A Review of the Role of Constitutional Leaders’ Disagreements in the Failure of the Iranian Constitution

Given the historical nature of the issue, this study examines the role of disagreements of the constitutional revolution leaders in its failure by the use of the historical method. The study argues that these divisions were so profound that they weakened them against their opponents, especially Mohammad Ali Shah and the court, and provided the conditions for a constitutional coup against the Shah. The study found that the most important reason for the failure of the constitution was the introduction of conflicting foundations of thought among constitutional leaders who were inspired to enter the constitutional process. At the forefront of the constitutional movement was clerics on the one hand, most of them were influenced by Sharia and Islam and on the other by the intellectuals who were influenced by nineteenth-century European intellectual and political developments. The tendency for political religion was essentially out of place among intellectuals and the belief in the authenticity of reason, humanism, and secularism was rejected by modern clergy. Therefore, there were profound disagreements in the process of revolution among the leaders which eventually provided the basis for its weakening. Although a group attempted to reconcile the two intellectual tendencies, the context of the dispute was so profound that such a goal never materialized.