Feyziyya School ( fa, مدرسه فیضیه) is an old school in Iran that was founded in the

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 ...

era. The school has been listed as one of Iran's national monuments as of January 29, 2008. The school served as a focal point for clerical opposition to Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi's

White Revolution The White Revolution ( fa, انقلاب سفید ''Enqelāb-e Sefid'') or the Shah and People Revolution ( fa, انقلاب شاه و مردم ''Enqelāb-e Shāh o Mardom'') was a far-reaching series of reforms resulting in aggressive moderniz ...

. In 1963 on

Ashura Ashura (, , ) is a day of commemoration in Islam. It occurs annually on the 10th of Muharram, the first month of the Islamic calendar. Among Shia Muslims, Ashura is observed through large demonstrations of high-scale mourning as it marks the ...

, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini delivered a speech at the school denouncing the Shah, and was arrested as a result.

Background

The Feyziyya School was founded in Qom during the

era. An epigraph on the south veranda dates its construction to the reign of

Shah Tahmasp Tahmasp I ( fa, طهماسب, translit=Ṭahmāsb or ; 22 February 1514 – 14 May 1576) was the second shah of Safavid Iran from 1524 to 1576. He was the eldest son of Ismail I and his principal consort, Tajlu Khanum. Ascending the throne after t ...

. A school by the name of ''Astana'' existed at the site, from the 6th century until the 11th. Reconstruction was carried out under the Safavids and the school was renamed Feyziyya. The school was rebuilt and extended under

Fath-Ali Shah Fath-Ali Shah Qajar ( fa, فتحعلى‌شاه قاجار, Fatḥ-ʻAli Šâh Qâjâr; May 1769 – 24 October 1834) was the second Shah (king) of Qajar Iran. He reigned from 17 June 1797 until his death on 24 October 1834. His reign saw the irr ...

in 1792. The school has 40 rooms on the first floor, 4 long veranda, 12 stalls and a square pool.

History

Opposition to the White Revolution

In 1963

Mohammad Reza Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi ( fa, محمدرضا پهلوی, ; 26 October 1919 – 27 July 1980), also known as Mohammad Reza Shah (), was the last ''Shah'' (King) of the Imperial State of Iran from 16 September 1941 until his overthrow in the Irani ...

announced a program of reform he labeled the

. Members of the Iranian clergy were angered by proposed land reforms and protested against these changes. The Shah himself traveled to Qom and announced the clergy black reactionaries worse than the red reactionaries and a hundred times more treacherous than the (communist) tudeh party during his speech. On 26 January 1963, he held a referendum to get the appearance of public support in which 5.6 million against 4.1 people vote for the reformation. The referendum was a good excuse for the government to take tougher practical action against the clergy and on 22 March 1963, coinciding with the death day of

Ja'far al-Sadiq Jaʿfar ibn Muḥammad ibn ʿAlī al-Ṣādiq ( ar, جعفر بن محمد الصادق; 702 – 765 CE), commonly known as Jaʿfar al-Ṣādiq (), was an 8th-century Shia Muslim scholar, jurist, and theologian.. He was the founder of th ...

, the Shah's guards attacked Feyziyeh School and kill students and people. According to Daniel Brumberg, the regime persuaded the thugs to attack the students of Feyziyeh School. In response Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini announced the new year of 1963 as a day of public mourning. 15khordad1

Khomeini's sermon

On the afternoon of June 3, 1963,

, Khomeini delivered a speech at the Feyziyeh school in which he denounced the

Shah Shah (; fa, شاه, , ) is a royal title that was historically used by the leading figures of Iranian monarchies.Yarshater, EhsaPersia or Iran, Persian or Farsi, ''Iranian Studies'', vol. XXII no. 1 (1989) It was also used by a variety of ...

as a "wretched, miserable man", and warned him that if he did not change his ways the day would come when the people would offer up thanks for his departure from the country. His speech was heavily attended, to the extent that all of Feyziyeh's and Daralshafa’s courtyard, the courtyard of the shrine of Fatimah al-Ma‘sumah, the Astana square and the surrounding were full of people. On 5 June 1963 at 3 am, two days later, police and commandos entered Khomeini's home in Qom and arrested him. They hurriedly transferred him to the

Qasr Prison The Museum of the Qasr Prison ( fa, موزه‌ زندان قصر ''muze-ye zendān-e qasr'') is a historical complex in Tehran, Iran. Formerly referred to as the Qasr Prison ( ''zendān-e qasr'', "Mansion prison"), it was one of the oldest poli ...

in Tehran. These events triggered the

Movement of 15 Khordad The demonstrations of June 5 and 6, also called the events of June 1963 or (using the Iranian calendar) the 15 Khordad uprising ( fa, تظاهرات پانزده خرداد), were protests in Iran against the arrest of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomein ...

Registration in the National Monument

The Feyziyya school was registered as one of Iran's national monuments on January 29, 2008.

References