To fight ‘Justly’: Shia Clerics under Safavids and Qajars

ABSTRACT

The present article investigates the close tie between political authority and the legitimacy of ‘lesser jihad’ in Shi’ism, or belligerence towards the outer world. The question of authority within this minor branch of Islam has been the subject of lively and prolonged controversies. Since the 10^th century, the absence of a respected and universally recognized religio-political reference point has challenged the legitimacy of ‘lesser jihad’. Here, the Shia approach towards the legitimacy of warfare during Occultation is examined through two periods in Persian history, namely the Safavid and Qajar dynasties. The article aims to show how the clergy-state relationship in these two periods changed the method of waging ‘lesser jihad’, and how the latter, in turn, redefined that relationship. Towards this aim, Persian and Arabic manuscripts are consulted, alongside existing literature on jihad in Shi’ism.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

¹ Twelver Shi’as have two different approaches to law-making: ʾAkhbārism and Uṣulism. ʾAkhābrī jurists, the smaller group, follow Imam traditions and usually criticize Shi’a jurists’ independent use of reason in law-making. Besides the Quran, these traditions are the main source of law for the ʾAkhbārīs. The Uṣuli jurists, on the other hand, uphold the rational endeavour of the Shi’a jurists, because in their view, Imam traditions do not sufficiently address ongoing matters (for a thorough study of ʾAkhbārism, see Ibrahim Beheshti, ʾAkhbarī-garī, Qum: Dar al-Hadith, 1396.). The Uṣuli, or rational trend, first surfaced in Baghdad and then in Hilla in the 11^th century. The 18^th century witnessed the rise of a new wave of rationalism among Shi’a jurists, called neo-Uṣulism.

² Ethan Kohlberg, ̒The Development of the Imami Shi’i Doctrine of Jihad, ZDMG, (1976), 64–86; Davood Feirahi, Norms of War in Shia Islam, in World Religions and Norms of War, ed. Vesselin Popovski, Gregory M. Reichberg and Nicholas Turner, (Tokyo: United Nation University Press, 2009), 255–281.

³ Ann K.S. Lambton, A Nineteenth Century View of Jihad, Studia Islamica, 32 (1970), 181–192; Valerie Morkevicius, Shi’i Perspectives on War, in The Prism of Just War: Asian and Western Perspectives on the Legitimate Use of Military Force, ed. Howard M. Hensel, (Burlington, VT: Ashgate, 2010), 145–167.

⁴ Robert Gleave, Jihad and the Religious Legitimacy of the Early Qajar State, in Religion and Society in Qajar Iran, ed. Gleave, (London and New York: Routledge Curzon), 2005, 41–70.

⁵ Assaf Moghadam, The Shi’i Perception of Jihad, Al-Nakhlah, 2003, 1–8.

⁶ Seyf Abd al-Riza, Naqsh-i Ulama dar Peydayesh-i Adab Jahadi, Journal of the Faculty of Literature and Human Sciences of the University of Tehran, 1382, 74–88; Maryam Oraee Qadiri, Barrasi Tahlili Resaleha-yi Jahadiye, Quarterly of History of Foreign Affairs, 21 (1399) 83, 1–24; Gholam Hussain Zargari Nezhad, Barrasi Ahkam al-Jihad va Asbab ar-Rishad, Journal of the Faculty of Literature and Human Sciences of the University of Tehran, 1379, 373–402; Amir Huseyn Khaleqinejad, Naqsh-i ‘Ulama-yi Shia dar ‘Asr Qajar (Bustan-i Kitab, 1390); Jafar Aqa-Zadeh, Tahlili bar Naqsh-i Rohaniyun Shi’a dar Doreh Dovom Jangh-hay-e Iran va Russ, A Quarterly for Shi’I Studies, 12 (1393) 3, 143–168; Dehqan Niri Loqman, Morteda Dehqan Nezhad, Seyed Hasan Qorayshi Karbon, Mirza Qumi va Havadeth-i Siyasi, Ijtema ̒i va Madhabi ̒Asr-i U, Tarikh, 7 (1386) 2, 89–122; Seyed Reda Mehdi Nezhad, Mirza Qumi va Hukumat-e Qajar, Islamic Government, 14 (1388) 4, 95–128.

⁷ Seyf, Naqsh-i Ulama

⁸ Oraee Qadiri, Barrasi Tahlili Resaleha; Khaleqinezhad, Naqsh-i ‘Ulama-yi Shia

⁹ Kohlberg, ̒The Development

¹⁰ Since the middle Islamic period, Muslim jurists have divided the world into various dar (lit., abode or land) to which different norms can be applied. The two main divisions were dar al-islam and dar al-ḥarb. The former corresponds to where Islamic law prevails and Muslims are free to practice their religion. The latter is where Muslims do not govern and hence, traditionally, is to be conquered.

¹¹ The Shi’a scholar Shaikh Mufid (d. 1022) introduced dar al-īmān and added it to the previously existing dar al-islam and dar al-ḥarb. David Cook, Islam in Iran xi. Jihad in Islam, Encyclopaedia Iranica, 2012. https://iranicaonline.org/articles/islam-in-iran-xi-jihad-in-islam

¹² Shahada is one of the five Pilasters of Islam. Among Sunnis, it consists of two declarations of belief in the oneness of Allah and in the prophet-hood of Muhammad ibn Abdullah.

¹³ Mohammad Ali Amir Moezzi, Divine Guide in Early Shi’ism (The State University of New York, 1994).

¹⁴ Abdulaziz Sachedina, The Just Ruler (al-Sultan al-adil) in Shiite Islam, (Oxford University Press, 1988).

¹⁵ Kohlberg, ̒The Development

¹⁶ Ijtihad, which derives from the same root of jihad, literally means ‘effort’. In practice, it indicates the effort of the Muslim jurist towards extracting behavioural codes from Islamic law.

¹⁷ Mohammad Ali Amir Moezzi, Islam in Iran x. The Roots of Political Shiism, Encyclopaedia Iranica, 2012, https://iranicaonline.org/articles/islam-in-iran-x-the-roots-of-political-shiisms

¹⁸ Ata Anzali, ‘Mysticism in Iran’: The Safavid Roots of a Modern Concept, (The University of South Carolina Press, 2017). Kathryn Babayan, Sufis, Dervishes and Mullas: the Controversy over Spiritual and Temporal Dominion in Seventeenth-Century Iran, in Safavid Persia, ed. Charles Melville, (London and New York: Tauris, 1996), 117–138. Babayan Kathryn, Mystics, Monarchs, and Messiahs: Cultural Landscapes of Early Modern Iran, (Harvard University Press, 2002).

¹⁹ Stefan Winter, The Shiites of Lebanon under Ottoman Rule, 1516–1788, (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010); Stephan F. Dale, The Islamic World in the Age of European Expansion: Rise and Decline, in Cambridge Illustrated History of Islamic World, ed. Francis Robinson, (London: Cambridge University Press, 1996), 62–89.

²⁰ Said Amir Arjomand, The Clerical Estate and the Emergence of a Shiite Hierocracy in Safavid Iran: A Study in Historical Sociology, Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient, 28 (1985) 2, 169–219; Najaf Lakzayi, Chalish Siyasat Dini va Nazm Sultani, (Qum: Research Centre for Political Thought and Sciences, 1389/2010)

²¹ Andrew J. Newman, Safavid Iran: Rebirth of a Persian Empire, (London and New York: Tauris, 2006); Jamshid Noruzi and Shahram Ramazani, Elal Ta’amolat Salatin Safavi ba Ulama Shi’a va Natayej An, The Quarterly History of Islam, 5 (1394) 19, 5–24. Hamid Algar, Fatwa, Encyclopaedia Iranica, 1999, https://iranicaonline.org/articles/fatwa

²² Sachedina, The Just Ruler

²³ Lambton, A Nineteenth Century View

²⁴ Muhammad ibn Yaʻqub al-Kulayni, Furuʻ al-Kafi, Qum: Dar al-Hadith, 9 (1388), 355–502.

²⁵ Mazhar Advay and Anvar Khalandi, An Analysis Of The Concept Of Jihad And Its Various Manifestations in The Safavid Era, Journal of Historical Studies of Islam, 9 (35), 2018, 7–36; Lakzayi, Chalish Siyasat Dini

²⁶ Muhammad Khalil Mara’shi Safavi, Majma al-Tavarikh dar Tarikh Enqiraz Safaviyye, ed. Abbas Iqbal Ashtiyani, Tehran: Tahuri, 1 (1362); Ali Akbar Ja’fari, Qiyam Sheyk Baha Addin Astiri, Islamic Studies, 86 (1390), 9–28.

²⁷ Hamid Enayat, Modern Islamic Political Thought, London: McMillan, 1982.

²⁸ Lambton, A Nineteenth Century View

²⁹ Brown L. Carl, Religion and State: The Muslim Approach to Politics, New York: Colombia University Press, 2000.

³⁰ Nikki R. Keddie, The Roots of Ulama’s Power in Modern Iran, Studia Islamica, 29 (1969), 31–53; Nikki R. Keddie, Modern Iran: Roots and Results of Revolution, (Yale University Press, 2006).

³¹ Juan Cole, Sacred Space and Holy War, (IB Tauris, 2007).

³² Sarami and Edalat Nezhad, Jihad, in Encyclopaedia of Islamic World, ed. Haddad Adel and Mir Salim, (Tehran: Encyclopaedia Islamica Foundation, 11 (2007)).

³³ Rainer Brunner, Shiite Doctrine ii, Hierarchy in the Imamiyya, Ecyclopaedia Iranica, 2010. https://iranicaonline.org/articles/shiite-doctrine-ii-hierarchy-emamiya

³⁴ Morkevicius, Shi’i Perspectives on War

³⁵ Elena Andreeva, Russia i. Russo-Iranian Relations up to the Bolshevik Revolution, Encyclopaedia Iranica, 2014, https://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/russia-i-relations

³⁶ Rabii Manije and Faride Saidi, Risala Jahadiya, in Encyclopaedia of the Islamic World, ed. Haddad Adel and Mir Salim, (Tehran: Foundation of Encyclopaedia of the Islamic World, 1386, vol. 11, 444–447).

³⁷ On 4 May 1807, France and Persia entered into an agreement called the Treaty of Finckenstein that formalized the Franco-Persian alliance. According to this agreement, Napoleon Bonaparte had to guarantee the integrity of Persia and acknowledge Georgia, as well as other Transcaucasian regions claimed by Russia, as parts of Persia. However, France did not maintain the terms of this treaty.

³⁸ Cyrus Masroori, Russian Imperialism and Jihad: Early 19th-Century Persian Texts on Just War, Journal of Church and State, 46 (2004) 2, 263–279.

³⁹ Lambton, A Nineteenth Century View

⁴⁰ Rajabali Esfandiar, Ra’yat al-Jihad fi a’alam al-Ibad, University of Baqir al-Ulum, Political Sciences, 16 (1380), 279–286.

⁴¹ Gleave, Jihad and the Religious Legitimacy

⁴² Jaʿfar Kashif al-Ghita, Kashf al-Ghita an Mubhamat al-Sharia al-Ghara, (Qum: Bustan Ketab, 1422 / 2001).

⁴³ Ahmad Rahdar, Sahm-e Ulama Shi’a dar Paydari Iran Moqabel Russia, Zamane, 72 (1387), 1–23.

⁴⁴ Oraee Qadiri, Barrasi Tahlili Resaleha

⁴⁵ Kashif al-Ghita, Kashf al-Ghita

⁴⁶ Seyf, Naqsh-i Ulama

⁴⁷ Oraee Qadiri, Barrasi Tahlili Resaleha

⁴⁸ Al-Kulayni, Furuʻ al-Kafi, (Qum: Dar al-Hadith, 9 (1387/ 2008)).

⁴⁹ Kashif al-Ghita, Kashf al-Ghita

⁵⁰ On the definition of ‘Citadel of Islam’ see Hossein Hatami and Seyyed Hashem Aghajari, A Historical Study on Evolution of the Concept and Meaning of Beyzeye Islam, A Quarterly Journal of Historical Studeis of Islam, 21 (1393/2014) 6, 61–79; Mohammad R. Kalantari, Protecting the Citadel of Islam in the Modern Era, The Muslim World, 110 (2020) 2, 217–231.

⁵¹ Mirza Qumi, Jamat al-Shitat fi Ujuba al-Sualat, (Tehran: Keyhan, 1371).

⁵² Seyed Ali Tabatabai, Riyaḍ al-Masaʾil, (Mashad: AAl ul Bayt Establishment for Revival of the Islamic Heritage, 1419/1998).

⁵³ Abul Qasim ibn ʻIssa Qaim-Maqam, Ahkam al-Jihad wa Asbab ar-Rishad, ed. Gholam Hussain Zargari Nezhad, (Tehran: Boqe, 1380).

⁵⁴ Zargari Nezhad, Barrasi Ahkam al-Jihad

⁵⁵ Williem Floor, ČĀP, Encyclopaedia Iranica, 1990, https://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/cap-print-printing-a-persian-word-probably-derived-from-hindi-chapna-to-print-see-turner-no

⁵⁶ The second Russo-Persian war was a consequence of Qajar miscalculation because they had underestimated the Russians’ military power. The new conflicts, which were more devastating that the first war, could have been prevented if Iranians had successfully resolved the disputes over Lake Gokcha. Maziar Behrooz, Revisiting the Second Russo-Iranian War (1826–28): Causes and Perceptions, Iranian Studies, 46 (2013) 3, 359–381.

⁵⁷ Hamid Algar, Religion and State in Iran 1785–1906: The Role of Ulama in the Qajar Period, (Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1969); Zargari Nezhad, Barrasi Ahkam al-Jihad

⁵⁸ Gavin Hambly, Iran during The Reigns of Fath Ali Shah and Muhammad Shah, in The Cambridge History of Iran, ed. Peter Avery, Gavin Hambly and Charles Melville, Cambridge University Press, 7 (1991), 144–173.

⁵⁹ Oraee Qadiri, Barrasi Tahlili Resaleha

⁶⁰ Masroori, Russian Imperialism and Jihad

⁶¹ Said Amir Arjomand, The Turban for the Crown, (New York: Oxford University Press, 1988).

⁶² Mateo Mohammad Farzaneh, The Iranian Constitutional Revolution and the Clerical Leadership of Khurasani, (Syracuse: Syracuse University Press, 2015).

⁶³ Khaleqinejad, Naqsh-i ‘Ulama-yi Shia

⁶⁴ Abdul-Hadi Hairi, The Legitimacy of the Early Qajar Ruler as Viewed by the Shi’i Religious Leaders, Middle Eastern Studies, 24 (1988) 3, 271–286.

⁶⁵ Cited in Oraee Qadiri, Barrasi Tahlili Resaleha

⁶⁶ Masroori, Russian Imperialism and Jihad

⁶⁷ Robert E. Park, The Social Function of War, Observations and Notes, American Journal of Sociology, 4 (1941) 46, 551–570.

Additional information

Funding

This study was partly supported by Performative Ritual and Authority among Shia in Europe (PRASE).” 2021-2024. PI: Avi Astor. Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación. Ref.: [PID2020-116558GA-I00]. Amount: €66,308 EU; Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation