8. Sharia and national law in Iran

Abstract

In the nineteenth century, the last of a series of tribal dynasties ruled Iran, and the Shia religious establishment had a monopoly of law, which was based on their interpretations of sharia. The twentieth century opened with the first of two successful revolu-tions. In the Constitutional Revolution of 1905-1911, democratic nationalists sought an end to absolute monarchy, a constitution, and the rule of law. They succeeded in laying the foundations of an independent judiciary and a parliament with legislative powers. The despotic, but modernising Pahlavi shahs (1925-1979) main-tained (though largely ignored) both the constitution and parlia-ment, curtailed the power of the Shia clergy, and put aside sharia in all areas of law apart from family law, in favour of a secular le-gal system inspired by European codes. The secularisation of society and legal reforms in the absence of democracy were major factors in the convergence of popular, na-tionalist, leftist, and Islamist opposition to Pahlavi rule, which led to the 1978-1979 Iranian Revolution under Ayatollah Khomeini. Islamist elements gained the upper hand in the new Islamic Republic. Determined to reestablish sharia as the source of law and the clergy as its official interpreters, they set about undoing the secularisation of the legal system. The new constitution at-tempted an unusual and contradictory combination of democracy