Behbahani family and anti-Sufi discourse in the Qajar period

With the rise of Sufism in the early Qajar period, the conflict between mujtahids and Sufis intensified. The Sufis were trying to regain their former social status, and the mujtahids did not want to give in to these traditional rivals. This caused a new wave of conflict between Shiite mujtahids and Sufis in the Qajar period. This two-sided conflict ceased as much as literary controversy and denial, until in the early Qajar period Mohammad Ali Behbahani and his sons became the leaders of the anti-Sufi discourse. From this period on, the conflict between the Sufis and the jurists is no longer an ideological conflict based on denial, but an attempt to eliminate the rival discourse. The Behbahani family played a prominent role in this anti-Sufi discourse and created a new chapter. The importance of the Behbahanis in this anti-Sufi discourse is both due to the multiplicity of anti-Sufi works of the members of this family and their act of Sufism; This action caused four famous Sufis of the time to be killed, directly or by order of Mohammad Ali Behbahani; An action that has never been seen before in history. This article tries to exclusively study the role of Mohammad Ali Behbahani and his family in strengthening and expanding the anti-Sufi discourse of the early Qajar period