Ahmad Kasravi


Ahmad Hokmabadi Tabrizi, later known as Ahmad Kasravi, was a pre-eminent Iranian historian, jurist, linguist, theologian, a staunch secularist and intellectual. He was a professor of law at the University of Tehran, as well as an attorney and judge in Tehran, Iran.
Born in Hokmavar, Tabriz, Iran, Kasravi was an Iranian Azerbaijani. During his early years, Kasravi enrolled in a seminary. Later, he joined the Iranian Constitutional Revolution. He deserted his clerical training after this event and enrolled in the American Memorial School of Tabriz. Thenceforward he became, in Roy Mottahedeh's words, "a true anti-cleric."
Kasravi was the founder of a political-social movement whose goal was to build an Iranian secular identity. The movement was formed during the Pahlavi era. Kasravi authored more than 70 books, mostly in the Persian language. The most important book from his body of work are History of the Iranian Constitutional Revolution, Azari or the Ancient Language of Azerbaijan and The 18 Year History of Azerbaijan.
He was attacked vehemently by the Shi'ite clergy for his secular ideas and by the Pahlavi court for his anti-monarchical statements. In his early period he was linked with the Democrat Party in Iran. In 1941 he established a political party, Azadegan. Kasravi was eventually assassinated by followers of Navvab Safavi, the founder of the Shi'ite fundamentalist Fada'iyan-e Islam group. Many of the prominent members of the then Iranian clergy, including the later Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, supported the act of Kasravi being murdered, and Navvab and the Fada'iyan were proclaimed heroes following the assassination. Kasravi was the first Iranian Azerbaijani intellectual to take a firm position against pan-Turkists from the Ottoman Empire, and authored the most important work on the Iranian identity of the Azerbaijan region and the region's Old Azeri language, an Iranian language. Kasravi is widely despised by pan-Turkists in the Republic of Azerbaijan and Iran, who view him as a "traitor" to Azerbaijanis.

Life

Early life

Kasravi was born on 29 September 1890 in the Hokmavar neighborhood of Tabriz. His family adored him being their first son. His mother prevented him from playing with other peers. According to Kasravi himself, from the age of five, his head was shaved according to the tradition of that time, which made him very upset. He was sent to a school in Hekmavar when he was six years old. Nevertheless, Kasravi was a leader in learning, comparing himself to his peers, and he learned many things with his own efforts and with the help of his family. His father died at the age of 12 and he returned to religious school and continued it according to his father's will. Haji Mir Mohsen Agha, who was the husband of the aunt and guardian of the Kasravi family, sent him to the Talibiyeh school. In that school, Kasravi first studied in the school with a man named Mullah Hassan. Kasravi first met Sheikh Mohammad Khayabani, who taught Ptolemy, at the same school in Talebia.
In 1904, at the same time as the beginning of the Persian Constitutional Revolution in Tabriz, Kasravi first came across the name of the constitution and, according to him, he was dedicated to the constitution from the very beginning. At the same time, a young cleric in Hakmavar became the son-in-law of Mir Mohsen Agha, the guardian of Kasravi's family, and Mir Mohsen started the mosque of Nia Kasravi and forced Kasravi to learn from him; But the two were at odds. Kasravi's leaning towards the constitution and the opposition of this cleric and Mir Mohsen Agha to the constitution also increased his enmity. Therefore, Kasravi stopped learning from him, and as a result, his family guardian also resented Kasravi and changed his attitude towards him.
In 1908, Mohammad Ali Shah Qajar bombarded the Majlis. Tabriz was blockaded. At that time, Haji Mirza Hassan Mojtahed and a group of like-minded people in Dohchi formed the Islamic Association, and Kasravi, who was still a student at the time, was watching. After that, Tabriz suffered from conflict and bloodshed for four months, which resulted in the cessation of the Islamic Association. Kasravi, who was seventeen at the time, was forced to stay at home and read books. At this time, most of the people of Hakmavar, as well as Kasravi's family, were enemies of the constitution, and Kasravi, who had attached himself to the constitution, by force of circumstance, camouflaged his attachment. In the meantime, he followed the events of Tabriz until Tabriz calmed down and Kasravi started studying again. After studying for two years, he finally became a clergyman.
In 1909, Kasravi went down with typhus. As a result of this disease, Kasravi suffered from a constant disability that was always with him. He also suffered from anemia and his eyes became dim and he suffered from indigestion. After recovering from his illness, his relatives and locals, according to him, forcibly took him to the prayer mosque to become a cleric there. On the other hand, an opponent cleric, whose son-in-law was Mir Mohsen, also preached anti-Kasravi and called him a democrat in order to disperse the people around him. At this time, Kasravi sent his two younger brothers to Nejat Elementary School, which was not a good thing in the eyes of the people of that time, because his brothers, like other Sayyids, did not wear headscarves and did not wear green scarves. Kasravi, unlike other elected clerics, wore a beard, high-heeled shoes, and machine-made socks, wore a small turban, fastened his scarf, and wore glasses, which his opponents considered all because of his cult. After all, he did not fast and criticized the fasting people, and according to him, he only did things such as reciting the wedding sermon. From then on, he took over the management of his family, but he became poor. At this time, he began to recite the Qur'an and tried to learn the meaning of the verses of the Qur'an.

Leaving the profession of clergy

Ahmad Kasravi entered the Talibiyeh school in Tabriz as a teenager and studied Islamic sciences. After a while, as a Shiite missionary, he dressed as a Shiite cleric. At Talebieh School, he was a classmate of Sheikh Mohammad Khayabani and Sheikh Gholam Hossein Tabrizi. He was also in front of the Kasravi Mosque in the Hekmabad neighbourhood of Tabriz for a short time.
On 30 April 1909, the Russians clashed with the Mujahideen in Tabriz. Although Kasravi was far from a conflict in Hekmavar, this conflict and the stability of the Iranians affected him, and since Muharram had also begun, he advised the people on the pulpit. Kasravi was not satisfied with this and tried to join the fighters with several rifles; But the war did not last more than four days and the Mujahideen left the city and the Russians conquered Tabriz and appointed Samad Khan, one of the long-time enemies of the Constitution, over the city. Anti-constitutional clerics and their followers also inflicted severe violence on the constitutionalists. Kasravi was also forced to visit Samad Khan in Bagh-e Amir under the pressure of Haji Mir Mohsen Agha, Guardian their family. However, for the few days that he went to the pulpit, the clerics excommunicated him, and the cleric who was with him in Hakmavar incited the thugs to harm him, and eventually, the people gradually dispersed from his pulpit, and he thus withdrew from the clergy. According to him, the burden of the clergy was removed from his neck.
From then on, Kasravi was a homemaker for a while and read various books and became acquainted with the sciences of the day, and gradually found friends among the freedom seekers. According to Kasravi, one of the books that moved him to read was Ibrahim Bey's travelogue by Zeyn al-Abedin Maraghei.

After the clergy

Through the shop from which he bought the book, Kasravi met several freedom fighters, one of whom was a street that had come to the Caucasus and from there to Tabriz after the parliament closed, and thus a friendship developed between them. He also met Reza Soltanzadeh, who said that this friendship was lasting and lasted until the last years of Kasravi's life.
At this time, Kasravi made a marriage contract with his cousin, the eldest daughter of their family, Mir Mohsen Agha; But at this time he saw the persecution of the clergy and was accused of cultism and disbelief in religion. On the other hand, because he had nothing to do, he became poor, had to sell his books, and, of course, enlisted the help of his father's old friends. Kasravi was offered to weave socks and he bought a sock machine, but the machine was unhealthy and Kasravi returned it, however, the seller did not return his advance payment. He bought another sock weaving machine, but this one also got into trouble and he lost it.
Kasravi, who had failed to provide a career and had also sold his books, became very depressed. He was interested in three disciplines: mathematics, history and Arabic, and he spent his time learning and reading these. At this time he wrote a speech in Arabic for a magazine called Al-Irfan, which was published in Sidon, and sent it to publish it without any compromise.

Memorial School

In the summer of 1914, World War I broke out in Europe. At this time, the Ottomans advanced to Tabriz and repulsed Russia, but it was not long before they were defeated and retreated. Thus, Azerbaijan was the battlefield of the states involved in the war.
In 1915, Kasravi, in search of new knowledge, found himself in need of learning a European language. At first, he tried to learn French, but he knew that he could not learn without it. So he wanted to go to the American school in Tabriz called "Memorial School", so he went to Mr Chesp, the principal of that school, and repeated his request. Chesp considered Kasravi's high school year as a ban on his studentship at that school and had initially suggested that he go there as a teacher and study for two hours a day. Kasravi, who suffered from unemployment, accepted the offer and taught Arabic to the students who studied English themselves. It was in the first few months that he became self-taught about Esperanto and became attached to the language. He also chose a way to teach Arabic to his students. Then he wrote a book about this method called Al-Najm al-Darya, which was taught in Tabriz high schools for some time. In the American school, there were three Christian tribes, Muslims and Ali-Illahis, which was a conflict between Christians and Muslims, and Kasravi was not relieved of this conflict. Some Muslim officials were also hostile to him there. Nevertheless, Kasravi calls Mr Chesp a righteous man who was far from religious.
Between 1915 and 1916, Kasravi, who was familiar with Baha'i history and beliefs, had discussions with the preachers of this religion.
At this time, too, Kasravi allegedly harassed clerics who knew he was going to an American school to study Babism.