ANGAJĪ, ḤĀJJ MĪRZĀ ABŪ’L-ḤASAN

 

ANGAJĪ, ḤĀJJ MĪRZĀ ABŪ’L-ḤASAN (1282-1357/1865-1939), a leading moǰtahed of Tabrīz, politically active during both the Constitutional Revolution and the reign of Reżā Shah. He was born into a family of religious scholars; his father, Ḥāǰǰ Mīrzā Moḥammad Āqā Shaikh-al-šarīʿa, was one of the most influential ʿolamāʾ of Tabrīz. After preliminary studies of feqh and oṣūl under Ḥāǰǰ Mīr Fattāḥ Sarābī and Mīrzā Maḥmūd Oṣūlī in his native city, Angaǰī left for Naǰaf in 1304/1887. He completed his studies there in four years of intensive work and gained certificates of eǰtehād from Mīrzā Ḥabīballāh Raštī, Fāżel Īravānī, and ʿAllāma Māmaqānī. In 1308/1891, he returned to Tabrīz where, known as balā moǰtahed, he soon established a reputation not only as a teacher of the religious sciences but also as an effective preacher, firm and unyielding in his denunciation of whatever he perceived as an affront to Islam. Initially prominent among the Tabrīz ʿolamāʾ supporting the constitutional movement, he later came to regard it as dangerous to Islam and therefore agitated for the return to Iran of Moḥammad-ʿAlī Shah; on 6 Moḥarram 1330/28 December 1911, he led anti-constitutional demonstrations in Tabrīz. Almost twenty years later, together with Mīrzā Āqā Ṣādeq Tabrīzī, he played a leading role in the events that led to the 1347/1928-29 Tabrīz uprising against the Pahlavi regime. After its suppression, Angaǰī was banished first to Qom and then to Mašhad; about a year later he was permitted to return to Tabrīz, where he died on 18 Ḏu’l-qaʿda 1357/9 January 1939. He was widely mourned, particularly in Azerbaijan. He wrote a number of books, including one on matters of dress (Īżāḥat al-eltebās ʿan ḥokm al-maškūk men al-lebās) and two commentaries on treatises by Shaikh Mortażā Anṣārī. Three of his six sons became religious scholars after him, and among his celebrated pupils were Shaikh Moḥammad Ḵīābānī, leader of the Azerbaijani revolt of 1338/1920, and Moḥammad-ʿAlī Modarres, author of the biographical dictionary, Rayḥanāt al-adab.

Bibliography:

ʿA. Baḵšāyešī, Yak ṣad sāl mobāraza-ye rūḥānīyat-e motaraqqī-e Īrān, Qom, n.d., II, pp. 8-9.

E. G. Browne, Nāmahāʾī az Tabrīz, London, 1912, pp. 172-73.

Kasravī, Mašrūṭa5, pp. 134, 247-48.

Idem, Āḏarbāyǰān4, Tehran, 1346 Š./1967, pp. 402-04, 417, 577.

R. Ḵomeynī, text of 1977 speech in anon., Šahīd-ī dīgar az rūḥānīyat, Naǰaf, 1397/1977, p. 42.

M. Modarres, Rayḥānat al-adab, 2nd ed., Tabrīz, 1333 Š./1954, VII, pp. 59-60.

M. ʿA. Rāzī, Āṯār al-ḥoǰǰa, Qom,1332 Š./1953, I, p. 79.

Idem, Ganǰīna-ye dānešmandān, Tehran, 1352 Š./1973, I, pp. 245-46.

(H. Algar)

Originally Published: December 15, 1985

Last Updated: August 3, 2011

This article is available in print.
Vol. II, Fasc. 1, p. 31

Cite this entry:

H. Algar, “ANGAJĪ, ḤĀJJ MĪRZĀ ABŪ’L-ḤASAN,” Encyclopædia Iranica, II/1, p. 31, available online at http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/angaji-hajj-mirza-abul-hasan (accessed on 30 December 2012).