The Impacts of Holy War Fatwas against
the Allies on People of Sistan and Baluchistan
during the First World War

Abbas Sarafrazi[1]

Abstract

During the years that eventually led to the First World War, the tribes of Sistan and Baluchistan, as a result of advertisements and undertakings of the Allies and the Axis, started advocating them. The attempts made by the German and Iranian liberal leaders and the activities of Democrat party in Kerman influenced the people of Sistan and Baluchistan. Although these two regions had already been influenced by anti-English movements of the subcontinent, the Ottoman and Indian uprisings against the dominance of the foreigners in Iran were not ineffective. The common religion of Iranians and Ottomans made them involved in supporting Ottomans. The division of Iran based on 1907 contract, the Westerners’ fight with Islam and the idea of unity in the Islamic world provoked Iranians to take part in the battle. The First World War caused some reactions on the part of Sunni and Shiite intellectuals. Both sects issued holy war fatwas; based on which, all the Muslims were required to take part in the holy war. Both the Shia and Sunni Muslims of Sistan, following the holy war fatwas issued by their own leaders, began fighting with the Englishmen. The holy war announcements were published and distributed in these regions and they provoked a storm of protest by the Sunni and Shiite residents. Englishmen and some local governors and their followers worked for overtaking such announcements. The anti-English passion of the south-easterners, invigorated by religious intellectuals, indicates that the holy war with the foreigners had turned into a national-religious movement in which individuals, regardless of their religion and ethnicity, displayed resistance against enemies