İran Meşrutiyet Hareketinin Dinî Liderleri: Behbehânî ve Tabâtabâî
Religious Leaders of the Constitutional Movement in Iran: Behbehânî and Tabâtabâî

Summary/Abstract: XX. At the very beginning of the 20th century, Iranian intellectuals, who thought that the concept of "without a shah, there would be no Iran" had come to an end, started an uprising to demand constitutional monarchy. This movement resulted in the declaration of the Constitutional Monarchy on 8 August 1906 by Moẓaffar-aldīn Shah (1896-1907). Moḥammad ʿAlī Shah (1907-1909), who ascended to the throne after his death, struggled with the leaders of the constitutional movement to abolish the constitutional monarchy and bombed the parliament on June 23, 1908. On July 13, 1909, the constitutionalists attacked Tehran and reestablished the constitutional monarchy in Iran. In addition to the intellectuals, the most important supporters of the constitutional movement were the olamāʾ, who had a significant influence on Iranian society. In Imamiyya Shiism, the authority to make ijtihad on behalf of the imams, as the continuation of the twelve imams, who are the only appointed legitimate representatives of the Prophet Moḥammad, is also the source of the influence of the Iranian olamāʾ. Qajar shahs, sometimes through statesmen, especially viziers, struggled to eliminate the influence of the ulema on society and to get rid of this class that overshadowed their authority. Olamāʾ also discredited the shahs in front of society in order to maintain their own influence. The society, stuck between these two powers, was complaining about the ulama to the shah and the shah to the olamāʾ. Political events affecting the whole society were also effective in deepening the conflict between the state and the olamāʾ. During the reign of Nāṣer-ed-dīn Shah (1848-1896), the relationship between the olamāʾ and the state deteriorated further after the tobacco issue. Olamāʾ, who played an important role in the termination of this agreement, also took the leading role in the constitutional movement that started against the shah. Iranian intellectuals, who continued the constitutional movement in small groups, began to clearly express their demands for constitutionalism after Shah ascended to the Qajar throne. Intellectuals, who were aware of the influence of the olamāʾ on the shah and the society, wanted to include the olamāʾ in this movement. For this purpose, they agreed to bring together Behbahānī and Ṭabāṭabāʾī, two of the most influential mujtahids of Tehran, and to form an alliance between them. Behbahānī, who was in disagreement with statesmen, especially Grand Vizier Aynüddevle, and Tabâtabâi, who was aware of the developments in the modern world, met and agreed to act together. After the alliance was established between Behbahānī and Ṭabāṭabāʾī, the constitutional movement entered a new period. The involvement of two sayyids in this movement also changed the idea that the constitutional monarchy was against Islam. The Iranian society, which has high religious sensitivity, joined the constitutional movement in groups after the two sayyids. Supporters of constitutionalism, under the leadership of Behbehânî and Tabâtabâî, carried out a major protest in Shah Abdülazîm and the Tomb of Hazrat Masûme, demanding justice and constitutionalism. After these protests, Moẓaffar-al-dīn Shah had to declare constitutionalism. After the declaration of the Constitutional Monarchy, Muzaffar al-Dun Shah died and Moḥammad ʿAlī Shah ascended to the Qajar throne. Due to Moḥammad ʿAlī Shah's anti-constitutional attitude, leaders such as Behbahānī and Ṭabāṭabāʾī started to fight to protect the constitutional monarchy against the shah, but they were not successful. Moḥammad ʿAlī Shah, who bombed the parliament and abolished the constitutional monarchy, exiled both sayyids from Tehran. The investigations show that Behbahānī and Ṭabāṭabāʾī took an active part in the inclusion of Iranians in the constitutional movement and in the process of declaring the constitutional monarchy. Examining the roles of the two mujtahids in this movement is valuable in terms of revealing the attitude of the Shia olamāʾ in the modernization and democratization process of Iran. In this study, the process of involvement of the two most influential mujtahids of the period, Behbahānī and Ṭabāṭabāʾī, who had an important place in recent Iranian history due to their leading roles in the Iranian constitutional movement, and the roles they played in this movemen, has been tried to be clarified by taking into consideration the sources of the period and the studies on the constitutional movement in Iran.

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