University of Tehran Public Law Studies Quarterly 2423-8120 53 1 2023 03 21 The Concept of Equality in the Thought of the Jurists of ‎the Constitutional-Revolution Era The Concept of Equality in the Thought of the Jurists of ‎the Constitutional-Revolution Era 183 203 91729 10.22059/jplsq.2021.300061.2371 FA Mahdi Shamsaei Lashkariani ‎.‎‏ ‏Ph.D. Candidate in Public Law,‎‏ ‏Faculty of Law, Tehran University, college of Farabi, Qom, ‎Iran ‎ Hossein Rahmatollahi Associate Prof of Public Law, Faculty of Law, Tehran‏ ‏University, college of Farabi, Qom, ‎Iran Mahnaz Bayat Komitaki Assistant Prof of Public Law, Faculty of Law,‎‏ ‏Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran‎ Journal Article 2020 03 28 The Constitutional Revolution introduced new concepts to the Iranian society that created a conflict between tradition and modernity. One of the most important confrontations involved the concept of equality. Due to its historical nature, the analysis of this conflict depends on the use of documentary sources from that era. These sources suggest that one of the most challenging issues in period of the Constitutional Revolution was the subject of Article VIII of the Supplement to the Constitution, which provided for "the equal rights of the Iranian people". The adoption of this article caused a controversy that became known as the “jurists’ dispute”. In the traditional Iranian legal system, equality in its new meaning with the distinction between "equality before the law" and "equality in the law", did not exist. As a result of this semantic evolution, legal scholars faced a new concept. Some tried to reduce the new concept of equality to the old meaning of equality, i.e. equality before the law, and called it a result of Islamic rules. On the other hand, traditionalist jurists, referring to the inequality of the rights of Muslims and non-Muslims, considered equality inconsistent with the rules of Islam. In the end, both groups were unable to find the right answer to the question. <br />  The Constitutional Revolution introduced new concepts to the Iranian society that created a conflict between tradition and modernity. One of the most important confrontations involved the concept of equality. Due to its historical nature, the analysis of this conflict depends on the use of documentary sources from that era. These sources suggest that one of the most challenging issues in period of the Constitutional Revolution was the subject of Article VIII of the Supplement to the Constitution, which provided for "the equal rights of the Iranian people". The adoption of this article caused a controversy that became known as the “jurists’ dispute”. In the traditional Iranian legal system, equality in its new meaning with the distinction between "equality before the law" and "equality in the law", did not exist. As a result of this semantic evolution, legal scholars faced a new concept. Some tried to reduce the new concept of equality to the old meaning of equality, i.e. equality before the law, and called it a result of Islamic rules. On the other hand, traditionalist jurists, referring to the inequality of the rights of Muslims and non-Muslims, considered equality inconsistent with the rules of Islam. In the end, both groups were unable to find the right answer to the question. <br />  https://jplsq.ut.ac.ir/article_91729_ce1687dbdb9db22e15270fa25e4a2351.pdf