53 Facts About Fazlullah Nouri

Fazlullah Nouri was hanged as a traitor in 1909 by a court of the constitutionalist government for "sowing corruption and sedition on earth".

Fazlullah Nouri joined the Shah in a vigorous propaganda campaign against modern parliamentary system, insisting that the role of the elected parliament was as a forum for consultation, whereas the laws should come only from Sharia.

Fazlullah Nouri is reported to have enjoyed high respect in King's court.

Fazlullah Nouri changed his political stance according to his evaluation of the power equation.

In 1880s, Fazlullah Nouri was drawn into politics in response to the Qajar government's increasing business concession to foreign businessmen.

Fazlullah Nouri awarded William Knox D'Arcy, a British subject, the rights to oil in most of the country in 1901.

At the dawn of the democratic movement, Sheikh Fadlullah Fazlullah Nouri, supported the sources of emulation in Najaf in their stance on constitutionalism and the belief that people must counter the autocratic regime in the best way, that is constitution of legislature and limiting the powers of the state; hence, once constitutional movement began, he made speeches and distributed tracts to insist on this important thing.

However, when the new Shah, Muhammad Ali Shah Qajar, decided to role back democracy and establish his authority by military and foreign support, Shaikh Fazlullah Nouri sided with the King's court.

Fazlullah Nouri was a rich and high-ranking Qajar court official responsible for conducting marriages and contracts.

Fazlullah Nouri handled wills of wealthy men and collected religious funds.

Fazlullah Nouri was opposed to the very foundations of the institution of parliament.

Fazlullah Nouri led a large group of followers and began a round-the-clock sit-in in the Shah Abdul Azim shrine on June 21,1907, which lasted till September 16,1907.

Fazlullah Nouri believed democracy will allow for "teaching of chemistry, physics and foreign languages", that would result in spread of Atheism.

Fazlullah Nouri bought a printing press and launched a newspaper of his own for propaganda purposes, "Ruznamih-i-Shaikh Fazlullah", and published leaflets.

Fazlullah Nouri believed that the ruler was accountable to no institution other than God and people have no right to limit the powers or question the conduct of the King.

Fazlullah Nouri declared that those who supported democratic form of government were faithless and corrupt, and apostates.

Fazlullah Nouri hated the idea of female education and said that girls schools were brothels.

Fazlullah Nouri believed that people were cattle, but paradoxically, he wanted to "awaken the muslim brethren".

Ironically, Fazlullah Nouri had close connections to the foreigners whose cultural contamination he preached against.

Shayh Fazlullah Nouri had been on good terms with the Russians since the turn of the century.

Fazlullah Nouri had refused to support the early bazaar protests against the Europeans in charge of collecting customs dues.

Fazlullah Nouri had organized an anticonstitutionalist rally in June 1907 after obtaining funds from the same Russian bank.

Fazlullah Nouri himself recruited mercenaries from criminal gangs to harass the supporters of democracy.

On December 22,1907, Fazlullah Nouri led a mob towards Tupkhanih Square and attacked merchants and looted stores.

Fazlullah Nouri even contacted the Russian embassy for support and his men delivered sermons against democracy in mosques, resulting in chaos.

However, Fazlullah Nouri continued his activities and a few weeks later Akhund Khurasani and his fellow Marja's argued for his expulsion from Tehran:.

Fazlullah Nouri advised the Shia masses to not pay attention to everyone with a turban on his head, rather they should listen to the guidelines of the sources of emulation in Najaf.

Fazlullah Nouri opposed Nuri saying that only the opinion of the sources of emulation is worthy of consideration in the matters of faith.

Fazlullah Nouri firmly opposed the idea of a supervisory committee of Tehran's clerics censoring the conduct of the parliament, and said that:.

Fazlullah Nouri said that an imitator should not follow the jurist if he supports democracy:.

Fazlullah Nouri declared his full support for constitutional democracy and announced that objection to "foundations of constitutionalism" was un-Islamic.

Fazlullah Nouri said that an Islamic system of governance can not be established without the infallible Imam leading it.

Fazlullah Nouri defines democracy as a system of governance that enforces a set of "limitations and conditions" on the head of state and government employees so that they work within "boundaries that the laws and religion of every nation determines".

Fazlullah Nouri asserts that both religious rulings and the laws outside the scope of religion confront "state despotism".

Fazlullah Nouri maintained that in the absence of Imam Mahdi, all governments are doomed to be imperfect and unjust, and therefore people had to prefer the bad over the worse.

Fazlullah Nouri said that both the "tyrannical Ulema" and the radical societies who promoted majoritarianism were a threat to both Islam and democracy.

Fazlullah Nouri devoted large section of his book to definition and condemnation of religious tyranny.

Fazlullah Nouri then went on to defend people's freedom of opinion and expression, equality of all citizens in eyes of the nation-state regardless of their religion, separation of the legislative, executive and judicial powers, accountability of the King, people's right to share power.

Fazlullah Nouri interpreted Sharia in a self-serving and shallow way, unlike Akhund Khurasani who, as a well received source of emulation, viewed the adherence to religion in a society beyond one person or one interpretation.

Fazlullah Nouri tried to get support from Ayatullah Kazim Yazdi, another prominent Marja of Najaf.

Fazlullah Nouri was apolitical, and therefore during the Iranian Constitutional Revolution, he stayed neutral most of the times and seldom issued any political statement.

Fazlullah Nouri said that modern industries were permissible unless explicitly prohibited by Sharia.

Fazlullah Nouri agreed with teaching of modern sciences, and added that the state should not intervene the centers of religious learning.

In law-making, unlike Fazlullah Nouri, he separated the religious and public law.

Fazlullah Nouri's opinion was that the personal and family matters should be settled in religious courts by jurists, and the governmental affairs and matters of state should be taken care of by modern judiciary.

Fazlullah Nouri saw democracy as a means to efficient governance that would bring prosperity and prevent colonial influence.

Fazlullah Nouri kept pressing for the need for modern schools to provide education to all children, modern economics, establishment of a national bank and industrialization.

Fazlullah Nouri emphasized on the need for establishment of nation-wide school system that would teach modern sciences and operate according to Islamic ethics.

Fazlullah Nouri allied himself with the new Shah, Mohammad Ali Shah Qajar, who, with the assistance of Russian troops staged a coup against the Majlis in 1907.

Fazlullah Nouri was arrested, tried and found guilty of "sowing corruption and sedition on earth," and in July 1909, Fazlullah Nouri was hanged as a traitor.

Fazlullah Nouri has been influential in various phases of the process and if constitutionality is the first real ground for the serious confrontation between religion and modernism, in those days, Sheikh sided for the defense of religion and paid a great expense for it.

Fazlullah Nouri is "hailed as a champion who had fought against corrupt Western values", in Tehran a major expressway is named after him, and features "a huge mural commemorating him".

Fazlullah Nouri's grandson, Noureddin Kianouri, was an architect and high-ranking official in the Iranian communist party; he was arrested in 1983, tortured, and forced to deliver a televised confession.