Variables Affecting Modarre's Parliament Behavior towards Secularist Policymaking of First Pahlavi Governments

The first Pahlavi government attempted to centralize the power, homogenize the nation, and modernize the government and nation by force. It attempted to do so due to its pseudo modern absolute nature as well as the historical conditions. Thus, the establishment and continuation of such a government was in conflict with the thoughts of clerics, particularly resistance seeking clerics such as Sayyed Hassan Modarres. Using a descriptive-analytic approach, the present article raises the following question: What were the most effective factors on Sayyed Hassan Modarres's confrontational approach, as a member of parliament, towards the conventionalization policies and separation of religion from politics? The research hypothesis assumes that the religious belief based on regarding as unique the realm of politics and religion as well as the necessity to fight the oppressor in the Shia thinking were among the variables affecting Sayyed Hassan Modarres's parliament behavior towards the government. On this basis, Sayyed Hassan Modarres did not permit the interference of the Pahlavi government, in particular the autocrat Reza Shah, in the area of adopting cultural policies, especially vis-à-vis the clerics because he considered the first Pahlavi government as illegitimate. He also embarked upon confronting it. The findings of this article indicate that the first Pahlavi government embarked on modernizing social and intellectual structures in accordance with western standards, and by inspiring from his Turkish counterpart, Kemal Ataturk, he attempted to grow non-religious conscience to replace traditional concepts and religious loyalty. He further set harsh restrictions and deprivations for religious institutions and clerics, preventing them from holding judicial, educational, and religious positions. This is while, these careers were already done by clerics. Governmental policymakers rationalized that the main reason for the opposition of clerics and lawmakers including Sayyed Hassan Modarres to the government's modernization programs such as clothing uniforms and removing Hijab (Islamic veil) by women was their fundamental opposition to modernizing thecountry. This is while, from the point of view of Sayyed Hassan Modarres, an influential member of parliament, the government's grabbing of the country's endowment, holy shrines, religious schools and votive money given to the holy places, under the pretext of development and modernization, deprived the clerics from financial resources. Furthermore, it hurt the independence of this institution against the government's relentless behavior. On this basis, he rose against the over-dominance, excessive demands and autocracy of the pseudo-modern first Pahlavi government; thus spending years in forced political isolation and exile. As a true advocate of people, he finally lost his life on the path of his Shia beliefs that were based on fighting against the oppressors.