Political thought in the Qajar era

Author: Rajab Ali Esfandiar

Research Center for Political Thought and Sciences, Islamic Sciences and Culture Academy, Qom, Iran.

1. The Subject of the Work and Its Importance:

This study has examined Shiite political thought in the field of philosophy and political jurisprudence by referring to the texts of thinkers of this era. From the author’s point of view, the revision of Shiite political thought in this period is possible in the shadow of establishing interaction between the intellectual tradition of Shiite thinkers in the field of political philosophy, political jurisprudence, and socio-political contexts influencing the formation of their philosophical and jurisprudential thought. Therefore, it has been tried to study the general nature of Shiite political thought in the Qajar era in the interaction between the intellectual tradition and socio-political contexts governing the formation of Shiite political thought and to examine the ruling order of this period.

The current study has been necessary in order to form a connection with the past heritage, correct evaluation, critique, and simplification of scientific heritage, utilizing the past tradition and reviving the background of political thought, historical and religious intellectual identity.

2. The Salient Features of the Work Compared to Similar Works:

There exists a lot of research on the historical and socio-political contexts of the Qajar era. Due to its importance in the socio-political life of Iran, the constitution (Persian Constitutional Revolution) has been much studied and examined. Numerous monographs on the political thought of the scholars of this period have been written. This study aims to provide a comprehensive explanation of the political thought of Shiite scholars in the Qajar era, to recognize the place and value of Shiite political thought and to analyze the general nature of Shiite political thought in the Qajar era.

3. Research and Presentation Method

Understanding the political thought of Shiite scholars in the Qajar era requires the interpretation of their texts. Because their thoughts and intentions, according to Skinner, are embodied in these texts and since these texts (which is in fact their verbal action) have been formed in a specific intellectual and cultural context, understanding them depends on knowing this intellectual and cultural context. On the other hand, we know that every intellectual and cultural condition is related to social and political contexts. Therefore, the texts in each period, in addition to the intellectual environment, are also related to the social and political contexts of that period and according to Skinner, the mentioned texts seek to answer the political problems of that period based on the linguistic rules of that period.

Accordingly, the methodological claim of this book is that the political thought of Shiite scholars can be identified in a three-way relationship. On the one hand, this thought lies in texts that have been made available to us from Shiite scholars and must be examined, understood and interpreted. On the other hand, these texts are going to be known when its intellectual environment is recreated and the mentioned texts are examined in that condition. The third aspect refers to the socio-political conditions of the Qajar era and without considering these conditions as well as the political issues and problems arising from it, these texts cannot not be understood.

4. Conclusion

From all the topics of this work, we find that the political thought of the scholars was established in the light of objective and subjective conditions in the two approaches of political philosophy and political jurisprudence and Muslim philosophers in this period theoretically expanded the various aspects of Islamic political thought and caused its evolution. The theoretical approach of Muslim philosophers was developing the knowledge of philosophy and transcendent wisdom, training many students in this epistemological field, and explaining the intellectual foundations of political philosophy. Although, in particular, Sayyid Jafar Kashfi raises significant issues in the field of government, sovereignty, state, and justice, and refers to some limits of the desired order in the Shiite approach, it must be admitted that philosophers in this era, due to the conditions and requirements of their time, avoided going through political discussions.

The approach of political jurisprudence was to explain and analyze many new concepts in the field of government and governance.

Topics such as Wilayat-e-Faqih, constitution, law, parliament, freedom, and equality, each of which includes a wide range of issues of political jurisprudence and provides the expansion and development of this knowledge. What can be deduced from the present study is that Shiite political thought in the two arenas of political jurisprudence and political philosophy has a high capacity that requires the use of existing principles. Imam Khomeini as a pious scholar has brought to light some of the capacities of this idea and the Islamic Revolution of Iran is the result of this pure idea. The constitutional era is full of experience. The inefficiency of the popular order formed during this period can be a great lesson for the Islamic Republic.

What has been stated in this study was an overview of the thought of Shiite scholars in the Qajar era using Skinner’s method model. It is obvious that, the political thought of Shiite scholars can be examined from different perspectives. It is hoped that the writers will study and examine the various components of the thought of this period, part of which is reflected in the approach of the intellectuals of the constitutional era.

5. Main Topics

The current study consists of an introduction, five chapters, and a conclusion. In the first chapter, the generalities and main concepts of the study and the theoretical framework are explained based on Skinner’s theory and the use of the ijtihad method of Shiite jurisprudence. In the second chapter, the intellectual and cultural backgrounds and mental conditions of the political thought of Shiite scholars in the Qajar era will be examined. In the third chapter, the objective conditions and socio-political contexts of this period are examined. In the fourth chapter, political thought in the philosophical texts of Shiite scholars in the Qajar era will be investigated through reviewing the movement of political philosophy in Islamic texts up to the Qajar era. In the following, the aspects of political philosophy of philosophers such as Haj Molla Hadi Sabzevari, Sayyid Jafar Kashfi, Mirza Abolhassan Jelveh, Mullah Ali Zanouzi, Mohammad Reza Elahi Ghomshei, Jahangir Khan Qashqaei and Mirza Taher Tonekaboni will be examined. The fifth chapter focuses on political thought in the jurisprudential texts of Shiite scholars in the Qajar era by examining the evolution of political jurisprudence up to the Qajar era. In the following, the aspects of political jurisprudence of jurists such as Sahib Jawaher, Sheikh Ansari, Mullah Ahmad Naraghi, Akhund Khorasani, Mirzaye Qomi, Sayyid Mohammad Kazem Yazdi, Sheikh Jafar Kashifa al-Ghitta, Mirzaye Naeini and Sheikh Fazlullah Nouri are examined.