Javad Sakha; Gholam-Hossein Zargarinezhad; Ataollah Hasani; Sohrab Yazdani
Volume 5, Issue 9 , March 2017, , Pages 76-92
Abstract
With the beginning of the Constitutional Movement of people in Tabriz, some of its preachers joined the Movement based on some former connections that they had with the reformist elements of the city. The preachers used their abilities and some unique guild privileges so that they were considered among ...
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With the beginning of the Constitutional Movement of people in Tabriz, some of its preachers joined the Movement based on some former connections that they had with the reformist elements of the city. The preachers used their abilities and some unique guild privileges so that they were considered among the leaders of Constitutionalism in a short time. Thus, they actively participated in some constitutionalism related issues, the most important of which was forming “Mojahed” military forces. Due to some reasons, these two groups soon found common objectives and interests and became close comrades. Beginning with “lesser Despotism” and the attacks of anti-constitutionalists and the resistance of Mojaheds against them, Preachers, after a short hesitation, hurried to help “Mojaheds” and tried to turn the Resistance Movement from a pure military issue into a multifaceted attempt based on various national elements. Due to their familiarity with religious teachings and their use of preaching abilities, the preachers benefited from their social position among people to motivate people to accompany “Mojaheds” and responded to the religious attacks of the opponents of Constitutionalism. They also actively participated in some staff issues which were necessary for organizing the Resistance Movement. After reviewing the beginning of Constitutionalism Movement in Tabriz, the joining of preachers to the Movement, their role in forming military forces and some other changes, and based on reliable historical sources and research, this study tries to use a descriptive-analytical method to answer the following questions: what causes and reasons made preachers join the Resistance Movement? What subjects and issues did they emphasize in their preaches? The findings of this research reveal that Preachers considered the Resistance Movement as an admirable attempt for reviving constitutionalism. They believed that for this purpose the presence of religious-intellectual forces was necessary along with military forces. In their preaches they focused on faithfulness to the ideals of Constitutionalism, conformity of Constitutionalism and Mojaheds behavior with the religious principles, the opposition of despotism with religious principles and the necessity of development and progress of the country based on the objectives of Constitutionalism. As the most important thing, they focused on encouraging and helping multifaceted resistance against the supporters of Muhammad Ali Shah. This research is a study in the field of local historical studies of Tabriz in one of important periods of contemporary history of Iran.
