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Bast-nishīnī (Persian: بَست‌نِشینی), or taking sanctuary, refers to the historical practice of seeking refuge in a designated safe zone to demand justice or evade punishment. Rooted in Islam, the concept dictates that anyone who takes refuge in the holy city of Mecca is granted immunity and protection from assault.

State responses to Bast-nishini varied throughout history; while some governments recognized the right of sanctuary, others sought to restrict or prohibit it. In contemporary times, traditional Bast-nishini has been superseded by modern forms of protest such as sit-ins, strikes, and political asylum. The most significant and widespread instances of Bast-nishini in the history of Iran occurred during the Constitutional Revolution of the Qajar era.

Historically, religious sites were the most frequented sanctuaries, followed by the residences of high-ranking state dignitaries and individuals held in high esteem by the monarch. However, the scope of the sanctuary eventually expanded to include foreign embassies, ambassadors' residences, artillery yards, and even the royal stables.

Concept

Letter from Naser al-Din Shah Qajar to Mulla 'Ali Kani

"You, who are the head of the scholars, issue a decree to abolish Bast-nishini and leave it neglected."
Mulla 'Ali Kani's reply:
My opinion is that the government should open the door of justice so that all doors (of Bast) are closed.[1]

Taking sanctuary entailed entering the sanctuary of a bast, taking refuge, and remaining within its confines.[2] The practitioners, known as bast-nishīns (refugees, petitioners, or protected persons), included criminals, out-of-favour officials, and the oppressed. They sought sanctuary either to demand justice or to escape penal consequences.[3]

The primary objective of Bast-nishini was to secure specific demands, often by compelling the opposing party into a compromise.[4] It functioned as a rapid and effective method of protest for various social groups.[5] Scholars suggest that while Bast-nishini initially served as a means to seek intercession and relief from God's wrath, its scope gradually expanded from otherworldly and spiritual concerns to encompass secular and social issues.[6]

The practice was conducted either individually or collectively. In its collective form, unified by a common goal, it resembled a strike.[7] Today, the term Bast-nishīnī has largely lost its historical application,[8] manifesting instead as sit-ins and asylum seeking.[9]

History

While the precise origins of Bast-nishini are obscure, analogous practices of seeking sanctuary have existed since antiquity across various cultures and religions.[10] In the Islamic context, the archetype of sanctuary is Mecca, a city where human life is deemed inviolable. This sanctity was later extended to other holy sites, such as the shrines of the Imams (a), Imamzadas, Khanqahs, and Takyehs.[11] Over time, foreign embassies also became sites of refuge. This development faced opposition;[12] it is reported that Naser al-Din Shah Qajar designated numerous alternative locations as "bast" specifically to prevent people from seeking refuge in embassies.[13]

Despite its benefits for the populace, the institution of Bast-nishini was susceptible to abuse. Consequently, legislation was eventually enacted to prevent murderers, villains, and corrupt individuals from claiming sanctuary, permitting their arrest despite their refuge status.[14] Historically, monarchs occasionally violated the sanctity of a "bast" without incurring public censure or provoking unrest.[15]

Hajj Mirza Aghasi (d. 1849), the Prime Minister of Mohammad Shah Qajar (d. 1264/1848), restricted Bast-nishini, authorizing it in only three specific locations.[16] During his premiership, Amir Kabir (d. 1852) completely abolished the practice, effectively removing all immunity for refugees.[17] Although supported by Mirza Abu l-Qasim Tehrani (d. 1270/1853-54), the Friday Prayer Imam of Tehran, Amir Kabir's decree met with severe opposition in other cities.[18]

The practice reached its zenith during the Qajar era,[19] particularly during the Constitutional Revolution, when large-scale sanctuaries played a pivotal role in shaping political developments.[20] With the ascension of Reza Shah Pahlavi, Bast-nishini and sit-ins were officially banned.[21] Ultimately, the traditional practice gave way to modern forms of political expression, such as sit-ins and asylum seeking.[22]

Bast-nishīnī of constitutionalists in the British Embassy

Religious and Customary Rulings

According to the fatwa of Islamic jurists, if a criminal subject to mandatory Hadd or Ta'zir punishment takes refuge in Mecca, they cannot be assaulted within the sanctuary. Instead, they should be denied food and water to compel them to leave, at which point the sentence may be executed.[23] Jurists derive this ruling from the Qur'anic verse: "And whoever enters it shall be safe."[24][25] There is scholarly disagreement regarding whether the al-Haram al-Madani and the shrines of Ahl al-Bayt (a) hold the same sanctuary status as Mecca.[26] Beyond these specific religious contexts, there is no codified religious law governing Bast-nishini. However, driven by religious convictions, public sentiment, and socio-political pressures, the preservation of a sanctuary's sanctity became a customary law; violating a "bast" was widely regarded as an abnormal, immoral, and even illegal act.[27]

The treatment of petitioners varied by era. At times, if the refugee-seeker was an oppressor, authorities facilitated their exit to face justice; if oppressed, their grievances were addressed.[28] Conversely, Bast-nishini was sometimes viewed as an obstruction to justice, as wrongdoers utilized the sanctuary to evade punishment for illegal acts, thereby undermining the judicial process.[29] A prominent symbol of the sanctuary was a large chain hung at the entrance, signaling the location as a place of bast.[30]

Places of Bast-nishini

The designated locations for the sanctuary evolved over time.[31] While some held that sanctuary was permissible only in Mecca,[32] religious sites generally attracted the highest number of petitioners. These were followed by the residences of state dignitaries and individuals favored by the Shah. Gradually, the list of sanctuaries expanded to include embassies, the royal stables, officials' stables, the stables of the royal harem, European ambassadors' residences, and artillery yards.[33]

Seeking refuge in the Shah's stable was often interpreted as a gesture of contrition and self-abasement, intended to solicit the monarch's pardon.[34] Others suggest that the sanctity of the stable was rooted in a superstition that violating a horse's refuge would doom the violator to defeat in war.[35]

Famous Bast-Nishini in Iran

Several notable instances of Bast-nishini have marked Iranian history:

  • The most significant instance in Iranian history occurred during the Constitutional Revolution, centered on the demand for a "House of Justice" during the reign of Mozaffar al-Din Shah (d. 1907).[39] In July 1905, a group of Tehran scholars, accompanied by a crowd of several thousand, migrated to Qom and took sanctuary at the Holy Shrine of Lady Fatima al-Ma'suma (a) to pressure the Shah into accepting their demands.[40] Following this migration, numerous residents of Tehran sought refuge in the British Embassy to ensure their safety and compel the government to yield.[41] Estimates of the number of refugees at the British Embassy vary, with some sources citing figures as high as 20,000.[42]
  • Sheikh Fazlollah Nuri (d. 1909) took sanctuary at the Shrine of 'Abd al-'Azim during the conflict between the Constitutionalists and the proponents of "Mashru'a" (Sharia-based rule). Protesting what he viewed as the deviation of the Constitutional movement, he published his views in a series of tracts known as the "Bills of Sheikh Fazlollah."[43]
  • Sattar Khan (d. 1914) and other leaders of the Constitutional Revolution in Tabriz took refuge in the Ottoman Embassy during clashes with government forces.[44]

Monographs

Several scholarly works have been dedicated to the subject of Bast-nishini:

  • Falsafa-yi bast wa bast-nishini (The Philosophy of Bast and Sanctuary Seeking) by Ghulam-Ali 'Abbasi Furdu'ei; published by Astana-yi Muqaddasa-yi Qom. Za'ir Publications, 2005.[47]
  • Bast-nishini-yi mashruta-khwahan dar sifarat-i Ingilis (The Sanctuary Seeking of Constitutionalists in the British Embassy) by Rasul Jafariyan; a review of the events surrounding the one-month sit-in of constitutionalists in 1324/1906, published by the Institute for Iranian Contemporary Historical Studies, 1999.[48]
  • Barrasi wa tahlil-i bast-nishini dar dawra-yi Qajar wa payamadha-yi an (A Review and Analysis of Sanctuary Seeking in the Qajar Era and Its Consequences) by Hasan Ruhi Kashki; published by Kermanshah Publishing, 2024.[49]

Notes

  1. ↑ Muʿīnī, "Nigāhī bih sunnat-i bast-nishīnī dar Īrān", Institute for Iranian Contemporary Historical Studies.
  2. ↑ Matīn, Bast, vol. 12, p. 105.
  3. ↑ Khūsh Iftikhār, Bast wa bast-nishīnī dar dawra-yi Qājār, p. 33.
  4. ↑ Calmard, Bast wa bast-nishīnī, p. 205.
  5. ↑ Calmard, Bast wa bast-nishīnī, p. 208.
  6. ↑ Qaṣṣābiān, Tārīkhcha-yi bast wa bast-nishīnī dar Mashhad, p. 224.
  7. ↑ Khūsh Iftikhār, Bast wa bast-nishīnī dar dawra-yi Qājār, p. 34.
  8. ↑ Qaṣṣābiān, Tārīkhcha-yi bast wa bast-nishīnī dar Mashhad, p. 223.
  9. ↑ Farhangī, Bast wa bast-nishīnī (tārīkhcha), vol. 3, p. 396.
  10. ↑ Qaṣṣābiān, Tārīkhcha-yi bast wa bast-nishīnī dar Mashhad, p. 223.
  11. ↑ Calmard, Bast wa bast-nishīni, p. 205.
  12. ↑ Najafī, Guzīda-yi wāzhahā-yi takhaṣṣuṣī-yi andīsha-yi siyāsī wa tārīkh-i taḥawwulāt-i Īrān wa Islām, p. 75.
  13. ↑ Tihrānī, Bast-nishīnī dar sifārat-i Ingilīs, p. 64.
  14. ↑ Khūsh Iftikhār, Bast wa bast-nishīnī dar dawra-yi Qājār, p. 36.
  15. ↑ Calmard, Bast wa bast-nishīnī, p. 210.
  16. ↑ Khūsh Iftikhār, Bast wa bast-nishīnī dar dawra-yi Qājār, p. 35.
  17. ↑ Khūsh Iftikhār, Iṣlāḥāt-i qaḍāyī-yi Amīr Kabīr, p. 5.
  18. ↑ Algar, Naqsh-i rūḥānīyat-i pīshrū dar junbish-i mashrūṭīyat, p. 189.
  19. ↑ Matīn, Bast, vol. 12, p. 105.
  20. ↑ Calmard, Bast wa bast-nishīnī, p. 209.
  21. ↑ "Bast-nishīnān".
  22. ↑ Matīn, Bast, vol. 12, p. 108.
  23. ↑ Mawsūʿat al-Fiqh al-Islāmī, vol. 16, p. 317.
  24. ↑ Qur'an 3:97.
  25. ↑ Mawsūʿat al-Fiqh al-Islāmī, vol. 16, p. 317.
  26. ↑ Mawsūʿat al-Fiqh al-Islāmī, vol. 16, p. 317.
  27. ↑ Matīn, Bast, vol. 12, p. 107.
  28. ↑ Tihrānī, Bast-nishīnī dar sifārat-i Ingilīs, p. 64.
  29. ↑ Khūsh Iftikhār, Bast wa bast-nishīnī dar dawra-yi Qājār, p. 35.
  30. ↑ Farhangī, Bast wa bast-nishīnī (tārīkhcha), vol. 3, p. 397.
  31. ↑ Calmard, Bast wa bast-nishīnī, p. 206.
  32. ↑ Tihrānī, Bast-nishīnī dar sifārat-i Ingilīs, p. 64.
  33. ↑ Khūsh Iftikhār, Bast wa bast-nishīnī dar dawra-yi Qājār, p. 37.
  34. ↑ Khūsh Iftikhār, Bast wa bast-nishīnī dar dawra-yi Qājār, p. 40.
  35. ↑ Farhangī, Bast wa bast-nishīnī (tārīkhcha), vol. 3, p. 397.
  36. ↑ Qarāʾatī, Naqsh-i amākin-i madhhabī dar guftimān-hā-yi ijtimāʿī wa siyāsī-yi dawra-yi Qājār; barrasī-yi mawridī-yi Tihrān, p. 183.
  37. ↑ Farhangī, Bast wa bast-nishīnī (tārīkhcha), vol. 3, p. 398.
  38. ↑ Amīn, Niẓām-i qaḍāyī-yi Īrān az āghāz-i Qājār tā inqilāb-i mashrūṭīyat, p. 65.
  39. ↑ Matīn, Bast, vol. 12, p. 107.
  40. ↑ Zandī, "Muhājirat-i Kubrā".
  41. ↑ Tihrānī, Bast-nishīnī dar sifārat-i Ingilīs, p. 66.
  42. ↑ Zandī, "Muhājirat-i Kubrā".
  43. ↑ "Bast-nishīnān".
  44. ↑ Khāja-Nūrī, Bargī az tārīkh: Sattār Khān, p. 84.
  45. ↑ Ādharī Khākistar, "Riwāyatī az bast wa bast-nishīnī dar ḥaram-i muṭahhar-i Raḍawī", p. 8.
  46. ↑ Matīn, Bast, vol. 12, p. 108.
  47. ↑ Noor Digital Library.
  48. ↑ "The Sit-In of Constitutionalists at the British Embassy: An Examination of the One-Month Developments of the Constitutionalists' Sit-In at the British Embassy in Jumada al-Ula and Jumada al-Thani of the Year 1324 AH
  49. ↑ Iran Book and Literature House.

References

  • Ādharī Khākistar, Ghulāmriḍā, Riwāyatī az bast wa bast-nishīnī dar ḥaram-i muṭahhar-i Raḍawī, Rūznāma-yi Khurāsān, no. 4005, 11 Azar 1397 Sh.
  • Algar, Hamid, Naqsh-i rūḥānīyat-i pīshrū dar junbish-i mashrūṭīyat, trans. Abū al-Qāsim Sirrī, Tehran: Tūs, 1356 Sh.
  • "Al-Iltijāʾ", Mawsūʿat al-Fiqh al-Islāmī, vol. 16, Qom: Mūʾassisa Dāʾirat al-Maʿārif al-Fiqh al-Islāmī, 2010.
  • Amīn, Sayyid Ḥasan, Niẓām-i qaḍāyī-yi Īrān az āghāz-i Qājār tā inqilāb-i mashrūṭīyat, Majalla-yi Ḥuqūq-i ʿUmūmī, no. 9, Winter 1389 Sh.
  • Bast-nishīnān, ISNA, Posted: 24 Aban 1396 Sh, Accessed: 2 Azar 1398 Sh.
  • Calmard, Jean, Bast wa bast-nishīnī, trans. Nargis Ṣāliḥ-Nizhād, Majalla-yi Payām-i Bahāristān, no. 23, year 6, Spring and Summer 1393 Sh.
  • Farhangī, Sūsan, Bast wa bast-nishīnī (tārīkhcha), Dānishnāma-yi Jahān-i Islām, vol. 3, Tehran, Bunyād-i Dāʾirat al-Maʿārif-i Islāmī, 1378 Sh.
  • Khāja-Nūrī, Khusraw, Bargī az tārīkh: Sattār Khān, Majalla-yi Payām-i Bahāristān, no. 62, Mordad 1385 Sh.
  • Khūsh Iftikhār, Hādī, Bast wa bast-nishīnī dar dawra-yi Qājār, Majalla-yi Tārīkh Pizhūhī, no. 22 & 23, Spring and Summer 1384 Sh.
  • Khūsh Iftikhār, Hādī, Iṣlāḥāt-i qaḍāyī-yi Amīr Kabīr, Majalla-yi Tārīkh Pizhūhī, no. 26, Spring 1385 Sh.
  • Matīn, Paymān, Bast, Dāʾirat al-Maʿārif-i Buzurg-i Islāmī, vol. 12, Tehran: Markaz-i Dāʾirat al-Maʿārif-i Buzurg-i Islāmī, 1383 Sh.
  • Muʿīnī, Muḥammad, Nigāhī bih sunnat-i bast-nishīnī dar Īrān, Institute for Iranian Contemporary Historical Studies website, Accessed: 2 Azar 1398 Sh.
  • Najafī, Mūsā, Guzīda-yi wāzhahā-yi takhaṣṣuṣī-yi andīsha-yi siyāsī wa tārīkh-i taḥawwulāt-i Īrān wa Islām, Majalla-yi Farhang, no. 27-28, Autumn and Winter 1397 Sh.
  • Parvashānī, Īraj, Bast wa bast-nishīnī (wāzha), Dānishnāma-yi Jahān-i Islām, vol. 3, Tehran: Bunyād-i Dāʾirat al-Maʿārif-i Islāmī, 1378 Sh.
  • Qarāʾatī, Ḥāmid, Naqsh-i amākin-i madhhabī dar guftimān-hā-yi ijtimāʿī wa siyāsī-yi dawra-yi Qājār; barrasī-yi mawridī-yi Tihrān, Majalla-yi Tārīkh-i Islām, no. 60, Winter 1393 Sh.
  • Qaṣṣābiān, Muḥammad Riḍā, Tārīkhcha-yi bast wa bast-nishīnī dar Mashhad, Majalla-yi Mishkāt, no. 60-61, Autumn and Winter 1377 Sh.
  • Tihrānī, Muḥammad ʿAlī, Bast-nishīnī dar sifārat-i Ingilīs, Majalla-yi Iṭṭilāʿāt-i Siyāsī-Iqtiṣādī, no. 277 & 278, Mehr and Aban 1389 Sh.
  • Zandī, Muḥammad ʿAlī, Muhājirat-i Kubrā, Pajoohe Website, Posted: 24 Aban 1393 Sh, Accessed: 3 Azar 1398 Sh.
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