Muhammad Kazim Khurasani
Usul al-Fiqh
2. Leading the first democratic revolution of Asia | |
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Muslim leader | |
Based in | Grand Ayatullah |
Ayatullah Sheikh Muhammad Kazim Khurasani (Persian: محمدکاظم خراسانی; 1839 – 12 December 1911), commonly known as Akhund Khurasani (Persian: آخوند خراسانی)[1][2][3] was a Shia jurist and political activist.[4]
He is known for using his position as a
Along with
When
He is regarded as one of the most important Shia
He became a source of emulation in 1895 and he taught for years in Najaf until his death in 1911 CE and trained a significant number of students from different regions of the Shi'ite world. All major Shia jurists in the twentieth century were in some way related to his circle. He was known for his credibility, independent thinking and intellectual rigor. His most famous work
This book is considered the pinnacle of advanced theology and foundation of Usul al-Fiqh in Shia seminaries of Najaf and Qom. All major Shia jurists following Akhund Khurasani have written commentaries on it, the best known is written by Ayatullah al-Khoei.[13]
Lifestyle and Education
Khurasani was born in Tus, a small town near Mashhad, in 1839 CE. His father, Mullah Hussain Heravi hailed from Herat, who was a cleric and a silk merchant. In 1850, he came to Mashhad to attend a Shi'ite seminary, Madrassa Ismail Khan. By 1856, he had completed the early education (sutuh) and got married.[14]
At age 22, he left for Sabzevar, where he stayed for three months and got familiar with islamic philosophy under Molla Hadi Sabzavari.[15] He wanted to go to Najaf but due to lack of funds, he delayed his departure and stayed in Tehran where he continued Islamic philosophy under Mulla Husayn Khoʾi at the Sadr seminary and completed his studies in Logic.[3][15]
In 1862, he moved to Iraq and in Najaf followed the open lectures of the great Shi'ite jurist Ayatullah Shaykh Murtaza Ansari. Simultaneously he participated in open lectures of Ayatullah Mirza Hassan Shirazi,[15] who later became famous for his campaign against the tobacco concession.[16] He studied about two years under Murtaza Ansari.[3]
After the death of Murtaza Ansari in 1864 CE, Mirza Hassan Shirazi became highest marja-e taqlid ("sources of emulation") of the Shi'ite world.[17] Akhund Khurasani continued studying under him until his migration to Samarra in 1875 CE.[15]
Like most seminary students, Khurasani lived a humble life, and he had to bear loss of loved ones. Because of lack of money, he could only fulfill immediate needs and was content with the basic amenities offered by the office of the Marja.[15]
After marriage, he couldn't take his wife with him to Najaf and left her in Mashhad, due to lack of finances. He was informed of the death of his first child soon after arriving in Najaf. His wife joined him later but in 1864 CE, died after giving birth to the second child. It took years before Akhund decided to marry again in 1873 and had four children: Mirza Mahdi Khurasani (1875–1945), Mirza Muhammad (1877–1937), Mirza Ahmad Kifa’i Khurasani (1912–1971), and Zahra (1891–1956). His second wife died from a chronic illness, and Khurasani married for the last time in 1895 and fathered two sons: Hussain Aqa (1901–?) and Hassan Kifa’i (1902–1954).[18]
As a Marja, Khurasani spent khums money on the neediest of the seminary students and funded the operation of the seminary. He supported public schools that were not necessarily fully religious. He also built three madrassahs in Najaf: in 1903, the Grand School of Akhund (Madrisih-yi Buzurg-i Akhund), in 1908, Akhund's Intermediate School (Madrisat al-Wusta al-Akhund) and in 1910, Akhund's Elementary School (Madrisih-yi Kuchak-i Akhund). He also supported local Persian societies, such as Anjuman-i Ukhuvvat-i Iranian, in Iraq and funded the building of several schools in Kazimayn in 1907, the 'Alawi in Najaf in 1908–1909, and the Husseini in Karbala (probably in 1909), established with the support of Anjuman-i Musawat-i Iranian. Akhund Khurasani would also lend his financial support to democratic societies and political organizations.[19]
Students
He had many famous students who became famous Shi'i scholars. His students include:
- Muhammad Hussain Naini[20]
- Ali Qazi Tabatabai[21][22]
- Agha Zia ol Din Araghi[23]
- Abu l-Hasan al-Isfahani
- Mohammad Hossein Gharavi Esfahani
- Asadullah Mamaghani
Theological Influence and Opinions
After Mirza Shirazi moved to
Books
Akhund Khurasani wrote the following books:
Kifayat al-Usul | al-Fawaid al-Usuliyyah | Khurasani, Muhammad Kazim. "Dhakhīrat al-ʻibād fī yawm al-maʻād". hdl:2027/njp.32101077099818. Retrieved 27 December 2022. )
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al-Hashiyah al-Qadimah | al-Hashiyah al-Mabsut |
al-Hashiyah ‘ala al-Makasib | Takammulah al-Tabsirah | Khurasani, Muhammad Kazim. "Qaṭarāt min yarāʻ baḥr al-ʻulūm, aw, Shadharāt min ʻiqdihā al-manẓūm". Maṭbaʻat al-Wilāyah. . Retrieved 27 December 2022. | Tahrirat fi al-Usul | |
Rasa’il al-‘Amaliyyah | Hashiyyat al-Fara’id al-Qadimah | Hashiyyah ‘Ala Asfar | Khurasani, Muhammad Kazim. "Hādhā kitāb Takmilat al-tabṣirah fī al-fiqh". 880-02Takmilat al-tabṣirah fī al-fiqh. hdl:2027/njp.32101077795860. Retrieved 27 December 2022. )
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Hashiyyah ‘Ala Manzuma al-Sabzivari |
Sharh Li Awail al-Khutabat al-Auwla | Risalah fi Mas’ilah al-Ijarah | Hashiyya ‘Ala Abanat al-Mukhtar | Hashiyyah ‘Ala al-‘Anab al-Iinnah |
Definition of Ijtihad
Akhund Khurasani says that Ijtihad is a process in which jurist "exerts his full capacity in order to arrive at an opinion based on a legitimate legal judgement."[26] According to Akhund, a jurist is obliged to take whatever time he needs to read and research into a matter before giving a reasonable judgement.[27] He says that if his effort produces no result, the jurist must not give his opinion.[28] In such a case, the jurist should obtain further knowledge.[29] Followers are free to decide whom to emulate, and the most important traits of the Source of Emulation (Marja) are his openness towards contemporary issues and willingness to explore traditional and non-traditional knowledge to address needs of the community.[30]
Ijtihad must be time-sensitive
As science and technology progress, social circumstances and lifestyle also change. Language evolves and new concepts emerge. Akhund Khurasani believed that jurisprudential judgement must be time-sensitive. Also, the jurist should be willing to change his opinions based on the needs of the ever changing society. However, he should not interfere in all aspects of people's life, beyond religious affairs.[31] As for the social issues, he favored those reformers who were ready to think outside the box and consider scholarly inputs from other parts of the world. However, his version of secularism was different from western modernists, it was based on the Shia doctrine of occultation of the twelfth imam.[32]
Jurist as a social activist
Like his mentor Ayatullah Murtaza Ansari, Akhund believed that a jurist was not different from ordinary people in the matters of politics, as Shia school of thought did not allow for special political status of jurists. Rather, he believed that scholars could act as "warning voices in society" and criticize the officials who were not doing their responsibilities correctly.[33] He compared the role of scholars with "salt of the earth" in the sense that they prevent "decay of power", should fight against injustice and that they are against "autocratic attitudes".[34] A Marja should act as a social activist, using his rational approach to guide the masses while preserving the pillars of Shia doctrine.[29]
The idea of nation-state
A nation-state is a political unit where the state and nation are congruent.[35][36][37][38] The idea of nation state emerged in west slowly after treaty of Westphalia, as new technology like printing press, invention of engine and other phenomenon changed the societies. When new technologies entered the Muslim world,[39] Akhund Khurasani as a pragmatic jurist supported the idea of nation-state as unity of people and government (Persian: اتحاد دولت و ملت).[40][41] Long before the revolution started, in 1902 he penned a letter to the crown prince of Iran, Muhammad Ali Mirza, in which he argued that the wave of reform that had spread across the western world and resulted in better governance and improved socio-economic conditions, could help treat ills of Iran.[42] He believed the powers of monarch, like British monarchy, need to be limited and the limits be defined by a constitution written by democratic parliament. He agreed to the position of King as a symbol of Iran's history. However, he opposed absolute powers of the King and deemed it responsible for ineffective management and foreign influence.[43]
Secular democracy during Occultation
Persian: سلطنت مشروعه آن است کہ متصدی امور عامه ی ناس و رتق و فتق کارهای قاطبه ی مسلمین و فیصل کافه ی مهام به دست شخص معصوم و موید و منصوب و منصوص و مأمور مِن الله باشد مانند انبیاء و اولیاء و مثل خلافت امیرالمومنین و ایام ظهور و رجعت حضرت حجت، و اگر حاکم مطلق معصوم نباشد، آن سلطنت غیرمشروعه است، چنان کہ در زمان غیبت است و سلطنت غیرمشروعه دو قسم است، عادله، نظیر مشروطه کہ مباشر امور عامه، عقلا و متدینین باشند و ظالمه و جابره است، مثل آنکه حاکم مطلق یک نفر مطلق العنان خودسر باشد. البته به صریح حکم عقل و به فصیح منصوصات شرع «غیر مشروعه ی عادله» مقدم است بر «غیرمشروعه ی جابره». و به تجربه و تدقیقات صحیحه و غور رسی های شافیه مبرهن شده که نُه عشر تعدیات دوره ی استبداد در دوره ی مشروطیت کمتر میشود و دفع افسد و اقبح به فاسد و به قبیح واجب است.[50]
English: "According to Shia doctrine, only the infallible Imam has the right to govern, to run the affairs of the people, to solve the problems of the Muslim society and to make important decisions. As it was in the time of the prophets or in the time of the caliphate of the commander of the faithful, and as it will be in the time of the reappearance and return of the Mahdi. If the absolute guardianship is not with the infallible then it will be a non-islamic government. Since this is a time of occultation, there can be two types of non-islamic regimes: the first is a just democracy in which the affairs of the people are in the hands of faithful and educated men, and the second is a government of tyranny in which a dictator has absolute powers. Therefore, both in the eyes of the Sharia and reason what is just prevails over the unjust. From human experience and careful reflection it has become clear that democracy reduces the tyranny of state and it is obligatory to give precedence to the lesser evil."
— Muhammad Kazim Khurasani
As "sanctioned by sacred law and religion", Akhund believes, a theocratic government can only be formed by the infallible Imam.[51] Aqa Buzurg Tehrani also quoted Akhund Khurasani saying that if there was a possibility of establishment of a truly legitimate Islamic rule in any age, God must end occultation of the Imam of Age. Hence, he refuted the idea of absolute guardianship of jurist.[52] [53] Therefore, according to Akhund, Shia jurists must support the democratic reform. He prefers collective wisdom (Persian: عقل جمعی) over individual opinions, and limits the role of jurist to provide religious guidance in personal affairs of a believer.[54] He 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". Akhund believes that modern secular laws complement traditional religion. He asserts that both religious rulings and the laws outside the scope of religion confront "state despotism".[55] Constitutionalism is based on the idea of defending the "nation's inherent and natural liberties", and as absolute power corrupts, a democratic distribution of power would make it possible for the nation to live up to its full potential.[56]
Democracy protects religion
Akhund believes that democracy provides necessary safeguards for faith to prevail. As it depends on the will of the people and treats all citizens equally, it would respect the religion of the people.[56] A similar argument appears in Ayatullah Sistani's political thought in post-Saddam Iraq.[57] Commenting on the conspiracy theories that Islam was in danger and democracy was intended to make the masses faithless, Akhund Khurasani said that people should benefit from the freedom to organize and create religious societies to preach and make sure that the laws passed by their representatives are based on Ja'fari jurisprudence.[58]
Democracy should include minority voices
Many scholars believe that protection of minority rights is an essential element that distinguishes democracy from majoritarianism and prevents fascist persecution of minorities.[59][60] During the democratic revolution, those who supported dictatorship against democracy, started to portray democracy as a conspiracy of non-Muslim minorities. This resulted in violent attacks against them from thugs, backed by the imperial court's clerical employee Shaykh Fazlullah Nuri.[61] Akhund Khurasani issued a fatwa that made it obligatory for Muslims to protect the rights of non-Muslims. He said:[62]
بسم الله الرحمان الرحیم. ایذاء و تحقیر طایفه ی زردشتیه و سایر اهل ذمه که در حمایت اسلام اند حرام، و بر تمام مسلمین واجب است که وصایای حضرت خاتم النبیین صلی الله علیه و آله الطاهرین را در حسن سلوک و تالیف قلوب و حفظ نفوس و اعراض اموال ایشان کما ینبغی رعایت نمایند و سر مویی تخلف نکنند. ان شاء اللّہ تعالیٰ
من الاحقر محمد کاظم خراسانی[63]
"In the name of Allah,
terrorizing or insulting the
Zoroastriansor other non-Muslims living in peace is forbidden. Muslims are obliged to be kind and generous towards them and protect their lives and properties, as advised by the last prophet, Muhammad (PBUH), by the grace of God."— Muhammad Kazim Khurasani
Akhund Khurasani is praised by Iran's Zoroastrians for his positive role in protecting their rights during the constitutional movement.[61] His legacy was carried on by major Shia jurists that followed. Ayatullah Khoei showed great flexibility and tolerance, for example he considered non-Muslims as equal citizens of the nation-state, stopped the harsh punishments like stoning and favored the use of holy books other than Quran for oaths taken from non-Muslims.[64] In modern Iraq, Ayatullah Sistani has also associated legitimacy of democratic process with inclusion of minority voices.[65] Sistani helped Sunni, Christian, and Yazidi displaced families during the ISIS takeover of Iraq's cities.[66] Ayatullah Fayyad said that the source of emulation has a role to play in equality and unity among Iraq's citizen irrespective of their religion.[67]
Economic independence
Akhund Khurasani believed that economic dependency on colonial powers is one of the major hurdles in achieving maximum liberty. In 1898, a rich trader from Isfahan, Hajj Kaziruni, established a textile company, shirkat-i-islami, and requested Akhund Khurasani for support. He issued a decree stopping his followers from buying British cloth in an attempt to protect the interests of Iranian traders in tough competition.[68] A similar economic boycott was also practiced by indians and other anti-colonial movements of the 20th century as a means of resistance against economic exploitation.[69] Akhund Khurasani supported the idea of establishment of a national bank to facilitate trade, and he kept reminding his followers about the need for economic reforms.[70] He said:
Persian: حکم به وجوب کفایی تعلیم مشق نظامی و تاٴسیس مکاتب و احداث بانک ملی بر وجهی که در ورقه علیٰحده نوشته شدہ و شرح دادہ صحیح و از این خدام شریعت مطهرہ صادر است. حررّہ الاحقر الجانی محمّد کاظم الخراسانی [71]
"The ruling that the learning of modern military skills, establishment of public education school system and creation of a national bank are collective obligation, is issued by me, the humble servant of the religious law, as written and explained in the separate paper."
— Muhammad Kazim Khurasani
Views on modern knowledge
Akhund believed that it was obligatory for believers to attain necessary level of education and skill to be able to protect national and religious interests.[72] He saw democracy as a means to efficient governance that would bring prosperity and prevent colonial influence. He kept pressing for the need for modern schools to provide education to all children, modern economics, establishment of a national bank and industrialization. He believed that modernity would prevent savagery. After describing the need for modern reforms, he said:[70]
Persian: متمرد از آن یا جاهل و احمق است یا معاند دین حنیف اسلام.[73]
"Those who do not accept this fact are either ignorant subordinates or adversaries of the noble Muslim religion."
— Muhammad Kazim Khurasani
He emphasized on the need for establishment of nation-wide school system that would teach modern sciences and operate according to Islamic ethics.[70]
Military and defense
Modernization of the military was of the utmost importance to him, so that the nation-state built in Iran after revolution could defend itself against adversaries.[72] A similar argument can be found in Ayatullah Sistani's stress on state monopoly over violence.[74]
Political activism
The city of Najaf has played the role of nerve center in Shia world through centuries. At the dawn of constitutional revolution, it was here that the political ideas were discussed and the religious secularity of Shia jurisprudence took shape. Many periodicals of the time, especially al-Ghura, Durat al-Najaf, and Najaf, published from the city, reflect the nature of the intellectual exchange during the movement. Other publications, such as the Calcutta-based Habl al-Matin also reached the residents of Najaf.[75]
Najaf had developed its own taste of modernity, distinct from west. These publications advocated the concepts of personal liberty, nation-state, modern sciences, constitutional monarchy and democracy. But they also viewed western colonial advance as intimidating and understood that the only way to fight back was creating a strong and progressive nation.[76]
Akhund Khurasani saw his role as an activist scholar who would interpret the religion according to the needs of the time to persuade the masses to constructive action. He was the main legitimizing force behind modern reforms.[77] He did not shy away from analyzing what the western scholarship had to offer and incorporate it into his doctrine. However, he had his own theoretical foundations for those reforms and his own terminology, based in Shi'i doctrine. He understood how mismanagement, nepotism and corruption had engulfed Iran's economy. He supported a powerless monarch as a symbol of Iran's history but he was also confident in the legacy that he carried of clerical tradition as the guide. Therefore, he was in a position to offer scholarly criticism and evaluation of governance and social conditions. He protected the parliament by issuing clarifications and religious rulings, when it needed his support against the fanatic anti-constitutionalists. Not only that, he gave instructions to different orators and organized clerics of different ranks to stand behind the cause.[78]
The call to political reform
In a letter dated 7 August 1902, Akhund Khurasani and the other two Marja's as co-signatories, wrote to the Crown Prince Muhammad Ali Mirza stressing the need for joining the world community in anticipating modern social reform and uprooting corruption. Referring to the Prince's visit to the west, he said that the old monarchical system of government was going to collapse all over the world and reform was need of the hour. The monarchy could only survive if its powers were limited by constitution.[42]
He stressed the idea of unification of nation and state, and as a rational Usuli jurist, he was able to think out of the box and understand how other nations had progressed as a result of democratic reforms.[40] In the same letter, he presented the idea of nation-state, i.e. unity of the people and government (Persian: اتحاد دولت و ملت). In a letter dated 27 July 1903, he inquired about King's mismanagement of financial sources and lack of funds for financial reforms and military. He also questioned the slow pace of building of the dam in Ahwaz.[79]
The constitutional revolution
The fourth Qajar King,
اساس این مجلس محترم مقدس بر امور مذکور مبتنی است. بر هر مسلمی سعی و اهتمام در استحکام و تشیید این اساس قویم لازم، و اقدام در موجبات اختلال آن محاده و معانده با صاحب شریعت مطهره علی الصادع بها و آله الطاهرین افضل الصلاه و السلام، و خیانت به دولت قوی شوکت است. الاحقر نجل المرحوم الحاج میرزا خلیل قدس سره محمد حسین،
حررّہ الاحقر الجانی محمد کاظم الخراسانی، من الاحقر عبدالله المازندرانی [83]
"Because we are aware of the intended reasons for this institution, it is therefore incumbent on every Muslim to support its foundation, and those who try to defeat it, and their action against it, are considered contrary to shari‘a."
— Mirza Husayn Tehrani, Muhammad Kazim Khurasani, Abdallah Mazandaran.
The Nuri affair
Meanwhile, the new Shah had understood that he could not roll back the constitutional democracy by royalist ideology, and therefore he decided to use the religion card.
The anti-democracy clerics incited violence and one such cleric said that getting in the proximity of the parliament was a bigger sin than adultery, robbery and murder.[91] In Zanjan, Mulla Qurban Ali Zanjani mobilized a force of six hundred thugs who looted shops of pro-democracy merchants and took hold of the city for several days and killed the representative Sa'd al-Saltanih.[47]
Nuri himself recruited mercenaries from criminal gangs to harass the supporters of democracy. On 22 December 1907, Nuri led a mob towards Tupkhanih Square and attacked merchants and looted stores.[93] Nuri's ties to the court of monarchy and landlords reinforced his fanaticism. He even contacted the Russian embassy for support and his men delivered sermons against democracy in mosques, resulting in chaos.[94] Akhund Khurasani was consulted on the matter and in a letter dated 30 December 1907, the three Marja's said:[95]
چون نوری مخل آسائش و مفسد است، تصرفش در امور حرام است.
محمد حسین (نجل) میرزا خلیل، محمد کاظم خراسانی، عبدالله مازندرانی [96]
"Because Nuri is causing trouble and sedition, his interfering in any affair is forbidden."
— Mirza Husayn Tehrani, Muhammad Kazim Khurasani, Abdallah Mazandaran.
However, Nuri continued his activities and a few weeks later Akhund Khurasani and his fellow Marja's argued for his expulsion from Tehran:[97]
رفع اغتشاشات حادثه و تبعید نوری را عاجلاً اعلام.
الداعی محمد حسین نجل المرحوم میرزا خلیل، الداعی محمد کاظم الخراسانی، عبدالله المازندرانی [98]
"Restore peace and expel Nuri as quickly as possible."
— Mirza Husayn Tehrani, Muhammad Kazim Khurasani, Abdallah Mazandaran.
One major concern of Akhund Khurasani and other Marja's was to familiarize the public with the ideas of a democratic nation-state and modern constitution. Akhund Khurasani asked Iranian scholars to deliver sermons on the subject to clarify doubts seeded by Nuri and his comrades. Hajj Shaikh Muhammad Va'iz Isfahani, a skillful orator of Tehran, made concerted efforts to educate the masses.[99] Another scholar, Sayyid Jamal al-Din Va'iz continuously refuted Nuri's propaganda and said that religious tyranny was worse than the temporal tyranny as the harm that the corrupt clerics inflict upon Islam and Muslims is worse. He 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. [100] Mirza Ali Aqa Tabrizi, the enlightened Thiqa tul-islam from Tabriz, wrote a treatise "Lalan"(Persian: لالان).[101] He opposed Nuri saying that only the opinion of the sources of emulation is worthy of consideration in the matters of faith.[62] He wrote:
He who wins his own soul, protects his religion, is against following his desires and is obedient to the command of his Master; that is the person whom the people should take as their model.[101]
And
Let us consider the idea that the constitution is against Sharia law: all oppositions of this kind are in vain because the hujjaj al-islam of the atabat, who are today the models (marja') and the refuge (malija) of all Shiites, have issued clear fatwas that uphold the necessity of the Constitution. Aside from their words, they have also shown this by their actions. They see in Constitution the support for splendour of Islam.[101]
He firmly opposed the idea of a supervisory committee of Tehran's clerics censoring the conduct of the parliament, and said that:
this delicate subject shall be submitted to the atabat, . . . we don't have the right to entrust government to a group of four or five mullahs from Tehran.[101]
As far as Nuri's argument was concerned, Akhund Khurasani refuted it in a light tone by saying that he supported the "parliament at Baharistan Square", questioning the legitimacy of Nuri's assembly at Shah Abdul Azim shrine and their right to decide for the people.[102] Responding to a question about Nouri's arguments, Akhund Muhammad Kazim Khurasani said:[49]
Persian: اگر حاکم مطلق معصوم نباشد، آن سلطنت غیرمشروعه است، چنان کہ در زمان غیبت است و سلطنت غیرمشروعه دو قسم است، عادله، نظیر مشروطه کہ مباشر امور عامه، عقلا و متدینین باشند و ظالمه و جابره است، مثل آنکه حاکم مطلق یک نفر مطلق العنان خودسر باشد. البته به صریح حکم عقل و به فصیح منصوصات شرع «غیر مشروعه ی عادله» مقدم است بر «غیرمشروعه ی جابره» .[50]
English: "If the absolute guardianship is not with the infallible then it will be a non-islamic government. Since this is a time of occultation, there can be two types of non-islamic regimes: the first is a just democracy in which the affairs of the people are in the hands of faithful and educated men, and the second is a government of tyranny in which a dictator has absolute powers. Therefore, both in the eyes of the Sharia and reason what is just prevails over the unjust."
— Muhammad Kazim Khurasani
Akhund made it clear that a truly islamic government can only be formed by the infallible Imam, anyone claiming otherwise is mislead.[51]
His close associate and student, who later rose to the rank of Marja,
‘constitutional’ and ‘oppressive’ are both only adjectives that describe different governments. If the sovereign appropriates all power to himself, for his own personal benefit, then the government is a tyrannical one; if, on the other hand, the sovereign's power is limited by the people, then the government is constitutional. This distinction has nothing to do with religion. Whatever the religion of the inhabitants of a nation, whether they be monotheistic or polytheistic, Muslims or unbelievers, their government could be either constitutional or tyrannical.[54]
Nuri 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.[108] While Nuri confused Sharia with written constitution of a modern society, Akhund Khurasani understood the difference and the function of the two.[109] Nuri founded his arguments on myths and reached illogical conclusion. He had a narrow understanding of modernity and had no alternative to offer.[110] He perceived the new social contract as a threat to his own prestige and lavish lifestyle.[93]