Sheikh Fazlollah Noori

Noori was son of cleric Mulla Abbas Kijouri. After receiving his early education in Kojour and Tehran, Sheikh Fazl Allah moved to Iraq shrine cities where he studied under a prominent Shia scholar, Mirza Hasan Shirazi. After returning to Tehran he grew to become a prominent scholar and teacher. Businessmen and officials also referred to him for settling their legal cases. He also represented the grievances of ordinary people to the government. He was also the author of many outstanding works on jurisprudence and philosophy. He is reported to have lived a period of secluded and austere life while enjoying high respect.[7]

In 1880s, Fazl Allah was drawn into politics in response to the Qajar government's increasing business concession to foreign businessmen. Drawing upon the views of his mentor, Shirazi, he argued that during the period of Occultation when government and religion have become separate, running the country has to be a shared responsibility of the government and clerics so as to prevent unIslamic decisions by the rulers. This thesis justified the clerics active involvement in politics.[7]

Sheikh Fazl Allah played some role in the successful Tobacco protest movement against concession of Tobacco monopoly to the British Regie Company.[7]

Sheikh Fadlullah Nouri was one of the distinguished and avant-gardes of the constitutional movement. He had well realized the existing problems and challenges that faced Iranian people with full wisdom and said that the despotic regime was the main cause. For the same reason, he believed that people must counter with the autocratic regime in the best way that is constitution of legislature and constitutionalizing the Imperial regime; hence, once constitutional movement began, he made speeches and distributed tracts to insist on this important thing. After the westernized intellectuals involved in the constitutional movement, intellectuals held control of the constitutional movement that Sheikh and scholars had in mind and they rose up for restricting autocracy, all laws written down by intellectuals after establishment of the first parliament he seriously opposed and he published treatises, statements and speeches for their improvement. The martyred Sheikh realized problems and incidences in the constitutional age through deep and precise understanding of the Islamic doctrines and their adjustment with his time and age. This triggered his confrontation with intellectual movements, colonialism and autocracy. The present article, based on historical evidence, intends to analyze the cases by which Sheikh opposed to the laws of the first parliament (laws of intellectuals) such as constitutionalism, transition from the constitutional movement to legitimate constitutionalism, the Constitution, theory of main oversight of Majlis, elucidation of concepts in the Constitution and amendment to the press law.[8][9]

Nouri was a rich and high-ranking Qajar court official responsible for conducting marriages and contracts. He also handled wills of wealthy men and collected religious funds.[10] Nouri was opposed to the very foundations of the institution of parliament. He lead a large group of followers and began a round-the-clock sit-in in the Shah Abdul Azim shrine on June 21, 1907 which lasted till September 16, 1907. He generalized the idea of religion as a complete code of life to push for his own agenda. He believed democracy will allow for “teaching of chemistry, physics and foreign languages”, that would result in spread of Atheism.[11] He bought a printing press and launched a newspaper of his own for propaganda purposes, “Ruznamih-i-Shaikh Fazlullah”, and published leaflets.[12] He believed that the ruler was accountable to no institution other than God and people have no right to limit the powers or question the conduct of the King. He declared that those who supported democratic form of government were faithless and corrupt, and apostates.[13] He hated the idea of female education and said that girls schools were brothels.[14] The anti-democracy clerics incited violence and one such cleric said that getting in the proximity of the parliament was a bigger sin than adultery, robbery and murder.[15] In Zanjan, Mulla Qurban Ali Zanjani mobilized a force of six hundred thugs who looted shops of pro-democracy merchants and took hold of the city for several days and killed the representative Sa'd al-Saltanih.[16] Nouri himself recruited mercenaries from criminal gangs to harass the supporters of democracy. On December 22, 1907, Nouri lead a mob towards Tupkhanih Square and attacked merchants and looted stores.[17] Nouri's ties to the court of monarchy and landlords reinforced his fanaticism. He even contacted the Russian embassy for support and his men delivered sermons against democracy in mosques, resulting in chaos.[18] Akhund Khurasani was consulted on the matter and in a letter dated December 30, 1907, the three Marja's said:

[19]

Persian:

چون نوری مخل آسائش و مفسد است، تصرفش در امور حرام است.

محمد حسین (نجل) میرزا خلیل، محمد کاظم خراسانی، عبدالله مازندرانی [20]

“Because Nouri is causing trouble and sedition, his interfering in any affair is forbidden.”

— Mirza Husayn Tehrani, Muhammad Kazim Khurasani, Abdallah Mazandaran.

However, Nouri continued his activities and a few weeks later Akhund Khurasani and his fellow Marja's argued for his expulsion from Tehran:[21]

Persian:

رفع اغتشاشات حادثه و تبعید نوری را عاجلاً اعلام.

الداعی محمد حسین نجل المرحوم میرزا خلیل، الداعی محمد کاظم الخراسانی، عبدالله المازندرانی [22]

“Restore peace and expel Nouri as quickly as possible.”

— Mirza Husayn Tehrani, Muhammad Kazim Khurasani, Abdallah Mazandaran.

As far as Nouri's argument was concerned, Akhund Khurasani refuted it in a light tone by saying that he supported the “parliament at Baharistan Square”, questioning the legitimacy of Nouri's assembly at Shah Abdul Azim shrine and their right to decide for the people.[23] Nouri interpreted Sharia in a self-serving and shallow way, unlike Akhund Khurasani who, as a well received source of emulation, viewed the adherence to religion in a society beyond one person or one interpretation.[24] While Nouri confused Sharia with written constitution of a modern society, Akhund Khurasani understood the difference and the function of the two.[25]

Along with other clerics such as Seyyed Abdollah Behbahani, Sheikh Fazlollah contributed to the uprising which led to the issuance of the constitutionalism decree.[26] He had initially sympathized with the Constitutional Movement’s opposition to tyranny and demand for rule of law. But once he learned that the parliament that came out of it was to enact laws rather than apply the existing laws of Sharia, he turned against it. He argued that during the Occultation of the Muslim Messiah, Mahdi, an absolutist government which enforces Islamic law was the best government, considering it the lesser of the two evils in comparison to a secular parliamentarian government. His vigorous opposition to the movement led to his arrest by the Constitutionalist forces and his execution.[2] The movement was led principally by merchants, intellectuals and some clerics. Nouri initially gave restrained support to the uprising, but he soon became an extreme critic and enemy of the constitutionalists.[6]

The Revolutional Tribunal declared him guilty of incited mobs against the constitutionalists and issuing fatwas declaring parliamentary leaders "apostates", "atheists," "secret Freemasons" and koffar al-harbi (warlike pagans) whose blood ought to be shed by the faithful.[27][3]

According to the Islamic Revolution Document Center, Nouri "played a prominent role in the victory of Constitutional movement, but upon seeing its deviation he began to oppose Westernized Policy" and "was among the first Muslim scholars who found out colonial conspiracy to replace Islam with secularism in the disguise of constitutionalism and constitution and so endeavored to prevent nationalism from surpassing Islamism as well as to obstruct domination of western licentiousness and immorality in the society under the name of democracy and freedom."[28] (On colonial power, Britain supported the Constitutionalist movement. Another, Iran's large neighbor Russia, opposed it.)

Nouri allied himself with the new Shah, Mohammad Ali Shah, who, with the assistance of Russian troops staged a coup against the Majlis (parliament) in 1907. In 1909, however, constitutionalists marched onto Tehran (the capital of Iran). Nouri was arrested, tried and found guilty of "sowing corruption and sedition on earth,"[3] and in July 1909, Nouri was hanged as a traitor. According to the Islamic Revolution Document Centre, Nouri might have been saved by taking of refuge in the Russian Embassy or putting the Russian flag above his house, but his principles would not allow it. He allegedly told his acolytes: "Islam never goes under the banner of evasion ... Is it allowable that I go under the banner of evasion after 70 years of struggle for the sake of Islam?” Then, (according to the Islamic Revolution Document Centre) "he demanded his companions to empty the house in order to be immune from any harm".[28] He is described as a man of conviction and courage for resisting rather than fleeing the Constitutalists's armed attack on his locale which led to his arrest and execution.[2]