0021-1818_islam_98-1-2-i-259

Reviews 219
What is of interest about this polemical debate is not its content as such: as
usual, the accusations leveled at the Shia pertain to issues of political theory and
the ritual practices of cursing the first three caliphs, ^A#isha and the companions
of the prophet, while at the same time the love for and attachment to the House of
the Prophet and his progeny is reaffirmed unequivocally by all four Naqhsband\
^ulama#. Alvi argues that these works represent a strong and concerned ideological
response to the formation of a powerful Shiite state in Awadh, which included
and exercised political authority and cultural influence and attraction over a
large Sunnite (and also non-Muslim) population. If “sectarian identity was not a
major issue in Mughal administration” (p. 132), this was not the case by the 18 th
century: for these authors the answer to the “sense of insecurity amongst the
Sunni ulama caused by the rapid spread of Shiism in the absence of a Sunni Muslim
political power” (p. 133) consisted in an ideologically conscious effort to rally
the allegedly confused ranks of Sunnism.
In his “Système parlementaire et consultation selon le Thiqat al-Islam-i
Tabr\z\: légitimation religieuse et justification historique” (pp. 155–170), Denis
Hermann of CNRS, Paris, investigates the religious and historical validations for
the legitimacy of the parliamentary system in the writings of the Shaykh\ leader of
Tabriz. A popular preacher and mujtahid in his own right, Thiqat al-Islam-i Tabr\z\
(d. 1330/1911) produced a number of treatises in support of political reformism
and Islamic reconciliation, seen as the only means to save Iran from tyranny and
the pressure of European powers. Not concerned with Shiite legal categorizations
of government (legitimate/illegitimate, just/unjust), Tabr\z\’s arguments rely
mainly on (i) the Islamic principle of consultation, a practice, he argues, sanctioned
by the Prophet himself, and (ii) the very nature of Iranian history. According
to Hermann, it is this specific character of Tabr\z\’s theorizing that makes him
an original thinker among the various trends of the constitutionalist movement.
In “Remarques sur la pensée politiques de l’ayatollah Lar\ durant le mouvement
constitutionnel” (pp. 171–180), Mohammed Baqer Vosuqi, of the University
of Tehran, focuses on Lar\’s (d. 1342/1923–24) vehement anti-monarchical feelings
and activities; a political position that the chief religious personality of Laristan
at the time – and a former student of the great marja^ M\rza 0asan Shiraz\ –
repeatedly advocated in his writings. For Lar\ monarchy had no place in Islam
and was tantamount to absolutism and tyranny, an evil system to be rejected by
the true faithful. At the same time, he envisaged a constitutional order in total
agreement with the Shar\^a, since, “toute opinion, toute assemblé, tout idée ou
scrutin contraire aux fondements et aux lois de la religion musulmane sont des
absurdités d’inspiration démoniaque” (p. 175). Inevitably, he was calling for a
leading role for the religious establishment within the constitutionalist movement
and for a “pro-théocratique” parliamentary system under the direct super-