Please join us on Tuesday, January 26th for a talk with Mateo Farzaneh / متئو فرزانه based on his new book The Iranian Constitutional Revolution and the Clerical Leadership of Khurasani:

Shiite Clerics and Political Modernization in Iran / علمای شیعه و تجدد سیاسی در ایران

In this book presentation, Prof. Farzaneh will discuss the role of Islamic jurisprudence in political reform in Iran. Throughout the 1800s, Iran was challenged to politically modernize in order to undo the failed policies of its corrupt/absolutist monarchical system. Introduction of Western-style constitutionalism by secular Iranians brought about the establishment of the Islamic world’s first parliament in Iran in 1906. However, that was the beginning of a long struggle between the proponents and the opponents of rule of law as a new political reality. Mullah Muhammad Kazim Khurasani led a group of high-ranking Iranian Shiite clerics living in Iraq and began a transnational clerical movement in support of constitutionalism with the objective to sever the political influence of Muslim clerics and leaving “modern” politics to the elected parliamentarians. This talk is based on Prof. Farzaneh’s new book, The Iranian Constitutional Revolution and the Clerical Leadership of Khurasani (Syracuse University Press, 2015).

Tuesday, January 26th, 4:30 pm
Farouk Mustafa Seminar Room (Pick #218)
5828 S. University Ave.
Chicago, IL 60637