It would, no doubt, be the result of selective hindsight to regard the first eight decades of the 20th century as the ineluctable prelude to the Islamic Revolution of 1978–9. The cultural and political orientation of Iranian society was placed repeatedly in question as the Pahlavī family sought to transform the monarchy into a modern, authoritarian state, and secularist, leftist and nationalist forces emerged on the political scene. For several decades, moreover, most of the leading ‘ulamā made no effort to exert a decisive influence outside the relatively narrow confines of the religious institution. Nonetheless, the tenacity of religion as a major force throughout the modern history of Iran is remarkable and unmistakable, and we may legitimately discern in a whole series of Islamic personages, institutions and movements the antecedents that made possible – although by no means inevitable – the great transformations ushered in by the revolution of 1978–9.

The preponderant rôle played by ‘ulamā in the Constitutional Revolution of 1905–11, especially in its earlier phases, is well known. The alliance concluded in November 1905 by two leading mujtahids of Tehran, Sayyid ‘Abd-Allāh Bihbahānī and Sayyid Muhammad Tabātabā'ī, to bring about the overthrow of ‘Ain al-Daula, prime minister of the day, is often considered the starting point of the revolution. The revolution had been preceded, moreover, by almost a century of sporadic conflict between leading ‘ulamā and successive Qājār rulers. Following on the tobacco boycott of 1891–2, ‘ulamā-led protests against loans taken from foreign powers and the consequent alienation of the Iranian economy became increasingly frequent in the opening years of the 20th century.