نقش علماي شيعي در عرفي گرايي و نوسازي نظام قضايي ايران پيش از عصر پهلوي اول

Role of the Shi‘a Scholars in Secular Nationalism and Modernization of the Judicial System of the first Pahlavi Era

در طول تاريخ ايران اسلامي نظام قضايي همواره بر دو گونه عرف و شرع مبتني بوده است. با رسميت يافتن مذهب تشيع در عصر صفوي، فقه شيعه مبناي قضاوت‌هاي شرعي قرار گرفت و حاكم براي انجام امور قضايي ماموراني چون صدر، شيخ‌الاسلام و ساير مقامات قضايي (به عنوان نماينده تامّ‌الاختيار شاه در اجراي حقوق عمومي و كيفري) بدين كار مي‌گماشت در اواخر عصر قاجار تاثيرات فكري نهضت مشروطيت و حضور طبقه جديد از تحصيل‌كردگان غرب در كنار طبقه حاكمه، سبب عرفي‌گرايي و نوسازي در نظام قضايي بخصوص متمم قانون اساسي گرديد كه اصل تفكيك قوا و شكل گيري نظام جديد قضايي و گرايش به سمت يك قانونگذاري سكولار را مورد توجه قرار داده بود. اين برخلاف ديدگاه علما بود كه به طور سنتي خود را متولي امر قضا مي‌دانستند. استدلال علما اين بود كه به جاي قانون شرع، قانون ديگر محل احتياج نيست. اين‌چنين به رغم كوششهاي متجدّدين استقرار كامل قضاوت عرفي ناكام ماند. عليهذا آنچه كه در اين مقاله مورد بررسي قرار خواهد گرفت؛ اينست كه علما چه نقشي در عرفي‌گرايي و نوسازي نظام قضايي پيش از عصر پهلوي ايفا كردند؟

Throughout the history of the Islamic Iran the judicial system has always been based on common law and canon law (shari‘a). Upon the formalization of Shi‘ism as the official school (nadhhab) in the Safavid era, the Shi‘a jurisprudence was set as the basis for legal judgments; and for the execution of judicial affairs the ruler appointed officers such as Sadr, Shaykh al-Islam, and other judicial authorities (as fully-authorized rrepresentatives of the King in public and criminal law enforcement) to this job. Towards the end of the Qajar era, the intellectual impacts of the Constitutional Movement and the presence of the new Western-educated class alongside the ruling class prompted the secular nationalism and modernization in the judicial system, particularly the amendment to the Constitution, which had taken into consideration the principle of separation of powers (three branches of government), formation of the new judicial system, and tendency toward a secular legislation. This was contrary to the viewpoints of the scholars, who regarded themselves as the custodians of the judiciary. Their argument was that there is no need for alternative law in place of canon law; and this way, despite the endeavors of the modernists, the full establishment of the common law judgment was left unfulfilled. Therefore, what is addressed in this article is to study the role of the scholars in the secular nationalism and modernization prior to the Pahlavi era.