In memory of the historical fatwa of Mirza Shirazi

The first of Jumada al-Awwal marks the anniversary of the issuance of the historical fatwa proscribing tobacco by the late Grand Ayatollah Sayyed Mohammad Hassan Husseini Al-Shirazi, known as Mirza Shirazi, one of the religious authorities who lived in Samarra at the time.

Many historians specialized in the contemporary history of Iran consider the issuance of this fatwa to be the basis for the formation of the ideas of democracy, independence, and anti-colonialism within the Iranian people with the support of the Shia clergy even before the formation of the Constitutional Movement.

Prior to the issuance of the main fatwa banning tobacco by Mirza Shirazi, protests had escalated in different cities of Iran against the colonial privilege granting tobacco monopoly to the English company Reghi. By sending numerous telegrams to Naser al-Din Shah’s court, Mirza Shirazi pointed out the harm and corruption of allowing foreigners to intervene in Iran, and also paid attention to the granting of such concessions, describing them as being in clear opposition to the Quran, divine laws, and Iran’s independence.

Although the Qajar Shah did not respond to Mirza’s telegram, he made an attempt to justify his government’s actions and to illustrate the reasons for granting these concessions as well as the problems that would ensue from its cancellation by sending Mirza Mahmoud Khan, the minister of Iran in Baghdad, to Mirza Shirazi in Samarra.

However, Mirza Shirazi was not satisfied with the explanations offered by the Shah’s designee, and only emphasized that “one should rely only on the Muslim nation”, that “if the government is unable to answer the stranger, the nation is not incapable of answering properly”, and finally added: “If the government cannot handle this, I will destroy it by God’s will”.

The issuance of the famous fatwa by Mirza Shirazi, the consequent withdrawal of the Qajar court, and the cancellation of the mentioned contract are seen as some of the most important interventions of the Shia authorities in the history of Iran, and indicate the far-reaching influence and power of the taqlid authorities even within the court, the power structure as well as the general classes of the Iranian people.