This
paper will describe how religion has been used in the twentieth and
twenty-first centuries to advanced political agendas in Iran.
Iran and Iraq have a majority of
Shittes which are mistakenly viewed as the most militant and fanatical
believers in their faith. Most Muslim
countries are Sunnis and most al-Qaeda are Sunni. The Islamic revolution turned the emphasis
back to Islam. Ruhollah
Mostafavi Musavi Khomeini
studied with the famous Islamic scholar Yazdi Ha'iri. Once Ha'iri left Arak for
the city of Qom in 1923, Mostafavi Musavi Khomeini
Khomeini followed. In
March 31, 1961, Ayatollah Boroujerdi died and Khomeini was in a place to take
up the mantle of Supreme Leader. After publication of his literatures on
Islamic doctrines and science, numerous Shi'ite Iranians began to see Khomeini
as an individual to be copied. Supreme Leader Ruhollah
Mostafavi Musavi Khomeini used
the emotional power of Shia lore to help him gain power in Iran. Iran is an Islamic republic that is ruled by
clerics. Shittes wanted Ali to be the successor to the Prophet Muhammad. Sunnis wanted a new leader with wisdom,
piety, leadership ability, and competence. Shittes have an established clergy
and stress the importance of Prophets family who are allowed black
turbans. Shittes are the overwhelmingly
the majority of the population. Iran was
the only country that Shittes have the majority of population. Before 1979,
Shitte clergy wanted an Islamic version of the separation of church and state. (Hauss, C.,
Haussman, M. , 2013, pg 371)
Supreme Leader Ruhollah
Mostafavi Musavi Khomeini imposed
restrictions on Iran more than a century of openness for them in the workplace
and society. Restrictions were imposed
on women in Iran after 1979. Before the
revolution, women could wear trendy clothes, but after Islamic Revolution, they
had to wear a head scarf, veil, and manteau. If their ankles showed from
running up stairs, they were arrested. The Constitutional Revolution of 1905 to
1911 succeeded at first in firming up the legal status of Islam, then
strengthening the state, instituting economic reforms and codifying the legal
system. (Hauss, C., Haussman, M. , 2013,pg 376)
Under the white revolution in 1963, the SAVAK
(Organization of Intelligence and National Security ) was enforcing both
modernization and the Shah’s power. The clerics had reduced influence in daily
life, women rights were extended and training and equipment for the military
were provided. Ayatollah Ruhollah
Khomeini (1902-1989) was a Cleric of Qom and built his reputation and charisma
largely because he was a religious leader above politics and was exceptional at
Islam knowledge. Ayatollah Khomeini gave more political power to Shitte followers. In June 1963, Khomeini
prepared a speech signifying that if the Shah did not alter Iran’s political
direction, the public would be glad to see him leave Iran. The Shah had encouraged relations with the
United States, and to be what Khomeini reflected "soft" on Israel.
This prompted Khomeini to speak his certainty that Jews would take over Iran
and that the U.S. wanted all Iranians to be slightly more than slaves to
America's Western standards. When Khomeini
was released from prison in 1964, the Shah and his followers tried to convince
him to stay out of political life. The Khomeini administration dramatically
transformed religious and political landscapes, making Shia Islam an
inseparable element from the country’s political structure. The new concept of
Vvelayat-e faqih or rule of the Islamic jurist is in Supreme Leader Ruhollah
Mostafavi Musavi Khomeini’s book
called “Hokumat-e Islami” which argued that the government should be run by
sharia law and restore Islamic ideology. He made Islamic fundamentalism a
political force. Ruhollah Khomeini
advanced a theory of what a state created on Islamic values and ran by the
clergy would be like, called Velayat-e faqeeh. He developed his theory at a
home-grown Islamic school, and made available to other Iranians. He also
created videotapes of his addresses, which were trafficked into and sold in
Iranian bazaars. Through these approaches, Khomeini became the acknowledged
leader of the Iranian disapproval of the Shah government. Ruhollah
Mostafavi Musavi Khomeini was
placed under house arrest, but created a large mob gathering. Khomeini was
released due to Prime Minister Mansour needing public acceptance. Land reform
did the Shah the most harm. The peasants
were unequipped to run the farms, and had to take out huge loans they couldn’t
repay. In 1975, Ruhollah Khomeini
released a triumphant statement in support of the activists against the Shah.
He acknowledged that "freedom and liberation from the bonds of
imperialism" was forthcoming. The
Shah failed to see that his power and reforms were an illusion so he became
distant from the population. More
protests happened in 1978 at Ruhollah
Khomeini's resistance, and were once more laid down brutishly by Iranian
government forces. Ruhollah Khomeini was opposed by Iraqi soldiers and
specified a choice: either abandon all political action in Iraq, or live in
exile. While Americans were doing business with the Organization of Petroleum
Exporting Countries, the Iranians were insulted by American sexual openness and
drinking. They used the OPEC money to buy billions of dollars of weapons.
The new Iranian government and the Carter Administration of the U.S. arrived a
standoff I which was under the pressure of sanctions and oil embargoes imposed
by the U.S. on Iran called the Iranian Hostage Crisis. .
Many who objected against Ruhollah
Khomeini government were executed, and Khomeini
had his policies and beliefs educated in public schools. Ruhollah Khomeini believed his ideas needed to be exported which started the
Iran-Iraq War. (Hauss, C., Haussman, M. ,
2013, pg 377-380) (Bruno, G., 2008)(Biography, 2013)
When the Iran-Iraq War ended in a
stalemate, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei
replaced Ruhollah Mostafavi Musavi Khemeini as supreme leader, and Ayatollah Hashemi Rafsanjani became the
new President, and the balance of power shifted to the more moderate Rafsanjani
who lead the Islamic Revolution in the 1980s. He wanted to reform the economy
that was hurt by costs of war with Iraq and boycott USA and America’s allies. Ayatollah
Hashemi Rafsanjani had widespread support, because he was backed by the vast
majority of conservative clerics. In 1989, he won the presidential election
with 95% of the vote. In a country that
does not have religious freedom, democracy will not work. Khomeini is also well known for
releasing a fatwa calling for the death of Indian-British writer Salman Rushdie
for his book called The Satanic Verses in 1989. (Hauss, C., Haussman, M. , 2013, pg
380-382)
Ayatollah Ali Khatami was elected in
1997 after Rafsanjani finished his second term.
Khatami fought against censorship. Ayatollah Ali Khatami supported more
rights for women, membership of religious and ethnic minority groups and
stressed strengthening civil society.
The clerics refused to allow moderates and reformists to run in the 2004
Majills election so there was a conservative landslide. Ahmadinejad is the first outsider and
conservative leader than the Supreme Leader and is outside the clergy. Iran began to become more conservative and
resistant to the West and to reform at home. The Iranians have stepped up
criticisms of Israel and their nuclear program (Hauss,
C., Haussman, M. , 2013, pg 382-384)(biography,
2013)
The
Supreme leader is the top of the Iran’s political and religious hierarchy and
is the de-facto leader of the executive branch.
The Supreme Leader oversees the military, appoints military and judicial
leaders, supervises the constitution, and has general state policy. The Supreme
leader appoints commanders for the Revolutionary Guards. The Assembly of
Experts is an 86 member body of senior Clergymen who selects the Supreme Leader.
The Majlis is the 250 member parliament of 30 Iranian providences. The Council of Guardians has 26 members who
review election candidates for consistency with Islamic Law. The Supreme Court judiciary is appointed by the
Supreme Leader while the Special Clerical Court is a clerical court for trying
Clergy of crimes. (Bruno,
G., 2008).
This
paper described how religion has been used in the twentieth and twenty-first
centuries to advanced political agendas in Iran.
References
pg. 83-96. Comparative Politics – Domestic Responses to Global Challenges, 8th Edition
Thomson Wadsworth, United States of America
Bruno, G. (2008, June
19) Religion and Politics in Iran
Retrieved
October 22, 2013 from CFR website
Anonymous (2013) Ayatollah
Ruhollah Khomeini biography
Retrieved
October 22, 2013 from Biography website
http://www.biography.com/people/ayatollah-ruhollah-khomeini-13680544?page=2
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