The Approach and Perspective of Shiite Jurists at the Beginning of the Qajar Period During the Iran-Russia Wars

Farahmandzadeh, Farideh; Sadeghi, Saeed

Volume 15, Issue 4 (Quarterly Journal of Political Research in the Islamic World, Winter 2026 2025) پژوهشهاي سياسي جهان اسلام 2025, 15(4): 1-23 | Back to browse issues page

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Farahmandzadeh F, Sadeghi S. The Approach and Perspective of Shiite Jurists at the Beginning of the Qajar Period During the Iran-Russia Wars. پژوهشهاي سياسي جهان اسلام 2025; 15 (4) :1-23
URL: http://priw.ir/article-1-2037-en.html

The Approach and Perspective of Shiite Jurists at the Beginning of the Qajar Period During the Iran-Russia Wars

Farideh Farahmandzadeh ^*¹

, Saeed Sadeghi²

1- Assistant Professor, Department of History, University of Payame Noor, Tehran, Iran. , f.farahmandzadeh@pnu.ac.ir
2- Assistant Professor, Department of Political Sciences, University of Payame Noor, Tehran, Iran

Abstract: (180 Views)

The first kings of the Qajar dynasty who searched for a new source of legitimacy to establish the foundations of their power in Iran, approached Shiite jurists. This rapprochement intensified especially during the Russian invasion of Iran, revealing a new form of cooperation between the faith and the state. Both organizations pursued their own motivations, approaches, and visions. While the Qajar dynasty sought to stabilize and perpetuate the political-military power structure, the jurists sought to enhance socio-political influence, maintain public order and the boundaries of the Shiite state at their discretion and guardianship. Although they never gave up their claim to rule as the political-religious successors of the Prophet, they were content to interfere and consult with the authorities because they did not meet the conditions for rule. This research seeks to examine the motivations and goals of each of the two aforementioned organizations and answer the question of which of their visions was realized and to what extent. The research findings reveal that with the increasing dependence of the Qajar dynasty on gaining religious approval and legitimacy, including through Estefta' –temporal religious rules, the most important goal of the jurists, which was to increase the socio-political influence of the Mujtahids, was achieved. However, their general expectations regarding maintaining the boundaries and orderliness of the affairs of the Shiite community, according to their views, were not properly met. The research method in this study is based on the library method, has a historical approach and the descriptive-analytical method.

Keywords: Qajar Dynasty, Shiite Jurists, Iran-Russia Wars, Gardianship -Velaayat, Monarchy.

Full-Text [PDF 391 kb] (78 Downloads)

Type of Study: Research | Subject: Special
Received: 2026/01/28 | Accepted: 2026/04/11 | Published: 2026/04/15