Religious Courts in the Time of Qajar Dynasty (Up to Constitutional Revolution)

Appearance and existence of religious courts in the structure of judgment and legal system of the history of the Islamic Iran is quite obvious and undeniable. In the present study, it is attempted to describe and elucidate the function of above ¬mentioned courts in the Qajar dynasty qualitatively according to the research methods in history. Findings indicated that in the Qajar time religious authorities had important role in arbitration of legal amlirs-beside secular courts and authorities in the different private or public rights dimensions- such as offences against dignity and retributive affairs under the appellation of Mojtahcd, Sheikh-ol-Eslam, Ghazi, Ghazi Askar and Sadr. Afore-mentioned authorities, except Mojtahed, were selected by government and limitation of their duties and their interrelationship to each other and sometimes to secular authorities were not manifested distinctly.The total function of the religious court's authority is assessed with appreciation and criticism.