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THE PERSIAN REVOLUTION

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the great mujtahid^ J3^i Mi rzd Hasa n_o^Shfrdz, to issue his the fatwd declaring jise~90eba^co^to_j3--iiDlawful until the

obnoxious concession was withdrawn it was this fatwd which gave to the popular resentment the sanction of Religion, thus enabling it to triumph over the Shah, the Aminu's-Sultan and the foreign governments and concessionaires and amongst the ultimate results of all this were the violent deaths of Ndsiru'dDin Shdh and the Aminu's-Sultdn, the successful demand for a Constitution, rendered possible only by the alliance between the clergy and the people, and the whole momentous struggle which has convulsed Persia during the last four years, and of which the history will be traced in these pages. The remarks appended by Sayyid Muhammad Rashfd to the text of this letter are worth quoting, and run as follows " This letter inspired a spirit of heroism and enthusiasm in
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that great doctor, who possessed so strong a spiritual influence over the Persian people, and he accordingly issued an edict {fatwd) forbidding the use and cultivation of tobacco^ The

'ulamd published
that on the

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fatwd abroad with lightning speed, and the

people bowed their necks to it to such a degree that it is related morning of the day succeeding the arrival of the

fatwd
pipe),

at Tihrdn the Shah called for a ndrgile {qalydn, or waterand was told that there was no tobacco in the Palace, for He demanded with amazement the it had all been destroyed. reason of this, and was informed of the fatwd of the Proof of Isldm {i.e. H^jji Mfrzd Hasan-i-Shirdzf, the mujtahid) and when he asked why they had not asked his permission first,
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a religious question concerning which there Thereafter the Sh^h was no need to seek such permission
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they replied,

It is

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was compelled to rescind the concession and satisfy the English company by a payment of half a million pounds. Thus did Sayyid Jamdlu'd-Din save Persia from an English occupation by abolishing the cause which would have led to this, namely this
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See the Awakening of the Persians^

runs as follows
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""given,

To-day and tobacco, in whatever fashion, is reckoned as war against the Imam of the Age (may God hasten his glad Advent!)." Thi^ fatwd was published in Persia by Hajji Mirza Hasan-i-Ashtiyani, and, though confirmed later by Mfrza Hasan-i-Shirazf, it has been asserted that it originally emanated from him.
the use of tunbdkd

p. i6.

The

translation of \h^ fatwd, as there

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In the

Name of God

the Merciful, the Forgiving.