This article analyzes reformist treatises from nineteenth-century Iran that called for tanzimat (re-ordering). Central to this reformist discourse was the demand for the enactment of q & amacr;n & umacr;n (modern law). This new conceptualization of law emerged under the influence of European legal codification, which reshaped the characteristics of law across numerous Muslim societies during the nineteenth century. The Iranian case is particularly significant because its theory of law developed largely within a noncolonial context and independently of direct Western intervention. Ultimately, the redefinition of q & amacr;n & umacr;n extended legal constraints to monarchical authority and action, laying the foundations for constitutional thought in Iran decades before the Constitutional Revolution of 1906-11.
While first-order ethical norms and prescriptions appear to be universal, the same is not true for second-order ethics and moral philosophies. The contrast between various models of second-order ethics can be usefully explored through a comparative assessment of the ethics of a pre-modern Muslim scholar with those of a modern one. In this article, I critically compare and contrast the views of Khawaja Nasir al-Din Tusi with those of Abdolkarim Soroush.1 The former subscribes to a modified Aristotelian framework enriched by Islamic teachings, whereas the latter has developed a theory that, while also inspired by Islamic teachings, is informed by the views of a number of modern philosophers.
Scholars of Iranian history have begun turning their attention to the presence of enslaved Africans in Iran. The history of Africans and racial categories and identities has emerged in academic literature as a topic worthy of study.1 While there is much yet to be learned, we can recognize now that enslaved Africans in Iran were able to maintain their own religious ceremonies, speak their own Persian dialect, perform their own musical styles and forms of dance, conduct healing practices, and so forth. This African cultural influence has certainly been a factor in shaping all aspects of Iranian society.2
Reflecting the ongoing migrations of Iranians and the truly global reach of the Iranian diaspora, social scientific research on the lives of Iranians in diverse global locations has been published in many languages beyond English and Persian. Despite the unprecedented accessibility of scholarship in the digital age, research in these languages nevertheless remains unevenly visible. This special issue of Iranian Studies focuses on Iranian migration and diaspora and presents six research articles originally authored in languages other than English or Persian from an array of (inter)disciplinary perspectives and geographic locations. The issue seeks to not only make these studies accessible to a wide readership, but also to bring them into meaningful conversation with ongoing discussions in Iranian studies, encouraging an expansive view of the Iranian diaspora that requires geographic breadth, a range of methodologies, and a broad temporal scope. If Iranian migration has long been a global phenomenon, then Iranian diaspora studies-and indeed, Iranian studies more broadly-must also become more intentionally global in its questions, conversations, and sources.
