Komeini, Ayatollah Taliqani and 'Ali Shariati”, Middle Eastern Studies, XXIV, no. 4 (1988), p. 415.Google Scholar
32 Mutahharī, M., Khadamāt-i mutaqābil-i Irān wa islām (Tehran, 1349/1970), pp. 6–7.Google Scholar
33 Ibid.,. p. 9.
34 Mutahharā, M., Pīrāmūn-i inqilāb-i islāmī (Tehran, 1361/1982), pp. 78–82.Google Scholar
35 Tabātabā'ī, M.H., Rawābit-i ijtimā'īdar islām, trans, into Persian by Kirmani, J.H. (Tehran, n.d.), pp. 65–6.Google Scholar I am grateful to Mrs Anne Enayat for lending me a copy of this work from the collected papers and books of the late Professor Hamid Enayat.
36 Tabātabā'ī, Rawābit, p. 66.
37 Ibid., p. 87.
38 Ibid., p. 75.
39 Ibid., p. 77.
40 For a survey of the different reform movements at this time, see Akhavi, Religion, Chapter 5.
41 Enayat, Political Thought, pp. 175–94 gives an analysis of Shī‘ī modernism, especially the reformulation of religious terms to endow them with revolutionary connotations.
42 Khumainī, R., Wilāyat-i faqīh, trans, by Algar, H. in Islam and Revolution (Berkeley, 1981), pp. 47–8.Google Scholar
43 Khumainī, , tr. Algar, , pp. 50, 116Google Scholar.
44 Ibid., pp. 30–1.
45 Khumainī's view in Wilāyat-i faqīh is consistent with his argument for Islamic law in Kashf al-asrār. However, in June 1963, after release from arrest following large demonstrations, in a speech attacking the regime, Khumainī claimed for the ‘ulamā the credit of bringing constitutionalism to Iran, thus guaranteeing freedom of expression, and urged that the constitution be put into practice. See Fischer, M.M.J., “Imam Khumaini: four levels of understanding”, in Esposito, j.L. (ed.) Voices of Resurgent Islam (Oxford, 1983), p. 156.Google Scholar Khumainī could thus advocate constitutionalism if political expediency required, though the underlying trend of his thought was against it.
46 Ibid., p. 55.
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48 Khumainī, , tr. Algar, , p. 56Google Scholar.
49 Ibid., pp. 43–4.
50 Ibid., p. 137.
51 Ibid., p. 49.
52 Arjomand, S.A., “Traditionalism in twentieth century Iran“, in From Nationalism to Revolutionary Islam, ed. Arjomand, (New York, 1984), pp. 197–208.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
53 Akhavi, Islam, p. 423Google Scholar.
54 Bāqir Sadr, S.M., Jumhūri-yi islāmī, Persian, trans. (Tehran, 1399q./1979–1980), p. 16.Google Scholar I am grateful for the loan of this book from the collection of Professor Hamid Enayat.
55 Ibid., p. 17.
56 Ibid., p. 18.
57 Ibid., p. 19.
58 Muntazirī, H.A., Mabānī-yi fiqhī-yi hukūmat-i islāmī (Tehran, 1367/1988–1989), p. 91.Google Scholar
59 Ibid., p. 92.
60 Ibid., p. 94.
61 Ibid., p. 95.
62 Ibid., p. 93.
63 Ibid., p. 94.
64 Shukūrī, A., Fiqh-i siyāsi-yi islāmi (Qum, 1361/1982–1983), p. 277.Google Scholar
65 Ibid., pp. 277–8.
66 Ibid., pp. 279ff.
67 Ibid., pp. 290ff.
