Killing of a Prominent Preacher of Tehran (قتل خطیب معروف تهران)
Seyyed Mohammad Tabataba’i (سید محمد طباطبایی), in a letter addressed to Mozaffar al-Din Shah (مظفرالدین شاه), reproached and admonished him, warning him of the consequences of the severe crisis that had spread throughout the country. He explicitly stated that the only remedy was the establishment of constitutional government.
The attacks by preachers and orators in Tehran (تهران) intensified, and every day the voʿāz openly and severely attacked Ain al-Dawlah (عینالدوله). Secret societies opposing the government increased in number, and, generally speaking, the entire population demanded constitutional government.
Ain al-Dawlah (عینالدوله) exiled a number of political figures who opposed him. Haj Sheikh Mohammad Vaʿez (حاج شیخ محمد واعظ), one of Tehran’s prominent preachers, delivered sermons every day in the Sar-e Polak (سرپولک) neighborhood, denouncing Ain al-Dawlah.
Sheikh Mohammad Vaʿez (شیخ محمد واعظ) was arrested by soldiers, but the people, led by Seyyed Ahmad Behbahani (سید احمد بهبهانی), rescued him from the Cossack forces. The confrontation escalated into gunfire. During the incident, a theology student named Seyyed Abdolhamid (سید عبدالحمید) was killed, while several others, including Adib al-Zakerin (ادیبالذاکرین), were wounded.
Abdolhamid’s body was taken to the Jameh Mosque (مسجد جامع), and the Tehran Bazaar (بازار تهران) was closed. Thousands of people gathered in the mosque, including Seyyed Abdollah Behbahani (سید عبدالله بهبهانی), Seyyed Mohammad Tabataba’i (سید محمد طباطبایی), and Sheikh Fazlollah Nouri (شیخ فضلالله نوری).
Abdol Khan Nasr al-Saltaneh (عبدالخان نصرالسلطنه), the governor of Tehran, surrounded the mosque and prevented the people from leaving so that they would not enter the streets. The people nevertheless poured out of the mosque, and gunfire began. Nearly one hundred people were wounded.
