Feyziyeh School () is an old school in

Qom Qom (; ) is a city in the Central District of Qom County, Qom province, Iran, serving as capital of the province, the county, and the district. It is the seventh largest metropolis and also the seventh largest city in Iran. The city is ...

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

that was founded in the Safavid era. The school has been listed as one of Iran's national monuments as of 29 January 2008. The school is famous in part as the focal point for clerical opposition to Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi's

White Revolution The White Revolution () or the Shah and People Revolution () was a far-reaching series of reforms to aggressively modernize the Pahlavi Iran, Imperial State of Iran launched on 26 January 1963 by the Shah, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, and ended with ...

, and the site of the 1963

Ashura Ashura (, , ) is a day of commemoration in Islam. It occurs annually on the tenth of Muharram, the first month of the Islamic calendar. For Sunni Muslims, Ashura marks the parting of the Red Sea by Moses and the salvation of the Israelites ...

speech by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini denouncing the Shah, which led to his arrest.

Background

The Feyziyeh school was founded in

during the Safavid era. An epigraph on the south veranda dates its construction to the reign of

Shah Tahmasp Tahmasp I ( or ; 22 February 1514 – 14 May 1576) was the second shah of Safavid Iran from 1524 until his death in 1576. He was the eldest son of Shah Ismail I and his principal consort, Tajlu Khanum. Tahmasp ascended the throne after the d ...

. A school by the name of ''Astana'' existed at the site, from the 6th to the 11th century. Reconstruction was carried out under the Safavids and the school was renamed Feyziyeh. The school was rebuilt and extended during the reign of

Fath-Ali Shah Qajar Fath-Ali Shah Qajar (; 5 August 1772 – 24 October 1834) was the second Shah of Qajar Iran. He reigned from 17 June 1797 until his death on 24 October 1834. His reign saw the irrevocable ceding of Iran's northern territories in the Caucasus, com ...

in 1799. The school has 40 rooms on the first floor, 4 long veranda, 12 stalls and a square pool.

History

Opposition to the White Revolution

In 1963,

Mohammad Reza Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi (26 October 1919 – 27 July 1980) was the last Shah of Iran, ruling from 1941 to 1979. He succeeded his father Reza Shah and ruled the Imperial State of Iran until he was overthrown by the Iranian Revolution, which ...

announced a program of reforms he labeled the

. Members of the Iranian clergy were angered by proposed land reforms and protested against these changes. The Shah traveled to Qom and, during a speech, announced the clergy black reactionaries worse than the red reactionaries and a hundred times more treacherous than the (communist)

Tudeh party The Tudeh Party of Iran is an Iranian communist party. Formed in 1941, with Soleiman Mirza Eskandari as its head, it had considerable influence in its early years and played an important role during Mohammad Mosaddegh's campaign to nationalize ...

. On 26 January 1963 and despite a boycott by the opposition, a referendum was held to legitimise the White Revolution in which 5,598,711 people voted for, and 4,115 against, the reforms. The referendum was a good excuse for the government to take tougher practical action against the clergy and on 22 March 1963, coinciding with the death day of

Ja'far al-Sadiq Ja'far al-Sadiq (; –765) was a Muslim hadith transmitter and the last agreed-upon Shia Imam between the Twelvers and Isma'ilis. Known by the title al-Sadiq ("The Truthful"), Ja'far was the eponymous founder of the Ja'fari school of Isla ...

, the Shah's guards attacked Feyziyeh School and killed students and people. According to Daniel Brumberg, the regime persuaded the thugs to attack the students of Feyziyeh School. In response Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini announced the new year of 1963 as a day of public mourning. 15khordad1

Khomeini's sermon

On the afternoon of 3 June 1963,

, Khomeini delivered a speech at the Feyziyeh school in which he denounced the

Shah Shāh (; ) is a royal title meaning "king" in the Persian language.Yarshater, Ehsa, ''Iranian Studies'', vol. XXII, no. 1 (1989) Though chiefly associated with the monarchs of Iran, it was also used to refer to the leaders of numerous Per ...

as a "wretched, miserable man", and warned him that if he did not change his ways the day would come when the people would offer up thanks for his departure from the country. His speech was heavily attended, to the extent that all of Feyziyeh's and Daralshafa’s courtyard, the courtyard of

Fatima Masumeh Shrine The Shrine of Fatima Masumeh () is a Twelver Shi'ite shrine, located in the city of Qom, in the province of Qom, Iran. Qom is considered by Twelver Shia Muslims to be the second most sacred city in Iran after Mashhad. Fatima Masumeh was the si ...

, the Astana square and the surrounding were full of people. On 5 June 1963 at 3 am, two days later, police and commandos entered Khomeini's home in Qom and arrested him. They hurriedly transferred him to

Qasr Prison The Museum of the Qasr Prison ( ''muze-ye zendān-e qasr''; formerly referred to as the Qasr Prison, ''zendān-e qasr'', meaning "Palace Prison") is a historical complex in Tehran, Iran. The building was one of the oldest political prisons i ...

Tehran Tehran (; , ''Tehrân'') is the capital and largest city of Iran. It is the capital of Tehran province, and the administrative center for Tehran County and its Central District (Tehran County), Central District. With a population of around 9. ...

. These events triggered the Movement of 15 Khordad.

Registration as a National Monument

The Feyziyeh school was registered as one of Iran's national monuments on 29 January 2008.

References