Clericalism in Iran has a long history and had a remarkable impact on Iranian society, politics as well as on Islamic theology.

Emergence

There are controversies about the emergence of clericalism in Iran. Some scholars believe that clericalism dates back to 1000 years ago.

Schools

Shia: *

Najaf Najaf ( ar, ٱلنَّجَف) or An-Najaf al-Ashraf ( ar, ٱلنَّجَف ٱلْأَشْرَف), also known as Baniqia ( ar, بَانِيقِيَا), is a city in central Iraq about 160 km (100 mi) south of Baghdad. Its estimated popula ...

seminaries * Qom seminaries *

Mashhad Mashhad ( fa, مشهد, Mašhad ), also spelled Mashad, is the List of Iranian cities by population, second-most-populous city in Iran, located in the relatively remote north-east of the country about from Tehran. It serves as the capital of R ...

Seminaries Sunni: *

Zahedan Zahedan ( Balochi and fa, , ' ) is a city and capital of Sistan and Baluchestan Province, Iran. At the 2016 census, its population was 587,730. The city was the site of a deadly crackdown in October 2022, with dozens citizens killed by pro- ...

seminaries Structure and functions: Over the course of history, Iranian seminaries have had traditional functions in the religious sphere to provide support to civil society in the country. However, after the Iranian revolution in 1979, seminaries have been highly politicized and their independence greatly reduced. The revolution created a new political order based on Shiite theological foundations and the absolute ruling power was given to a Shiite jurist/cleric. The history of Qom seminaries dates back to 3rd century (Hijri). Hossein Ibn Said Ahvazi, a famous theologian, moved from Kufa to Qom. He educated the first generation of clerics in Qom.طظˆط²ظ‡ - ظ…ظ‚ط§ظ„ط§طھ -طظˆط²ظ‡ ط¹ظ„ظ…غŒظ‡ ظ‚ظ… - ط³غŒط¯ع©ط¨ط§ط±غŒطŒ ط³غŒط¯ ط¹ظ„غŒط±ط¶ط§
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Impact on Economy

Many clerics have been involved in high-profile economic activities, most notably

Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani ( fa, اکبر هاشمی رفسنجانی, Akbar Hāshemī Rafsanjānī, born Akbar Hashemi Bahramani, 25 August 1934 – 8 January 2017) was an Iranian politician, writer, and one of the founding fathers of the Islami ...

Abbas Vaez-Tabasi Abbas Vaez Tabasi ( fa, عباس واعظ طبسی; 25 June 1935 – 4 March 2016) was an influential Iranian cleric who held memberships at different institutions. He was Grand Imam and Chairman of the Astan Quds Razavi board from 1979 until his ...

and Nasser Makarem Shirazi.

Impact on Iranian Politics

;Clerics involved in politics during

Safavid Safavid Iran or Safavid Persia (), also referred to as the Safavid Empire, '. was one of the greatest Iranian empires after the 7th-century Muslim conquest of Persia, which was ruled from 1501 to 1736 by the Safavid dynasty. It is often conside ...

and

Qajar Qajar Iran (), also referred to as Qajar Persia, the Qajar Empire, '. Sublime State of Persia, officially the Sublime State of Iran ( fa, دولت علیّه ایران ') and also known then as the Guarded Domains of Iran ( fa, ممالک م ...

era *

Allameh Majlesi Mohammad Baqer Majlesi (b. 1037/1628-29 – d. 1110/1699) ( fa, علامه مجلسی ''Allameh Majlesi''; also Romanized as: Majlessi, Majlisi, Madjlessi), known as Allamah Majlesi or Majlesi Al-Thani (Majlesi the Second), was a renowned and v ...

Mirza Shirazi al-Mujadid al-Shirazi, ar, المجدد الشيرازي , birth_name = , birth_date = April 25, 1815 , birth_place = Shiraz, Qajar Iran , death_date = , death_place = Samarra, Ottoman Iraq , resting_ ...

*Seyyed

Jamaluddin Asadabadi Sayyid Jamāl al-Dīn al-Afghānī (Pashto/ fa, سید جمال‌‌‌الدین افغانی), also known as Sayyid Jamāl ad-Dīn Asadābādī ( fa, سید جمال‌‌‌الدین اسد‌آبادی) and commonly known as Al-Afghani (1 ...

(Afghan) ; Clerics involved in the

Iranian Constitutional Revolution The Persian Constitutional Revolution ( fa, مشروطیت, Mashrūtiyyat, or ''Enghelāb-e Mashrūteh''), also known as the Constitutional Revolution of Iran, took place between 1905 and 1911. The revolution led to the establishment of a par ...

*Seyyed Mohammad Tabataba'i *Seyyed Abdollah Behbehani * Sheikh Mohammad Khiabani * Mohammad Kazem Khorasani * Sheikh Fazlollah Nouri (against the Constitutional Revolution) *

Mohammed Kazem Yazdi Mohammed Kazem Tabataba'i Yazdi (; 1831–1919) was a Twelver Shia Marja' based in Najaf, most famous for compiling a collection of religious rulings, al-Urwa al-wuthqa. Constitutional Revolution He was apolitical, and therefore during the Iran ...

(against the Constitutional Revolution) ;Influential Clerics of the Pahlavi era *Seyyed

Hassan Modarres Seyyed Hassan Modarres ( fa, سید حسن مدرس c. 1870 Sarabeh, 1 December 1937, Kashmar) was an Iranian Twelver Shi'a cleric and a notable supporter of the Iranian Constitutional Revolution. He was among the founding members, along with Abdo ...

*Seyyed Abolghasem Kashani *

Navvab Safavi Sayyid Mojtaba Mir-Lohi ( fa, سيد مجتبی میرلوحی, 1924 – 18 January 1956), more commonly known as Navvab Safavi ( fa, نواب صفوی), was an Iranian Shia cleric and founder of the Fada'iyan-e Islam group. He played a role in ...

*Sheikh

Mohammad Taghi Falsafi Mohammad Taghi Falsafi ( fa, محمدتقی فلسفی) was an Iranian Ayatollah and preacher. He was a campaigner against the regime of Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi. Many of his lectures was about psychology, ethics and mental development. During ...

150px, Sayyid Ruhollah Khomeini, the founder of Islamic Republic of Iran ;Clerics involved in the

Iranian Revolution The Iranian Revolution ( fa, انقلاب ایران, Enqelâb-e Irân, ), also known as the Islamic Revolution ( fa, انقلاب اسلامی, Enqelâb-e Eslâmī), was a series of events that culminated in the overthrow of the Pahlavi dynas ...

Ruhollah Khomeini Ruhollah Khomeini, Ayatollah Khomeini, Imam Khomeini ( , ; ; 17 May 1900 – 3 June 1989) was an Iranian political and religious leader who served as the first supreme leader of Iran from 1979 until his death in 1989. He was the founder of ...

* Hosseinali Montazeri *

Morteza Motahhari Morteza Motahhari ( fa, مرتضی مطهری, also Romanized as "Mortezā Motahharī"; 31 January 1919 – 1 May 1979) was an Iranian Twelver Shia scholar, philosopher, lecturer. Motahhari is considered to have an important influence on th ...

Mohammad Beheshti Mohammad Hosseini Beheshti ( fa, سیّد محمد حسینی بهشتی; 24 October 1928 – 28 June 1981) was an Iranian jurist, philosopher, cleric and politician who was known as the second person in the political hierarchy of Iran after t ...

; Clerics acting as high officials SEYYED ALI KHAMENEHEI - LEADER OF IRAN

Ali Khamenei Sayyid Ali Hosseini Khamenei ( fa, سید علی حسینی خامنه‌ای, ; born 19 April 1939) is a Twelver Shia ''marja and the second and current Supreme Leader of Iran, in office since 1989. He was previously the third president o ...

Mohammad Khatami Sayyid Mohammad Khatami ( fa, سید محمد خاتمی, ; born 14 October 1943) is an Iranian politician who served as the fifth president of Iran from 3 August 1997 to 3 August 2005. He also served as Iran's Minister of Culture from 1982 to ...

Hassan Rouhani Hassan Rouhani ( fa, حسن روحانی, Standard Persian pronunciation: ; born Hassan Fereydoun ( fa, حسن فریدون, links=no); 12 November 1948) is an Iranian politician who served as the seventh president of Iran from 2013 to 2021. ...

Mohammad Yazdi Mohammad Yazdi ( fa, محمد یزدی, 2 July 1931 – 9 December 2020) was an Iranian conservative and principlist cleric who served as the head of Judiciary System of Iran between 1989 and 1999. In 2015, he was elected to lead Iran's Assembl ...

Ali Meshkini Ali Akbar Feiz Aleni ( fa, علی‌اکبر فیض آلنی; 2 December 1921 – 30 July 2007), better known as Ali Meshkini, was an Iranian cleric and politician. Life Meshkini was an Iranian Azerbaijani born in a village near Meshkin Shahr ...

Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi Sayyid Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi ( fa, سید محمود هاشمی شاهرودی, 15 August 1948 – 24 December 2018) was an Iranian Twelver Shia cleric and conservative politician who was the Chairman of the Expediency Discernment Council fr ...

Ahmad Jannati Ahmad Jannati ( fa, احمد جنتی, born 23 February 1927) is an Iranian conservative politician. He was born in Ladan, Isfahan. Jannati is known for his anti-LGBT rhetoric and opposition to secularism. He is also a founding member of the Ha ...

Mehdi Karroubi Mehdi Karroubi ( fa, مهدی کروبی, Mehdi Karrubi, born 26 September 1937) is an Iranian Shia cleric and Iranian reform movement, reformist politician leading the National Trust Party (Iran), National Trust Party. Following 2009–2010 Iran ...

Ebrahim Raisi Sayyid Ebrahim Raisolsadati ( fa, سید ابراهیم رئیس‌الساداتی; born 14 December 1960), commonly known as Ebrahim Raisi ( fa, ابراهیم رئیسی ), is an Iranian principlist politician, Muslim jurist, and the eight ...

* Ahmad Khatami *

Sadeq Larijani Sadeq Ardeshir Larijani ( fa, صادق اردشیر لاریجانی; born 12 March 1961), better known as Amoli Larijani ( fa, آملی لاریجانی), is an Iranian scholar, conservative politician, and current chairman of Expediency Discern ...

;Political parties founded by clerics *

Association of Combatant Clerics The Association of Combatant Clerics ( fa, مجمع روحانیون مبارز, ''Majma'-e rowhāniyūn-e mobārez'') is an Iranian reformist clerical political party. It is regarded as a left-wing party within the Iranian political spectrum. Hi ...

Combatant Clergy Association The Combatant Clergy Association ( fa, جامعۀ روحانیت مبارز, jâmeʿe-ye rowhâniyat-e mobârez) is a politically active group in Iran, but not a political party in the traditional sense. It has never been registered as a politica ...

;Institutions exclusively associated with clerics *

Special Clerical Court Special Clerical Court, or Special Court for Clerics ( fa, دادگاه ویژه روحانیت) is a special Iranian court system for prosecuting Islamic clergymen and scholars accused of improper activity and conduct unbecoming of a cleric. The ...

Impact on other societies

Ali Sistani Ali al-Husayni al-Sistani ( ar, علي الحسيني السيستاني; fa, , Ali-ye Hoseyni-ye Sistāni; born 4 August 1930), commonly known as Ayatollah Sistani, is an Iranian–Iraqi Twelver Shia Ayatollah and marja'. He has been describe ...

References