sunni survival in safavid iran

International Society for Iranian Studies

Sunni Survival in Safavid Iran: Anti-Sunni Activities during the Reign of Tahmasp IAuthor(s): Rosemary Stanfield JohnsonSource: Iranian Studies, Vol. 27, No. 1/4, Religion and Society in Islamic Iran during the Pre-Modern Era (1994), pp. 123-133Published by: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. on behalf of International Society for Iranian StudiesStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4310889 .

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Iranian Studies, volume 27, numbers 1-4, 1994

Rosemary Stanfield Johnson

Sunni Survival in Safavid Iran: Anti-Sunni Activities during the Reign of Tahmasp I

It has traditionally been taught that Iran, a Sunni polity for many centuries, was converted to Twelver Shi'ism virtually overnight when the armies backing the Safavid house took power in 907/1501. In recent years scholars have begun to question the manner and rapidity of the process of conversion, what it meant to be "Shi'i" or "Sunni" in sixteenth-century Iran, and what, if anything, can be said about Safavid Sunnism.

It has been noted that Sunnism in Iran was phased out only gradually. For example, there are references in the Persian chronicles to persecution of Sunnis as late as 1017/1608.1 Some sources suggest that Sunni influence persisted at the court of Shah Tahmasp and name prominent Sunnis during his reign.2 As late as the second decade of the eighteenth century, the conqueror of Isfahan, Mahmud Afghan, attempted to alter the balance of population in the city by relocating 5,000 Sunni families from Hamadan.3 Certain studies have dealt with Shi'i- Sunni sectarianism in connection with Safavid-Ottoman and Safavid-Uzbek con- flicts; others have called attention to the difficult process of transforming the ba- sis of Iran's legal institutions from Sunni to Twelver Shi'ite jurisprudence.4 Little has been done, however, on the question of Sunnism within Iran's borders

1. Said Arjomand, The Shadow of God and the Hidden Imam (Chicago, 1984), 119- 21. 2. See the primary source consulted for this paper, Mirza Makhdum Sharifi, al-

Nawaqid li-bunyan al-rawdfid (British*Museum, Or. 7991), f. 172b. See also Burhdn al-futuh (British Museum Library, Or. 1884), ff. 193b-194a. 3. Petros de Sarkis Gilanentz, The Chronicle of Petros de Sarkis Gilanentz, tr. Caro

Owen Minasian (Lisbon: 1959), 35. 4. Bianca Scarcia-Amoretti, "Una polemica religiosa tra ulama' di Mashad a ulama'

uzbechi nell anno 977/1588-89," Annali Instituto (Universitare) Orientale di Napoli (1964): 647-71; Elke Eberhard, Osmanische Polemik gegen die Safawiden im 16 Jahrhundert nach arabischen Handschriften (Freiburg: Schwarz, 1970); Adel Allouche, The Origins and Development of the Ottoman-Safavid Conflict, 906-962/1500- 1555 (Berlin: Klaus Schwarz Verlag, 1983); John Walsh, "The Revolt of Alqas Mirza," Weiner Zeitschrift fur die Kunde den Morgenlandes 68 (1976): 61-78; Martin Dickson, "Shah Tahmasb and the Uzbeks (the-Duel for Khurasan with 'Ubayd Khan), 930-946/1524-1540" (Ph.D. diss., Princeton University, 1958), 192-3; B. Scarcia- Amoretti, "Religion in the Timurid and Safavid Periods," in The Cambridge History of Iran, 6 vols. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1986), 6:610-55.



124 Stanfield Johnson

during the Safavid period.5

This study deals with Sunnism in the last years of Tahmasp's reign, relying primarily on the Iranian religious scholar Mirza Makhdum Sharifi (d. 995/1587).6 Sharifi, who claimed to be Sunni, entered Safavid politics in about 975-76/1568-69 when he moved from Fars province to the Safavid capital of Qazvin at the insistence of his father, then serving as vizier under Tahmasp. For the next seven years, until the death of Tahmasp in 984/1576, Sharifi taught and preached in Qazvin and other Iranian cities and, by his own account, was even appointed qa-di al-quddt of Fars.7 When Isma'il II came to power in 984/1576, he appointed Sharifi as sadr.

Tahmasp and Isma'il represented divergent political views. The much-studied Tahmasp accomplished a great deal for Twelver Shi'ism in his fifty-two year reign. His son Isma'il, however, attempted to reverse those gains, if not explic- itly in favor of Sunnism, at least by weakening the prerogatives of Shi'i religious authority.

Unlike his father, Isma'il ruled for a brief period, lasting only fourteen months and ending with his mysterious death in November 985/1577. Of various reac- tive policies that characterized his reign, Isma'il's anti-clerical initiatives have most drawn the attention of the Persian chroniclers.8 Some of these writers have attributed Isma'il's political actions to the influence of Sharifi, whom they have charged with, among other things, converting the shah to Sunnism. Certainly, Sharifi himself attributed many of Isma'il's policies to his own influence. In his writings, he went so far as to state that as sadr, he had been the "sultan's [i.e., Isma'il's] sultan."9

After Isma'il's death in 985/1577, Sharifi, who had been imprisoned twice as a Sunni instigator at the insistence of the Qizilbash amirs, was released through the intercession of high government officials and barely escaped Iran with his life. He subsequently settled in Ottoman territory where he wrote his polemical works. He died in Mecca in 995/1587.

5. Shohreh Golsorkhi's "Ismail II and Mirza Makhdum Sharifi: An Interlude in Safavid History" in International Journal of Middle East Studies 26 (1994): 477-88 reflects a growing interest in this topic. 6. Other late-sixteenth-century polemicists against the Safavids are studied by Eber-

hard, Osmanische Polemik. 7. Al-Nawa-qid, ff. 94b, 118b. 8. Iskandar Big Munshi gives the most comprehensive account of Isma'il's policies

in his Thr-kh-i 'alam-dra-yi 'Abbast, ed. I. Afshar, 2 vols. (Tehran, 1971), 213-18. Another source is Afushtah Natanzi, Nuqawa-t al-athdr (Tehran, 1971), 38-42. See also the Shi'i biographical dictionaries of Mirza 'Abdallah al-Isbahani, Riyad al- 'ulama' wa hiyad alfudala', ed. A. Husayni, 6 vols. (Qum, 1980), 2:73 and Muham- mad Baqir al-Khwansari, Rawddt al-jannat ft ahwal al-'ulama' wa al-saidat, 8 vols. (Tehran, 1971), 2:322-3. 9. A l-Nawaqid, f. 118b.



Sunni Survival in Safavid Iran 125

Sharifi's polemic entitled al-Nawdqid li-bunydn al-rawafid was written in Arabic, completed in 987/1580, and dedicated to the Ottoman Sultan Murad III (1003/1595). Currently, it is still in unpublished manuscript form.10 The au- thor's biases, his desire to appear important in the eyes of his peers, and his at- tempts to please his Ottoman patrons make it difficult to ascertain his motives. Nevertheless, read with caution, his work lends itself to analysis. It deals with events at court and in Qazvin in the last years of Tahmasp's reign, covers the reign of Isma'il II, and serves as a useful source for the development of Shi'ite authority of the period. Nawdqid is a strongly worded polemic and shares the characteristics of its genre, chief among which is hostility towards opposing views. In Sharifi's case his rivals are the Safavid shahs Isma'il I (r. 907- 30/1501-24) and Tahmasp (r. 930-984/1524-76), their Qizilbash military sup- porters, and Twelver Shi'i beliefs and their promoters.

In his account of the Sunnis of Qazvin, Sharifi relies heavily on his own experi- ences at court and in the city. These include encounters with the leading religious scholars of his day, 'Abd al-'Al al-Karaki and Husayn al-Karaki, son and grandson, respectively, of the renowned 'Ali al-Karaki who served the Safavid government from 913-14/1508 until his death in 940/1534. Karaki's influence on Isma'il I and Tahmasp is well known.1' The fame of the senior Karaki's successors, though not as great, was significant nonetheless. In court circles these figures formed the nucleus around which political activity revolved, to the extent that they were recognized as religious authorities by Tahmasp. Conse- quently, they often became the focal point for praise or criticism from their peers, Shi'i or Sunni. Sharifi also had run-ins with the shah's spies, the tabarrd'iyan, whom he viewed as the shah's instruments for implementing policies directed against the Sunni community.

During the last twenty years of his reign, from 962/1555 to 984/1576, Tahmasp intensified the Shi'ification of the capital and came to terms with his own faith. He called this turning point in his life a "sincere repentance." Tahmasp's sincere repentance coincided with a number of events in his realm, international as well as domestic. On the international front, he had just signed the Treaty of Amasyah with the Ottomans, establishing peace between the two countries. Domestically, he had moved his capital from Tabriz southeast to Qazvin,12 and had removed his son Isma'il, an influential military figure among the Qizilbash,

10. The manuscript consulted here is British Museum Or. 7991. 11. Modem scholarship on 'Ali al-Karaki includes Arjomand, Shadow of God; W.

Madelung, "Shi'i Discussion on the Legality of the Khardj" in R. Peters, ed., Proceed- ings of the Ninth Congress of the Union Europeennes des Arabisants et Islamisants (Leiden, 1981); H. Modarressi Tabataba'i, Kharaj in Islamic Law (London, 1983), 47-59; idem, An Introduction to Shi'i Law (London, 1984), 50-51. N. Calder's unpublished doctoral dissertation, "The Structure of Authority in Imami Shi'i Jurispru- dence" (1980), was unavailable to me.

12. For a discussion of the dating of the transfer of the Safavid capital from Tabriz to Qazvin see Michel Mazzaoui, "From Tabriz to Qazvin to Isfahan: Three Phases of Safavid History," in Zeitschrift der deutschen Morgenlandischen Gesellschaft, supp. III, I.XIX (Wiesbaden: Franz Steiner Verlag, 1977), 514-19.




from court and political life and imprisoned him in the fortress of Qahqaha.13

As a part of his personal reform Tahmasp turned to the further strengthening of Twelver Shi'i institutions, forbidding art forms such as poetry and music which did not in some way praise 'Ali and the Twelve Imams. He also closed down taverns and brothels and instituted other social restrictions. Such actions suggest that Tahmasp was attempting further to consolidate his rule under orthodoxy. In so doing, the shah made his new capital city subject to increased surveillance by his propagandizing agents.

Prior to the Safavid revolution of 907/1501, Qazvin, like most of Iran's cities, had for the most part been Sunni.14 In the sixteenth century, Sharifi reports on the changing spectrum of religion in Iran's cities, including Kashan, Shiraz and Qazvin:

. . . Indeed, most of her [i.e., Kashan's] population are steadfast believers in God and the hereafter as they are of the beliefs of ahl al-sunna wa al-jamd'a of the Asha'ri (school), or otherwise Hanafis, except for a few, and they were not afraid of the Qizilbash [during the invasion of Kashan] despite the fact that they. killed many of them and expropriated most of their wealth ... and I do not think there is anyone [who is not Sunni] among the populations of Arran and Baydgul, or in the two towns a league away from Kashan, or in Buzabad or 'Aliabad, or Saruabad and their suburbs and most distant points. And not more than seven leagues from there (Kashan), [one finds] everyone ardent in Sunnism and steadfast in Islam. But you should not imagine the existence of pure [i.e., Sunni] beliefs in the population of Shi- raz and Qazvin and Hamadan and the rest of our well-known cities. Rather, there are among the inhabitants those whose Shi'i beliefs are more extreme than those of the populations of Astarabad and Kashan.15

Sharifi' s writings suggest, therefore, that during the post-revolutionary period in Iran many cities, still Sunni, were in transition. He admonishes his educated reader not to expect to find Sunnism in those cities where he ordinarily would have expected to find it; nor should he necessarily expect to find the prevalence of Shi'ism in cities noted for Shi'i beliefs. In his account, Sharifi conveys a contrasting perspective to that of the pro-Shi'i Safavid chroniclers. Where the historians often write of the de facto preeminence of the Twelver faith in Iran, Sharifi describes Qazvin, Shiraz and Hamadan as Sunni cities in which there was a significant, and no doubt growing and increasingly vigorous, Shi'i presence.

13. Sharaf al-Din Yazdi. Zafarnama, ed. Maulawi Muhammad Ilahdad, 2 vols. (Calcutta, 1887-88), 1:337. According to Yazdi, Qahqaha was located between Abi- vard and Qalat in Khurasan.

14. Hamd Allah Mustawfi. Nuzhat al-quluib, ed. and trans. G. LeStrange, 2 vols. (London: 1915-19), 2:63. According to Mustawfi, writing in the fourteenth century, Qazvin was "free of heresy and mostly true to the Sunni path," with a population "extremely bigoted" on the side of Sunnism, predominantly of the Shafi'i school, but including Hanafis and Shi'is.

15. Al-Nawdqid, f. 129a.




Of the several anecdotes in Nawaqid, one that suggests the persistence of Sun- nism in Qazvin in Sharifi's time is the account of the activities of a court poet under Tahmasp. Sharifi introduces us to this poet, a certain Hayrati, who made the Sunni schism of Qazvin the subject of his work dedicated to Tahmasp.16 According to one source, Hayrati was considered to be the "leading poet of his time."17 He gained the favor of Tahmasp and a place of honor among the poets at the Safavid court through his verses in praise of 'Ali and the other Imams.'8 Hayrati is mentioned along with Sharifi's maternal grandfather, Mirza Sharaf, as a favored poet.19

Sharifi reports how, due to the poet's ill repute in his own town of Marv or Herat,20 Hayrati had fled to the "King of the Qizilbash" (Tahmasp) in Qazvin in order to avoid being burned alive in his hometown.21 Hayrati was just as un- popular among Qazvini Sunnis as he had been among his peers at home. One likely reason for this was his reputation for extorting money from Sunnis.22 Hayrati himself laments his fate in Qazvin: "I am despised in the environs of Qazvin, just as 'Umar was in the environs of Kashan."23

16. Ibid., f. 125b. 17. Hasan Big, Ahsan al-tawa-rikh, trans. and ed. C. N. Seddon as A Chronicle of the

Early Safawis Being the Ahsanu't-tawarikh of Hasan Rumlu, 2 vols. (Baroda: Oriental Institute, 1931-34), 1:385; Munshi, 'Alam-arar-yi 'Abbasi 1:178. Hayrati has also been cited in various Western sources, including E. G. Browne, A Literary History of Persia, 4 vols. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1902-24), 4:170-71; Jan Rypka. History of Iranian Literature (Dordrecht: D. Reidel Publishing Co., 1968), 298; Arjomand, Shadow of God, 166. According to Hasan Big, Hayrati died in 961/1553-54 (Ahsan al-tawarikh 1:385). Sec also "Hamasa sara'i dar Iran," in Nashriya-yi danishkada-yi adabiyat-i Tabriz 3, no. 8 (1329 Sh./1950): 39, cited in Rypka, Iranian Literature, 298. According to Husayn Nakhjavani, Hayrati died in 970/1562-63.

18. Tahmasp had insisted that all poets in search of patronage must write religious poetry. See Munshi, 'Alam-acrd-yi 'Abba.si 1:178.

19. Mirza Sharaf was the maternal grandfather of Sharifi and son of the two-time vizier of Tahmasp, Qadi Jahan. Hasan Big noted that when Tahmasp withdrew from worldly life, Mirza Sharaf's presence at court became infrequent and he lacked interest in attending on Tahmasp (Ahsan al-tawarikh, 178, 416). 20. Tun (Khurasan), according to Nakhjavani. See Rypka, Iranian Literature, 298. 21. Al-Nawaqid, f. 125b. See also Rypka, Iranian Literature, 298. According to

Nakhjavani, he had been assured of protection by Tahmasp, which saved him from the consequences of his libelous writings. His religious odes included the Kitdb-i mu'jizat and a number of panegyrics. 22. Ibid., f. 125b. 23. Al-Nawaqid, ff. 128a-b. Hayrati is referring to the annual ritual desecration of

'Umar in effigy by the people of Kashan, a practice in which 'Umar's assassin, Abu Lu'lu', was celebrated as a defender of the religion and which, therefore, identified the inhabitants as Shi'i. According to Sharifi, Abu Lu'lu' fled to Kashan after the deed and became so influential among the local population that a shrine was erected in his honor when he died. Abu Lu'lu' was nicknamed "Baba Shuja' al-Din," and the annual celebration of his victim's death (26 Dhu'l-Hijja) was observed at his tomb outside the city of Kashan. In this celebration, an effigy of the caliph was filled about the




Hayrati blamed his misery in Qazvin on the Sunnis. In a literary act of revenge, he composed a qasida in which he satirized the Sunnis of the capital.24 Hayrati's verse depicts the sectarian edge and tension in Qazvin and suggests that a number of influential and wealthy Sunnis lived there in the late sixteenth century.

What might Tahmasp's attitude toward the Sunnis of his realm have been in the face of such wealth and prestige? Sharifi's writings point to a number of royal policies meant to pressure the population into accepting the new ideology. These policies included reducing taxes in districts that could prove that they had always had a commitment to 'Ali or Twelver Shi'ism, that is, before the Safavids came to power; intervening in traditional worship in mosques; and dig- nifying royal propagandist and espionage corps.

The tax policy of Tahmasp is explained by Sharifi. In the case of Qazvin, a certain 'Ala al-Malik Mar'ashi put into evidence a book entitled Tadwin-i tdrikh-i Qazvin by the thirteenth century Imam Raf'i.25 He recited to the shah from this book the story of a man from Zahra, one of the districts of Qazvin, named 'Umran who was beaten by a baker because of his name. When the man protested that he was 'Umran, not 'Umar, the baker responded that "there is still evil in it, because 'Umran is 'Umar with the alif and nuzn pilfered from 'Uthman." Mar'ashi thus proves that Shi'ism was favored in Qazvin, "and, as a result, the shah lightened the fiscal burdens (itlacqat al-diwaniya) and sultanic levies (mutawajjihat al-sultniya)" on the city's inhabitants.26, To further demonstrate his favor, the shah invested in construction projects in the area of Qazvin, as in other areas that produced evidence of a commitment to Twelver

waist with bunches of grapes, hoisted, and shaken to the beat of kettledrums and other instruments while the faithful cursed and vilified him. Finally, someone ran the effigy through at the waist with a sword and the party drank the dripping grape juice, proclaiming "We are thirsty for the blood of 'Umar." 24. The poem was reproduced in full by Hasan Big (Ahsan al-tawarikh 1:185) and

has been translated by Browne (Literary History, 4:170-71): "The time has come when the pivotless sphere, like the earth, should rest under thy shadow, 0 Shadow of God! 0 King! It is a period of nine months that this helpless one hath remained in Qazwin ruined, weary, wounded and wretched. I found the practices of the Sunnis in humble and noble alike. I saw the signs of schism in small and great. Poor and rich with washed feet at the Tombs; hands clasped in the mosques to right and to left. In the time of a King like thee to clasp the hands in prayer is an underhand action, 0 King of lofty lineage. ..." 25. See C. Brockelman Geschichte der Arabischen Literatur, 2 vols. (Leiden: E. J.

Brill, 1943-49), Supplementbanden, 3 vols. (Leiden, 1937-42), 1:399. Raf'i died in 623/1226. 26. Al-Nawaqid, f.129a. ltlaqdt al-diwadnya are requisitions from the diwdn; muta-

wajjihdt are taxes levied in addition to the original assessment. See Ann Lambton, Landlord and Peasant in Persia (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1969), 430, 435. See also Yusuf b. Ahmad b. Ibrahim al-Bahrani, Lu'lu'at al-bahrayn ft al-ijdzat wa tardjim rijdl al-hadith, ed. S. M. Sadiq (Najaf, 1386/1966), 153. Bahrani recounts that 'Ali al-Karaki ordered that dissenting members of the ulama be taxed "in order that they not lead others astray."




Shi'ism. According to Sharifi, "such was not the case for those districts known for the straight path [i.e., Sunnism]."27

Another of Tahmasp's methods for suppressing the profession. of Sunnism was to intervene in the area of worship. Sharifi describes how the shah interrupted the Friday prayer in all mosques connected with the Sunni community and re- placed prayer with ritual cursing.28 To do this, the shah employed two methods. The first called for a Shi'i preacher to lead the faithful in ritual cursing.29 The preacher began by ascending the pulpit of the great mosque to begin the vilifica- tion of all those who were considered enemies of 'Ali: the Companions begin- ning with Abu Bakr and the rest of the ash'ara al-mubashara bi'l-janna.A0 Next the preacher vilified the wives of the prophet, 'A'isha and Hafsa, the rest of the Companions, greater and lesser, and the four Sunni imams.31 The congregational prayer was omitted.32 This practice, Sharifi states without providing a

27. Al-Nawaqid, f. 129b. 28. Ibid., f. 107b. 29. See Munshi, 'Alam-drd-yi 'Abbdsi 1:150. The preacher mentioned was Astar-

abadi the khati-b. He is probably the same person as Mir Sayyid 'Ali, who also served as muhtasib al-mamalik. Later, during the reign of Isma'il II, the Astarabadi sayyids were particularly singled out for persecution ('Alam-dra-yi 'Abbasi 1:215). 30. I.e., "the Ten who [according to Sunnis] are blessed with paradise." These, with

some variation, are Abu Bakr, 'Umar, 'Uthman, 'Ali b. Abu Talib, Sa'd b. Abu Waqqas, Talha, Zubayr, 'Abd al-Rahman b. 'Awf, Sa'd b. Zayd and Abu 'Ubayda b. al- Jarrah. Since 'Ali is one of the blessed, the repudiation would have excluded him. When, in a politically charged incident, Sharifi was called on to vilify these individuals, it was to repudiate nine of the ten (al-Nawaqid, f. 107b). 31. Hanafi, Shafi'i, Hanbali, Maliki. Sharifi asserts that "from the dawn of Islam to

the present, Shi'is were weak and debased, but did not put into effect, until the present, the cursing of the Companions in the assemblies, gatherings and mosques" (al- Nawdqid, f. 152a). 32. Al-Nawdqid, f. 105b. Holding the Friday prayer and congregational meeting dur-

ing the Occultation was a prominent issue among Twelver Shi'is during this period. In a Sunni state, ruling on the suspension of the Friday prayer may have served the Twelver ideological position against the Sunnis. After the Safavid revolution, suspension of such an important Muslim gathering was viewed by some Shi'i leaders as detrimental to the propagation of faith and Shi'ification of Muslim institutions. Who should lead the prayer during the Occultation was the principal theological and juridical question. The deputy of the Imam was the obvious answer, but with the pass- ing of the four special deputies (the last of whom died in 329/939) who was left to serve as deputy? The likely candidate was the mujtahid. Hence, the problem of the Friday prayer was largely a matter of mujtahid authority. In rulings for or against conducting the Friday prayer and congregational meeting, a mujtahid was, in effect, stating his position on the limits of mujtahid authority. Some mujtahids held that the mujtahid's power should be limited and, therefore, that the Friday prayer should be suspended during the Occultation. Others believed that the Friday prayer should be conducted, but with a mujtahid present. In the latter case the question arose of whether the mujtahid was to be considered the deputy of the Imam. Various opinions circulated, and, during the years of the hegemony of the three al-Karakis, 'Ali, 'Abd al-'Al and Sayyid Husayn, between the years of 913-14/1508 and 1001/1593-94 (the year Sayyid Husayn died), the matter of the Friday prayer appears to have been unset- tled.




date, had been carried out "from that day to our day."33

The shah instituted a second measure designed to encourage the public cursing of the enemies of 'Ali. He assembled a group of seven tabarrad'iydn with voices "as loud as buffaloes" to curse in the midst of the people.34 A tabarra'i was an agent of the shah. He was "one who disavows himself of something or someone."35 In this case, the disavowers were given a list of ninety individuals to denounce publicly. These ninety were selected by the shah himself, and their names inserted into the sermon.36 The list started with Harun al-Rashid and ended with 'Abd al-Rahman Jami.37 At the end of the chain of the accursed, the people would answer in unison: bish bad kam mabad ("May it be more, not less!"). The tabbara'iya-n also attended the gatherings of the shah at court, and after the ritual cursing was completed the shah filled their mouths with silver coins.38

According to Sharifi, this litany of Sunni names recited in the public ritual curse was known by the term "jarr al-qitar." Sharifi defines this expression for the reader who, he says, probably has not heard it before. It means the "cursing of all the pious of the religion" in a continuous and successive fashion.39

The tabarra' became a convenient method for publicly denouncing the enemies of the regime. Sharifi says that when God delivered him from Iran after the death of Isma'il II, his own name was added to the end of the list.

33. Al-Nawaqid, ff. 125a, 152a; Hasan Big, Ahsan al-tawarikh, 61; Munshi. 'A lam- dra--yi 'Abbast 1:155-7. The individual credited with bringing about the revival of the Friday prayer is Baha' al-Din 'Amili. For a chronology of 'Amili's career see Devin Stewart, "A Biographical Note on Baha' al-Din al-'Amili (d. 1030/1621)," Journal of the American Oriental Society 3, no. 3 (1991): 563-71. 34. Al-Nawa-qid, f. 105b. 35. In India, the sectarian meaning of the term tabarra' continued into modem times.

In one example, a disavowal statement appeared on an animal: "A white-haired goat belonging to a Sunni was got hold of by some Shias and the Tabarra was stamped on its back. The tail of the goat was twisted in a manner causing pain to the goat which ran about the town. Finally it was caught by the police and taken to the thana (police station) where it was found that the writing on the goat's back could not be easily removed. It appears that the Sunni owner refused to take the 'polluted' goat back" (J. N Hollister, The Shi'a of India [New Delhi, 1979], 5). 36. Al-Nawdqid, ff. 105b-106a. 37. The repudiation of Jami the poet (d. 898/1492) and the desecration of his grave

by order of Tahmasp allegedly brought Qadi Jahan to the defense of the poet's reputation. Qadi Jahan produced verses by Jami praising 'Ali and the shah reinstated the poet to a position of dignity. See Dickson, "Shah Tahmasb and the Uzbeks," 190. Declaring one's love for 'Ali was the perfect antidote to the charge of heresy against Twelver Shi'ism in this period; otherwise one could be considered a ndsib, a hater of 'Ali. To be charged as a nasib could threaten one's life (al-Nawaqid, f. 92b). 38. Ibid., f. 106a. 39. Ibid., f. 107b. See E. W. Lane, Arabic-English Lexicon, 2 vols. (Cambridge:

Islamic Texts Society, repr. of 1863 ed.). One meaning is "dragging a train of camels."




It appears from Sharifi's Nawa-qid that the tabarra-'iya-n were a strong presence in the community and a symbol of the eye of the royal master, who was the source of their authority. Unlike the prohibition of the Friday prayer, which, as a theological matter, required the opinion of the mujtahid, the shah's employ- ment of the tabarrc'iya-n as an organized group needed no jurisprudential sanc- tion. They were probably funded by the shah himself.40 Under Isma'il II, however, when sectarian hostility flared up, the tabarra'iyadn would be on the losing end of royal privilege.

Extortion, intimidation and harassment were other methods by which Tahmasp curbed Sunnism. Sharifi recounts that one day a man was brought bound to the shah by a tabarranil on the charge that he had attended the Friday.prayer. The man, who Sharifi says was a Sunni, protested that when the tabarra 'i attempted to extort something from him (probably money) and failed, he accused the man of being Sunni and attending the Friday prayer, which was illegal.41 To this, the shah answered that he wanted two witnesses who would vouch for the beliefs of the accused. Sharifi stepped forward and testified to the man's belief in Shi'ism. This, he says, he did in the true meaning of "partisan of 'Ali," that is, in defense of 'Ali as one of four rightly-guided leaders of the Islamic community. The shah, he tells us, laughed, knowing Sharifi was Sunni, and asked for the other witness. One of the Safavid princes, who had been paid to protect the man accused of Sunnism, then stepped forward in the man's defense. Finally, the shah ordered the accused man beaten and his clothes given to the tabarran' who had brought him in. The shah added that the sentence was handed out to main- tain fear of the tabarrad'iydn.42

Sharifi states that a protection fee (ajr al-himaya or ujra al-hiracsa) was a neces- sity for all those who were, as he put it, "weak among the Sunnis" of Iran.43 By paying the protection fee, a Sunni could buy testimony to his Shi'ism by a Shi'i.

Although Sharifi does not specify exactly what is meant by "weak" Sunnis in need of protection, presumably he is referring to those without wealth and prestige. In his own case, possession of both made it possible for him to avoid harassment. Interestingly, it appears that, even in the case of the average person, the severity of a felony had to be proven in order for him to be prosecuted for Sunnism. The shah's good-humored acceptance of the word of Sharifi and the prince suggests a certain level of tolerance on Tahmasp' s part, albeit at the price of embarrassment and intimidation. In fact, he may have even considered it

40. Perhaps further research will reveal whether it was Isma'il I or Tahmasp who created the tabarra' corps. It would seem that it was Isma'il I, who instituted the practice of the ritual curse. 41. Al-Nawaqid, f. 107a. In the above passage, a charge of attending the Friday

prayer implies the continued existence of this ritual, despite Tahmasp's prohibition. Sharifi does .not explain whether the Sunnis continued to hold the Friday prayer ille- gally, but this passage would suggest that they did. 42. Ibid. 43. Ibid.




politically unwise to move too severely against wealthy Sunnis.

Sharifi describes one of his own encounters with the tabarra`iya-n. Sharifi, who according to his Shi'i biographer44 had a reputation for being an excellent and very popular preacher, tells his reader that his preaching in Qazvin made Tah- masp fearful. This was because his sermons took on a political aspect in that he preached for Sunnism covertly, and the Sunni community of Qazvin recognized this and flocked to him. Hence the shah wanted to imprison him. Tahmasp's advisers, however, warned that it would ruin his name if he prevented Sharifi from awakening the desire of the people for the afterlife. The only solution, therefore, was to devise a plan to stop Sharifi. According to Sharifi, the shah's advisers pointed out that the crowd around Sharifi was Sunni first and foremost, and then ignorant Shi'is who were unaware of what he was doing. They advised the shah that he should order Sharifi to vilify the Companions from the pulpit. That would turn the Sunni community away from him and they would attack and kill him and the shah would not be culpable.45 One of the influential court scholars, Afdal Tarka, a friend and colleague though a Shi'ite, warned Sharifi of his danger and advised him to stop preaching.46 Sharifi took his friend's advice and stopped his sermons, but the people importuned the shah to allow him to continue. At that point, Tahmasp sent for Sharifi and admonished him, saying, "You stopped preaching, and now the people think badly of us. We did not pro- hibit you from that activity, but now I am being held responsible for what should be your responsibility."47 According to Sharifi, when the Sunni community heard what the shah said, they forced him to return to his preaching, and he did so unaware of the shah' s plan to require the ritual curse.

In his discussion of what happened next, Sharifi boasts about how he outwitted the agents of the government. When he next mounted the pulpit and praised God and prayed for the Prophet and his family, a tabarrd' told him not to finish his sermon without cursing nine of the mubasharln (excluding 'Ali). Although Sharifi was surrounded by a large crowd of Sunnis with only a few Qizilbash supporting the tabarra-'ii, all present were frightened and did not dare oppose the shah's agents.48

Sharifi explains that God had mercy on him and told him to tell the prayer callers and the others situated at the foot of the pulpit to shout "imin" when he called out the curse. Taking advantage of the din created by the criers, Sharifi called on God to curse the cursers instead of cursing the mubdsharin himself.

44. Munshi, 'Alam-drCi-yi 'Abbdsi 1:148-9. 45. Al-Nawdqid, f. lOOa. 46. See Afdal's biography in Munshi, 'Alam-a-ra-yi 'Abbcsi 1:155. Afdal was qadi

al-mu'askar under Tahmasp jointly with Mir 'Ala al-Mulk Mar'ashi and was also appointed mudarris at court. He was the one Shi'i scholar permitted to come and go freely during the reign of Tahmasp's successor, Isma'il II. He died in 991/1583-84. See also Qadi Nur Allah Shushtari Majaflis al-mu'minin, ed. S. A. Kitabchi, 2 vols. (Tehran, 1986), 2:53. 47. Al-Nawdqid, f. 107a. 48. Ibid.




He then recited the entire litany of the accursed. The result was that the criers, presumably Shi'is, believed he had become Shi'i and the "Muslims," that is, the Sunnis, forgave him.49

Sharifi no doubt exaggerated his own importance in this anecdote, for it is doubt- ful his activities were threatening to the government. Nevertheless, this account supports the conjecture that Tahmasp wanted to avoid sectarian flare-ups. Addi- tionally, it suggests that Tahmasp believed it necessary to loosen the reins on the tabarra-'yan from time to time, enhancing their role as overseers of the ritual curse. In this case, disrupting the activities of a Sunni preacher would have suited that intent.

In conclusion, Sharifi's account suggests that in this period, the Sunni community of Qazvin was one that Shah Tahmasp took into consideration when mak- ing policy. That Tahmasp turned strongly to the propagation of Shi'ism during the last twenty years of his reign, utilizing the tabarra'i corps and instituting or continuing earlier policies to promote loyalty to the state ideology at public gatherings, points to a political and social need to do so. Further, keeping the lid on sectarian flare-ups was one of Tahmasp's concerns. This would have ap- plied to any kind of sectarian conflict, as partisan strife was common in Iran throughout the Islamic period. Often adherents of different sects sharing the same quarter constructed their own bazaars and shrines. When conflict broke out, it was often rooted in social institutions, but took on the appearance of sectarian differences.50 Hence this feature of Iranian society must be viewed as part of the general context from within to view the Shi'i-Sunni divide. From this vantage point, it is less likely that one would describe the sectarian tension of this period, as a whole, as "Shi'i-Sunni" or as the product of the Safavid revolution. Even with this qualification, however, it appears that political activity which took on the appearance of sectarianism was a part of partisan tension under Tah- masp.

As for Sharifi's own position in the government, he enjoyed great mobility ow- ing to family prestige, his own education and political achievements that raised him to the higher echelons of the society he criticized. Munshi's assessment of Sharifi's religious bent and the response it evoked goes to the heart of the matter: "He exceeded proper [i.e., tolerable] bounds in his profession of Sunnism.''51 In other words, he rebelled against the ruling order. So long as a Sunni practiced his faith with political restraint, it appears that he was tolerated by the state.

Rosemary Stanfield Johnson, Department of History, New York University

49. Ibid., f. 100b. 50. For a discussion of partisan conflict in Iranian society, see Hossein Mirjafari,

"The Haydari-Ni'mati Con'flicts in Iran," Iranian Studies 12 (1979):135-62. 51. 'Alam-arar-yi 'Abbdsi 1:148-9.



sunni survival in safavid iran

Documents

cambridge university press

mirza makhdum sharifi

hasan big

friday prayer

mirza sharaf

ala al

abd al

ahsan al