Raisi Shia Iran Information Classification: General Raisi, Alireza. "Iran: Construction of a Shia political ideology in the Modern Age." Chapter 22. In The Routledge Handbook of Religion, Politics and Ideology Edited by Jeffrey Haynes, pp. 314-327. Routledge, 2022. 22. Iran: Construction of a Shia Political Ideology in the Modern Age Alireza Raisi Following the 1979 Islamic revolution in Iran, analysts and pundits started to explore the interaction of religion and politics in Iran. They examined the role of religion in mobilizing the masses, the guardianship of jurists, the components of theocracy in Iran and its implications for policymaking 1 . Despite these scholarly efforts, the relationship between religion and ideology have been relatively overlooked. This chapter aims to explain the origin of a Shia political ideology in Iran. It examines how a Shia political ideology emerged from of traditional Shia thoughts by reviewing the ebbs of flows of this journey in Iran’s modern era. In answering this question, the chapter demonstrates the impact of ideas, factional interests, and transnational forces on the rise of Shia political ideology in modern Iran. It argues that in pre-revolutionary time, the ideas particularly a leftist reading of the history of Islam laid the ground for the rise of a Shia political ideology. In the post-revolutionary time, however, policymaking, factional competition contributed to the evolution of Shia ideology, and in post 9/11, transnational and regional power struggle impacted the ideological choice of Iranian ruling elites. The chapter proceeds as follows. First, it briefly reviews the historical evolution of Shia thoughts in the modern history of Iran. Then, it illuminates the impact of intellectual thoughts on the development of Shia ideology in pre-revolutionary time. Afterward, the chapter explains the evolution of Shia ideology in the post-revolutionary era. Finally, it demonstrates the ongoing impact of transnational and regional forces on the ideological choice of Iran’s ruling elites. Religion and politics in Iran’s modern history The dominant scholarly view considers the Safavid era in the 16 th century as the origin of Shiism in Iran 2 . This oversimplified view, however, discounts the elements of Persian culture that aligned with Shiism in “a land where substantial patronage awaited the Shiʿite ulema” (Algar, 2012). The Shia Islam continued to lead Iran’s public life after the fall of the Safavid empire namely from the Afsharid to the Qajar era (1789-1925). The Shia clerical establishment played a vital role in Iran’s constitutional revolution in Qajar time. Although the secular intellectuals conceptualized the underlying ideas of this revolution, Ulama (the Shia clerics) notably Ayatollah Naini and Tabatabai joined the movement and were at the center of theoretical efforts in revolution and later mobilizing the masses in the constitutional era. Shia clerical establishment continued to enjoy pervasive influence in Iran’s public sphere until Reza Shah’s modernization programmes (1925-1941). Reza Shah substantially limited their influence. Yet his son, Mohammadreza Shah Pahlavi relaxed most of these restrictions. This relaxation provides an arena for Ulama to play even a greater role in Iran comparing to constitutional time took place between 1905 and 1911. Clerical establishment expands its influence through the mosques and religious organizations in Iran. Religious magazines and journals boomed in this period, and the proponents of political Islam seized the opportunity to publicize their ideas to the general audience 3 .