ABSTRACT
The adoption and elaboration of the idea of constitutionalism by the ulama needed some kind of formalization, rationalization, for the Shi'ite community awaiting its just and true leader, the Hidden Imam. Many scholars of Constitutional Revolution agree that the ulama who participated in the Revolution, and even the leaders, did not know much about constitutionalism. During the constitutional movement between 1905-09 many of the ulama participated in the struggle for establishing a constitutional government. The ulama's intentions for participation in the Constitutional Revolution were not directed at the creation of a democratic society, but rather for a parliamentarian government which could limit the power of the state in favor of civil society. Shaykh Fazi Allah Nuri, the main knowledgeable Mujtahid in the ranks of the anti-constitutionalist ulama who participated in the constitutional movement, wanted to reinforce the social power of the ulama and limit state power. Constitutionalism could protect the basis of traditional civil society.
