Shi'i Reformation in Iran

The Life and Theology of Shari'at Sangelaji

Ali Rahnema

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2016
• ISBN:
  9781317055327
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: Islamic Studies
• Index: Social Sciences

Shi 'ism caught the attention of the world as Iran experienced her revolution in 1979 and was subsequently cast in the mold of a monolithic discourse of radical political Islam. The spokespersons of Shi'i Islam, in or out of power, have not been the sole representatives of the faith. Nonconformist and uncompromising, the Shi'i jurist and reformist Shari'at Sangelaji (1891-1944) challenged certain popular Shi'i beliefs and the mainstream clerical establishment, guarding and propagating it. In Shi'i Reformation in Iran, Ali Rahnema offers a fresh understanding of Sangelaji's reformist discourse from a theological standpoint, and takes readers into the heart of the key religious debates in Iran in the 1940s. Exploring Sangelaji's life, theological position and disputations, Rahnema demonstrates that far from being change resistant, debates around why and how to reform the faith have long been at the heart of Shi'i Islam. Drawing on the writings and sermons of Sangelaji, as well as interviews with his son, the book provides a detailed and comprehensive introduction to the reformist's ideas. As such it offers scholars of religion and Middle Eastern politics alike a penetrating insight into the impact that these ideas have had on Shi'ism - an impact which is still felt today.

Chapter 1

Genealogy, Environment, Convictions, Friends and Foes

Mirza Rezaqoli Sangelaji was born in 1891 and named after his grandfather.¹ In order to place him in a historical context, it may be useful to point out that he was some 11 to 17 years older than Khomeyni (1902), Mawdudi (1903), Banna (1906), Qutb (1906) and Bazargan (1908). He was, however, a year younger than Ahmad Kasravi. Rezaqoli was six when Seyyed Jamal-eddin Asadabadi (Afghani) passed away and 16 when Mozaffar-eddin Shah Qajar signed the Iranian constitution. From his early childhood, according to one account, Rezaqoli’s father, Sheykh Hasan Sangelaji, a renowned Islamic jurist, bestowed the title of Shari‘at or ‘the pathway’ on him.² According to another account, the title of Shari‘at was given to the young Rezaqoli by Seyyed Mohammad-Kazem Yazdi, the influential Shi‘i Source of Imitation.³ The title stuck and effectively replaced his name. In contemporary Iranian history he is widely known as Shari‘at and not Mirza Rezaqoli. After his death, in the many obituaries that were written about him in the Iranian press and the poems that were published in his praise, he was consistently and solely referred to as Shari‘at.⁴

Shari‘at’s family was originally from the village of Sarasiyab near Nour in Mazandaran. His forefathers were said to have been related to Sheykh Fazlollah Nouri, the renowned anti-constitutionalist cleric, executed by the constitutional revolutionaries in 1909.⁵ Shari‘at’s great grandfather Mirza Mohammad Shafi‘ Mazandarani had a ministerial post at the Qajar court. His son, Rezaqoli, Shari‘at’s grandfather, was prevented from following the family tradition of working in the government bureaucracy as he was blinded by smallpox and was subsequently encouraged by his father to go to seminary school and become a cleric.⁶ To complete his theological studies, Rezaqoli was sent to Najaf, the hub of Shi‘i learning at the time, and on his return to Iran he became a man of the cloth and took residence in one of the oldest neighbourhoods of Tehran, known as Sangelaj.⁷ Later, Rezaqoli built a school in Sangelaj, became established and acquired some fame. It is said that he was one of the most enlightened clerics of his times.

By the time Rezaqoli’s son, Sheykh Hasan, who was born in Sangelaj, grew up and married, the family was known as Sangelaji or residents of Sangelaj. Sheykh Hasan followed in his father’s footsteps. He became a prominent Shi‘i jurist and was respected for his piety, knowledge, courage and oratory.⁸ Hasan, however, was not an ordinary traditional cleric. He is said to have been associated and affiliated with two highly controversial reformist clerics of his times, Sheykh Hadi Najmabadi and Seyyed Jamal-eddin Asadabadi (Afghani).

Sheykh Hasan is said to have been a close friend and colleague of the modernist, constitutionalist and rationalist Sheykh Hadi Najmabadi (1834–1902).⁹ Sheykh Hasan shared Sheykh Hadi’s disdain for the injustices committed by the Qajar kings and the corruption and oppression which characterized their reign. The critical posture of these two Tehrani clerics towards the Qajar court, their rationalist and non-sectarian as well as their humble and unassuming close relation with the common and poor people, enhanced their popularity.¹⁰ The young Shari‘at, who must have been around 10 years old at the time, is said to have participated in the religious discussions of Sheykh Hadi Najmabadi and had been influenced by his ideas.¹¹ Najmabadi, was a leading Tehran cleric during the reign of Mozaffar-eddin Shah Qajar and Nasser-eddin Shah Qajar.

Sheykh Hadi Najmabadi was also known for his close ties to Seyyed Jamal-eddin Asadabadi.¹² It is reported that during Seyyed Jamal’s visits to Tehran in 1886 and 1889, Najmabadi was of great assistance to him and he is said to have been the closest cleric to Seyyed Jamal.¹³ Seyyed Jamal tried to convince Najmabadi of the necessity of political change in Iran based on the political principles of freedom, equality and fraternity. Concerned with the reception of such ideas among Iran’s illiterate population, Najmabadi warned Seyyed Jamal that before the people became educated and capable of understanding his arguments, his radical approach could backfire as it could provide the hidebound clergy with an excuse to denounce him as a heretic and a Babi (the followers of Ali-Mohammad Shirazi better known as Bab). Deeply concerned with the danger of the weapon of takfir (excommunication/declaring people non-Muslim) in the hands of the conservative clergy, Najmabadi counselled in favour of gradual change based on informing the people about the vices of autocracy and the virtues of freedom based on Qur’anic exegesis.¹⁴ He is said to have encouraged Seyyed Jamal to train individuals steeped in the Qur’an, who could gradually educate the people about the true message of the faith and thereby help the country out of its backwardness.¹⁵ To Najmabadi, the deep-rooted religious beliefs of the people provided the enlightened clerics with the opportunity to become agents of change. Seyyed Jamal, who was impatient with the situation in Iran, advocated a bloody revolution, while Sheykh Hadi Najmabadi, who was more familiar with the realities in his country, proposed a long-term reformist solution. To initiate personal, social and ultimately political reform, Sheykh Hadi believed in educating the masses on the basis of the socio-political and ethical teachings of the Qur’an.¹⁶ It has been suggested that Najmabadi was a member of Tehran’s branch of the Pan-Islamists, closely associated with Seyyed Jamal.¹⁷

Through his everyday practice, Najmabadi tried to set an example for anti-autocratic and reformist clerics. Every afternoon, people of all walks of life, ‘statesmen and scholars, princes and poets’ would congregate, form a circle and sit around him ‘on the grounds outside his house’ and discuss ‘all sorts of topics with utmost freedom’.¹⁸ Najmabadi was known for his unassuming piety and charity. He is said to have fed some 200 families of the poor and the destitute, while he would only eat a very humble meal of bread and dough (a yogurt-based beverage).¹⁹ Najmabadi was also a highly tolerant and anti-sectarian cleric. What made Najmabadi, the mojtahed, rather special was the fact that his eager interlocutors were composed of ‘Sunnis, Shi‘is, Babis, Armenians, Jews and Ali-illahis [Ali-ollahis], etc.’²⁰ According to Edward Browne, ‘he was at heart a free-thinker, and used to cast doubts into men’s minds and destroy their belief in popular superstitions and he was instrumental in awakening a large proportion of those who afterwards became the champions of Persia’s liberties’.²¹ Najmabadi was accused of unbelief (kofr) by Seyyed Sadeq Tabataba’ie and Mirza Hasan Ashtiyani.²² It is reported that some believed that Najmabadi was a Babi and a member of the ‘Secret Circle of Babis’.²³

According to a report by Ezatollah Sahabi attributed to Mohammad Sangelaji, Shari‘at’s brother, Sheykh Hasan Sangelaji, their father, was a close acquaintance of Seyyed Jamal-eddin Asadabadi and when the Seyyed came to Tehran, he stayed at the Sangelaji resident.²⁴ According to this account, while staying at the Sangelajis, Seyyed Jamal would read the Qur’an at nights and when he came across a verse (aya) which caught his attention and he felt like sharing it, he would wake up his host and discuss it with him. After having resided in Tehran for seven months, in July 1890, Seyyed Jamal was strongly encouraged by Nasser-eddin Shah Qajar to leave the capital city. At this time, it is said that he moved to Shah Abdolazim and resided at the home of one ‘Sheykh Hasan’. It has been suggested that ‘Sheykh Hasan’ was none but Sheykh Hasan Sangelaji.²⁵

If the claim that Sheykh Hasan Sangelaji and Seyyed Jamal-eddin Asadabadi were closely acquainted is accepted, then it is possible that Hasan came to know Seyyed Jamal through his father Rezaqoli. The link between Rezaqoli and Seyyed Jamal-eddin Asadabadi may have been Sheykh Morteza Ansari, who seems to have known both men. On the one hand, the prominent nineteenth-century Shi‘i theologian and revivalist Sheykh Morteza Ansari (1781–1864/5), who resided in Najaf is said to have appointed Rezaqoli to the position of speaker and Imam of the Mirza Zaki mosque in Sangelaj.²⁶ On the other hand, in 1850/1851, Seyyed Jamal began his four years of studies at Najaf under the supervision of Sheykh Morteza Ansari and was said to have received his permission to exercise ejtehad/ijtihad, from him.²⁷

It is, therefore, probable that Sheykh Hasan was well aware of and influenced by the modernist and rationalist Islamic ideas of both Sheykh Hadi Najmabadi and Seyyed Jamal-eddin Asadabadi. It would seem as if Sheykh Hasan was convinced that Iranians needed to be awakened to the reality of their unjust political and social condition, yet he privileged Najmabadi’s method of incremental change and reform over Seyyed Jamal’s revolutionary path. Sheykh Hasan seems also to have favoured Najmabadi’s inclusive approach of inviting, discussing and appealing to different social classes and beliefs. As such, his house in the Sangelaj area soon became the open door sanctuary of all those who wished to hear his opinions and whose problems and grievances could not be resolved through the official ...

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• Preface and Acknowledgements
• Introduction
• 1 Genealogy, Environment, Convictions, Friends and Foes
• 2 Sangelaji’s Interlocutors
• 3 Reforming Actually Practised Islam
• 4 The Primacy of the Qur’an
• 5 Challenging Reports
• 6 Reason and Islam
• 7 Popular Shi‘ism
• 8 Was Sangelaji a Wahhabi?
• 9 Sangelaji’s Legacy
• Bibliography
• Index