The Challenges of Sheikh Fazlollah Noori in Opposing Constitutional Revolution

Constitutional Revolution is considered a huge movement in the contemporary history of Iran; however it’s necessary to conduct new and accurate researches on the relationship between the constitutional revolution and religious clerics. This subject was always written about in journalist texts so the reasons of Sheik Fazlollah opposition, one of the early supporters of the revolution need to be explained. Therefore, the question of the present paper is: Why Sheikh Fazlollah, the early supporter of the revolution, became the enemy of the constitutional revolution. Considering the ijtihad (diligence) of Sheikh Fazlollah, his early support and his late opposition to the constitutional revolution were the results of Sharia (religious law). He was charged with supporting Muhammad Ali Shah and disregarding Iranian Marja’s of Najaf. The purpose of the paper is to resolve the ambiguities regarding Sheikh Fazlollah and The constitutional revolution. Also a descriptive – analytical method was applied in examining the primary resources regarding the constitutional revolution. The findings of the paper are: Initiating the constitutional revolution which helped the formation of tendencies toward west and Islam and the ultimate success of Islamic thoughts in Islamic revolution (of Iran), despite an early defeat were the influences of Sheikh Fazlollah.