Matin Research Journal

Matin Research Journal

An Analysis of the Clergy’s Support in Mashhad for Ayatollah Khomeini’s Marja‘iyat (Case Study: Ayatollah Milani and the Migration to Tehran)

Document Type : Original Article

Authors
hasan shamsabadi 1
Seyed Mahmoud Sadat Bidgoli 2
1 PhD (History of Islamic Revolution), Research Institute of Imam Khomeini and Islamic Revolution, Tehran, Iran (Corresponding author)
2 . Associate Professor, Department of History of Islamic Revolution, Research Institute of Imam Khomeini and Islamic Revolution, Tehran, Iran.
10.22034/matin.2023.341172.2045
Abstract
One of the significant subjects in the history of the Islamic Revolution is support for Ayatollah Khomeini’s marja‘iyat (the position of highest religious authority in Twelver Shi’ism). The death of Ayatollah Boroujerdi, the June 5, 1963 (15 Khordad 1342) Uprising, and the death of Ayatollah Hakim were three critical moments during which the issue of marja‘iyat became a prominent religious and political concern in Iran. The main question of this research is as follows: How did the clerics of Mashhad, particularly Ayatollah Milani, react to Ayatollah Khomeini’s marja‘iyat? The necessary data for this research were collected from books, archival documents, memoirs and other relevant sources, and, were analyzed through documental method. The findings of the study show that during the migration of the clerics to Tehran following the June 5, 1963 Uprising and the arrest of Imam Khomeini, one of the most significant actions taken by the clerics who migrated to Tehran, including Ayatollah Milani, was the endorsement of Imam Khomeini’s marja‘iyat. This endorsement, based on the constitutional law of the Qajar era, which granted judicial immunity to marāji‘(sources of emulation), prevented attempts on Khomeini’s life and gradually facilitated his release.
Keywords
Marja‘iyat
Ayatollah Khomeini
Mashhad clerics
Ayatollah Seyyed Hadi Milani
migration

Subjects

- Abazari, A. R. (by effort). (2001). Memoirs of Hazrat Ayatollah Ahmad Mianji. Tehran: Center for Islamic Revolution Documents. [In Persian]
- Ahmadi, M. R. (by effort). (1998). Memoirs of Ayatollah Taheri Khorramabadi. Tehran: Islamic Revolution Documentation Center. [In Persian]
- Center for the review of historical documents of the Ministry of Information. (1998). Companions of the Imam according to the documents of Savak, Martyr of Hujjat al-Islam wal-Muslimeen Seyyed Abdul Karim Hasheminejad. Tehran: Center for the review of historical documents of the Ministry of Information. [In Persian]
- Center for the review of historical documents of the Ministry of Information. (1999). Khordad 15 uprising according to Savak documents. Tehran: Center for the review of historical documents of the Ministry of Information. [In Persian]
- Center for Historical Documents of the Ministry of Information. (2000). Narration of stability, Hazrat Ayatollah Haj Sheikh Abdul Rahim Rabbani Shirazi, according to the documents of SAVAK. Tehran: Center for Historical Documents of the Ministry of Information. [In Persian]
- Center for Historical Documents of the Ministry of Information. (2001). Grand Ayatollah Sayyed Mohammad Hadi Milani. Tehran: Center for Historical Documents of the Ministry of Information. [In Persian]
- Center for Historical Documents of the Ministry of Information. (2002 a). Qamatwar, Martyr of Hojjat-ul-Islam Fazlollah Mehdizadeh Mahalati, according to SAVAK documents. Tehran: Center for Historical Document Review of the Ministry of Information. [In Persian]
- Center for Historical Document Review of the Ministry of Information (2002 b). Grand Ayatollah Sayyed Mohammad Hadi Milani. Tehran: Center for Historical Document Review of the Ministry of Information. [In Persian]
- Center for Historical Documents of the Ministry of Information. (2003a). Martyr of Hojjat al-Islam and Muslims, Haj Sheikh Mehdi Shahabadi. Tehran: Center for Historical Documents of the Ministry of Information. [In Persian]
- Center for Historical Document Review of the Ministry of Information. (2003 b). Muzafar Baghai according to the documents of SAVAK. Tehran: Center for Historical Documents of the Ministry of Information. [In Persian]
- Center for Historical Document Review of the Ministry of Information. (2010). Islamic revolution according to the documents of SAVAK, Gilan province. Tehran: Center for Historical Document Review of the Ministry of Information. [In Persian]
- Center for Historical Documents of the Ministry of Information. (2013 a). Companions of the Imam according to SAVAK documents: Grand Ayatollah Mohammad Fazil Lankarani. Tehran: Historical Documents Review Center of the Ministry of Information. [In Persian]
- Center for Historical Documents of the Ministry of Information. (2013 b). Jame Bazar Tehran Mosque according to SAVAK documents. Tehran: Center for the review of historical documents of the Ministry of Information. [In Persian]
- Center for Historical Documents of the Ministry of Information. (2013 c). The Islamic revolution according to the documents of Savak, Qazvin province. Tehran: Center for the review of historical documents of the Ministry of Information. [In Persian]
- Center for Historical Document Review of the Ministry of Information. (2017). Ayatollah Seyyed Yahya Jafari according to SAVAK documents. Tehran: Center for Historical Document Review of the Ministry of Information. [In Persian]
- Center for Historical Document Review of the Ministry of Information. (2021). Islamic revolution according to SAVAK documents: Razavi Khorasan province (March 25, 1963 - July 22, 1963). Tehran: Center for Historical Document Review of the Ministry of Information. [In Persian]
- Davani, A. (1998). Movement of Iranian clerics. Tehran: Center for Islamic Revolution Documents. [In Persian]
- Dehghani Ashkzari, M. R.; Karmipour, H. & Nikbakht, R. (by effort). (2003). Memoirs of Hojjat al-Islam wal Muslimin Haj Sheikh Hossein Ansarian. Tehran: Islamic Revolution Documentation Center. [In Persian]
- Fakhrzadeh, S. (by effort). (2002). Memories of Ali Jannati. Tehran: Islamic Revolution Documentation Center. [In Persian]
- Farsi, J. (1994). Dark corners. Tehran: Hadith Printing and Publishing Institute. [In Persian]
- Hassanzadeh, I. (2009). Analysis of the political behavior of Shiite scholars (case study: the 40-day migration phenomenon of 1963). A Quarterly Journal of Historical Studies of Islam, 1(3), 37-60. dor: 20.1001.1.22286713.1388.1.3.3.2
- Hosseini, S. M. (by effort). (2000). Memoirs of Mohammad Mahdi Abdakhodaei (a review of the history of devotees of Islam). Tehran: Center for Islamic Revolution Documents. [In Persian]
- Imami, J. (by effort) (2002). Memoirs of Ayatollah Masoudi Khomeini. Tehran: Center for Islamic Revolution Documents. [In Persian]
- Information newspaper. (1986-02-04). Number 17807. [In Persian]
- Irfanmanesh, J. (by effort). (1996). Memories of June 15, Shiraz. Tehran: Islamic Propaganda Organization. [In Persian]
- Islamic Revolution Documents Center (Marāsān). Retrieval number 116, Document Number 60. [In Persian]- Islamic Revolution Documents Center (Marāsān). Retrieval number 116, Document Number 81. [In Persian]- Islamic Revolution Documents Center. (Marāsān). Retrieval number 116, Document Number 82. [In Persian]- Islamic Revolution Documents Center (Marāsān). Retrieval number 123, Document Number 90-91. [In Persian]- Islamic Revolution Documents Center (Marāsān). Retrieval number 123, Document Number 83. [In Persian]- Islamic Revolution Documents Center (Marāsān). Retrieval number 945, Document Number 104. [In Persian]- Islamic Revolution Documents Center (Marāsān). Retrieval number 946, Document Number 46-47. [In Persian]- Islamic Revolution Documents Center (Marāsān). Retrieval number 949, Document Number 29. [In Persian]- Islamic Revolution Documents Center (Marāsān). Retrieval number 949, Document Number 4. [In Persian]- Islamic Revolution Documents Center (Marāsān). Retrieval number 949, Document Number 6. [In Persian]- Islamic Revolution Documents Center (Marāsān). Retrieval number 949, Document Number 86. [In Persian]- Islamic Revolution Documents Center (Marāsān). Retrieval number 950, Document Number 2. [In Persian]- Islamic Revolution Documents Center (Marāsān). Retrieval number 982, Document Number 51. [In Persian]- Islamic Revolution Documents. (1995). Tehran: Islamic Revolution Documents Center. [In Persian]- Islamic Propaganda Organization's artistic center. (1998). Companions of the Imam according to the documents of SAVAK, Martyr Ayatollah Haj Sheikh Mohammad Sadouqi. Tehran: Islamic Propaganda Organization Art Field Center. [In Persian]
- Islamic Propaganda Organization. (1997). Memories of June 15. Fifth and sixth office, Tehran: Islamic Propaganda Organization. [In Persian]
- Khomeini, S. R. (2010). Collection of Imam works. Tehran: Imam Khomeini Education and Research Institute’s Publications. [In Persian]
- Momin, A. F. (2003). In that wolfish weather, the arrest of Imam Khomeini and the migration of scholars to Tehran in 1342. Zamaneh magazine, 2(9), 26-32. http://noo.rs/ZX158
- Pars news agency bulletin, June 19, 1342, number 61. [In Persian]
- Rouhani, S. H. (1981). An analytical study of Imam Khomeini's movement. Tehran: Rah Imam Publications. [In Persian]
- Rouhani, S. H. (2008). Imam Khomeini's movement. Tehran: Foundation for Historiography and Encyclopaedia of the Islamic Revolution. (2 volumes). [In Persian]
- Saleh, S.M. (2006). The teachers community of Qom seminary since the beginning until now. Tehran: Islamic Revolution Documentation Center. [In Persian]
- Shamsabadi, H. (2008). Ayatollah Milani's migration to Tehran, a new chapter in his political life. Historical Studies Quarterly, 6(21), 33-65. https://mtq.ir/?page=magazine&id=21
- Shua Hosseini, F. (2008). The fifties, memories of Hasan Hassanzadeh Kashmiri, Ali Khatami, Mohammad Kazem Shokri. Tehran: Imam Khomeini Editing and Publishing Institute. [In Persian]
- Shua Hosseini, F. & Ruhbakhsh, R. (by effort). (2008). Memoirs of Hojjat al-Islam wal-Muslimeen Ismail Ferdosipour. Tehran: Imam Khomeini Education and Research Institute’s Publications. [In Persian]
Matin Research Journal
Volume 26, Issue 105
Autumn 2025
Pages 113-141