Mirza Ali-Aqa Tabrizi, () known as Thiqat-ul-Islam Tabrizi (; January 19, 1861 - December 31, 1911) was an Iranian nationalist who lived in

Tabriz Tabriz ( fa, تبریز ; ) is a city in northwestern Iran, serving as the capital of East Azerbaijan Province. It is the List of largest cities of Iran, sixth-most-populous city in Iran. In the Quri Chay, Quru River valley in Iran's historic Aze ...

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

, during 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 ...

and was a reformist Shia cleric. He was hanged by Russian troops with 12 other Iranians in Bagh-e Shomal at the age of 50 during

Russian Invasion of Tabriz, 1911 The Russian occupation of Tabriz lasted from 30 April 1909 until 28 February 1918, with a brief interruption during 6–31 January 1915. V. Minorsky, C. E. Bosworth and Sheila S. Blair, "Tabriz", in C. E. Bosworth (ed.), ''Historic Cities of the ...

. He is buried in Mausoleum of Poets, Tabriz.

Early life and education

He was born in Tabriz in 1861. His father Haj Mirza Sahfie Sadr, Thiqa tul-Islam of Tabriz, was a dominant figure in the

Tobacco Protest The Persian Tobacco Protest (Persian: نهضت تنباکو ''nehzat-e tanbāku'') was a Shia Muslim revolt in Iran against an 1890 tobacco concession granted by Nasir al-Din Shah of Persia to the United Kingdom, granting British control over g ...

. Ali Aqa studied in Tabriz,

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 ...

, and

Karbala Karbala or Kerbala ( ar, كَرْبَلَاء, Karbalāʾ , , also ;) is a city in central Iraq, located about southwest of Baghdad, and a few miles east of Lake Milh, also known as Razzaza Lake. Karbala is the capital of Karbala Governorat ...

. After the death of his father he was given the title of Thiqa tul-Islam by the king

Mozaffar ad-Din Shah Qajar Mozaffar ad-Din Shah Qajar ( fa, مظفرالدین شاه قاجار, Mozaffar ad-Din Ŝāh-e Qājār; 23 March 1853 – 3 January 1907), was the fifth shah of Qajar Iran, reigning from 1896 until his death in 1907. He is often credited with t ...

Ideas

Public awareness

He was one of the influential intellectuals among the people of

. During the first democratic revolution of Asia, the

Constitutional Revolution of Iran 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 ...

, one major concern of Akhund Khurasani and other pro-democracy Marja's was to familiarize the public with the idea of a democratic nation-state () and modern constitution. The enlightened Thiqa tul-islam from Tabriz, wrote a treatise “''Lalan''”(). In his essays, Thiqat al-Islam Tabrizi mentions his sermons that he was delivering in

to explain the core concepts of democracy, that helped the junior clerics increase their knowledge about modern statehood and plan their speeches.

Views about modern knowledge

Thiqat-ul-Islam showed unwavering support for modern knowledge and technology, and saw it necessary means to avoid colonial takeover of Iran. He said:

Human liberty

Thiqa tul-Islam saw democratic freedom and liberty as God's special gift. He said: He saw freedom of press and of personal expression as the instruments for obeying the Quranic command of enjoining the good and forbidding the evil.

Confronting bigotry

When

Fazlullah Nouri Sheikh Fazlollah bin Abbas Mazindarani (; 24 December 1843 – 31 July 1909), also known as Fazlollah Noori (), was a twelver Shia Muslim scholar and politician in Qajar Iran during the late 19th and early 20th century and founder of islamis ...

tried to get a veto power for his Tehran based mullah-comrades under the banner of Jurist Council, Mirza Ali Aqa opposed the idea saying that only the opinion of the sources of emulation is worthy of consideration in the matters of faith. He wrote: Akhund Khurasani, Mirza Husayn Tehrani, and Abdullah Mazandarani

Akhund Khurasani, Mirza Husayn Tehrani, and Abdullah Mazandarani

And He firmly opposed the idea of a supervisory committee of Tehran's clerics censoring the conduct of the parliament, and said that: During the period of “''Lesser Despotism”'', he played a key role in bringing the people of Tabriz together in support of democracy and tried to minimize bloodshed. Akhund Khurasani wrote a personal letter of support to him, praising his efforts to preserve religious values, educating the public about core national interests, bringing the people and the leadership closer and opposing foreign exploitation.

The term ''Ayatullah''

He was the first one to use the term ''Ayatullah'' for the sources of emulation in

Assassination

First Series of executions, Russian Occupation of Tabriz, 1911

After the conclusion of the Tabriz Siege by Russian forces a conflict between the Russian forces and the revolutionaries broke out on December 21, 1911. The Russians insisted that he should sign a letter confirming the responsibility of revolutionaries in starting the conflict. He refused, and Russians hanged him with twelve others on the day of Ashura, December 31, 1911. The Russians continued to kill the constitutional revolutionaries of Tabriz and their relatives ''en masse'' and many civilians of Tabriz as well. The total number of executions is estimated to have been about 1,200. V. Minorsky, C. E. Bosworth and Sheila S. Blair, "Tabriz", in C. E. Bosworth (ed.), ''Historic Cities of the Islamic World'' (Leiden: Brill, 2007), pp. 486–498, at 496. Seqat ol Eslam Tabrizi 1

The original photography of his hanging is currently shown in

Azerbaijan Museum Azerbaijan Museum is the major archaeological and historical museum in Tabriz, in the northwest part of Iran (East Azerbaijan Province). It was established in April 1958. The museum consists of three major halls, a side yard, office rooms and a l ...

Legacy

His life was depicted in the TV-series ''Seghatolislam'' by Hojjat Ghasem-Zadeh-Asl, produced by

Sahar TV Sahar TV (, ''Shibkâh-e Siher'', ''SAHARTV''), is the name of an Iranian TV channels that is part of Sahar Universal Network (SUN) which is the branch of Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting responsible for broadcasting programs international ...

(also see the :fr:Sahar TV French page).

Bibliography

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ʿALĪ ĀQĀ TABRĪZĪ, MIRZA

Encyclopædia Iranica ''Encyclopædia Iranica'' is a project whose goal is to create a comprehensive and authoritative English language encyclopedia about the history, culture, and civilization of Iranian peoples from prehistory to modern times. Scope The ''Encycl ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tabrizi, Seqat-Ol-Eslam 1861 births 1911 deaths Executed Iranian people People executed by the Russian Empire People executed by the Russian Empire by hanging People of the Persian Constitutional Revolution People from Tabriz Iranian revolutionaries Burials in Maqbaratoshoara