Shiites and Government: A Case Study of the Position of Shiite Clergymen on the Reign of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi (1961-1979)

Based on their belief in the principle of Imamate, Shiites generally deny the legitimacyof governments. However, the lack of legitimacy of rulers in Shiite thought has notnecessarily led to active opposition against the rulers. "is article explores the question:in practice, how did the clergymen interact with and confront the government during1961-1979? To answer the question, the historical interpretation method has been used,and an eort has been made to inductively discern the way clergymen interacted withthe government in the period in question through the study of existing records anddocuments. Findings show that, in this period, clergymen and ulama had four dierentapproaches to dealing with the government: 1) compulsory support 2) nonviolentresistance 3) non-revolutionary opposition 4) revolutionary opposition. "e conclusionis that although the clergymen and ulama had various positions and approaches indealing with the government, all of them determined their method of interaction withthe government on the basis of their viewpoint about current conditions and from areligious perspective