An Analysis of Mīrzā Nāʾīnī’s Plan for Opposing Despotism

Document Type : Research Paper

Author

Associate Professor of Public Law, Department of Law, Faculty of Humanities, Bu-Ali Sina University, Hamadan, Iran

10.22081/psq.2025.70422.2923

Abstract

This study aims to outline the innovative framework proposed by Mīrzā Nāʾīnī against despotism. The Iranian Constitutional Movement sought to limit the absolute power wielded by the ruler of Iran at the time. Above all, this required theoretical foundations that could both demonstrate the necessity of limiting power and provide grounds for opposing despotism. It is in this context that Nāʾīnī’s project can be understood. The central question is: through what framework and in what stages did Nāʾīnī articulate his opposition to despotism? The research method is descriptive-analytical, with primary emphasis placed on the text of Tanbīh al-umma. The study concludes that Nāʾīnī, through a subtle framework comprising seven stages, mounted a powerful attack against the concept of despotism. First, he observes that every community requires a government, and
that one form of government is the tamlīkī (ownership-transferring) government, whose defining feature is despotism. Nāʾīnī then examines the characteristics of despotic rule and its destructive consequences, endeavoring to show that Islam and the foundations of Shiite thought are fundamentally opposed to despotism and incompatible with it. Subsequently, he offers a detailed classification and explanation of different types of despotism. Toward the end of the book, Nāʾīnī investigates the major causes and factors behind the emergence of despotism in a society and the drift of governments toward despotic rule. He concludes by proposing several solutions for overcoming despotism. Nāʾīnī’s meticulous approach in opposing despotism is a significant aspect that has received relatively little attention. Indeed, it can be argued that his defense of concepts such as freedom, equality, and constitutionalism, as well as his defense of institutions like parliament, all converge on a single point: his opposition to despotism. This opposition, in fact, constitutes the focal point of his thought.

Keywords

References

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