 Filling the vacuum
Understanding the "Islamic" in the Islamic
Revolution of Iran
By Lawrence Reza Ershaghi
September 22, 2003
The Iranian
And if you turn away (from Islam and the obedience
of Allah), He will substitute you for some other people, and they
will not
be like you -- Quran, 47:38
The Iranian Revolution of 1978-79 successfully
identified and institutionalized itself as Islamic. French philosopher
Michael Foucault welcomed the Iranian revolution and its "Islamic
spirit"
as
an intellectually exciting revolt against the rigidity of modern
secular imagination. He sarcastically asked, "What is it
about what happened in Iran that a whole lot of people, on the
left and the right, find somewhat irritating?"
Those who
attempt to explain the meaning of this revolution within a socio-historical
experience will find that such an analysis does not touch the
fundamental spirit of the revolution. No expert has adequately
conveyed the complexity of this revolution; and demythologized
western man certainly did not, can not, and will not be able
to understand the revolution in Iran. If they displayed arrogance
towards God, Iran's revolution displayed humility towards
God. If Nietzsche declared "God is dead"; the Iranian
Revolution countered "God is Great".
The revolution shattered
the prejudice and arrogant presumptions fostered by the authorities
in the West. One may say it defied
every expectation. More interesting is the response on the part
of these so called scholars. Rather than reconsidering their
system of interpretation, they begin blaming the reality; these
people are so backward and hampered by their traditions that
even modernity cannot save them.
The irony is that revolution
in Iran was fought most enthusiastically for modernity and
all of its promises as a social ideal; but also against the perverted
modernity imposed under the Shah which betrayed every humanistic
principle modernity is supposed to represent. In the case of
the Shah, reality was abused. While people were starving
in
their mud huts in South Tehran, Shah flushed his gold-plated
toilet bowl. The Shah gave material beauty a bad name. He spent
millions on creating a palace to accommodate Anwar Sadat and
King Hussein.
Modernism under the Shah meant imitating and surrendering
to the West. And what life offered in the west was a violation
of
humanity; not much more than an animal, no worse than an animal.
The Shah became less a producer of culture and more of a medium
in expressing Western ideas. In light of this interpretation
one can conclude that the revolution in Iran was not a simple
clash between modernity and tradition, but an attempt to accommodate
modernity within a sense of authentic Islamic identity, culture,
and historical experiences.
The Shah's unpopular "modernization"
projects and the consolidation of an authoritarian state apparatus
severely
re-contextualized the meaning attached to modernization. The
systematic suppression of secular opponents created a political
vacuum for the emerging Islamic movement, and its attempts to
articulate an alternative to oppressive Western models of modernization.
As a result a process of the politicization of
Shiism as a revolutionary ideology was constructed. Imam Khomeini's
speeches appealed
to the most sacred sentiments and the most cherished memories
of the Shia constituency. Imam Khomeini's principal achievement
was to speak in a language that unified an entire spectrum
of the Iranian population. The Shah tried imposing a certain model of life
on a community attached to entirely different traditions and
values. The Shah
got drunk on visions of military power and neglected the real
elements of fostering modernity. In an underdeveloped country
the things he did were mere images of modernity. Hence the key
to modernity was in the villages.
In that kind of society most
people live in poor villages and as long as the villages are
"backwards", the country will remain backward. Democracy can
not be imposed by
force, the majority must favor it, yet the majority of Iran
wanted what Imam Khomeini wanted, an Islamic Republic. They
cried that
Islam must rule politics, not just mosques.
What made it possible for Iranians to remain
themselves throughout their history was their spiritual strength,
not material
strength;
poetry, not technology; religion, not factories. They expressed
their true selves through these things, useless from a productive
viewpoint. So as we can see the problem does not lie with the
people, but rather with the discourse.
The naive mind state
of the various intellectuals which espouse modernity's
discourse seems to be much closer to the thoughts of a colonial
administrator than a progressive. The problem with this discourse
is that it has a difficulty appreciating a central role for culture
in any social movement and as a result has been unable to understand
Iranian society and many others. Under the slogans of modernism,
economic development, technological progress, the Iranian people
were deprived of the right to recognize their own unique and
distinct civilization and culture. Finally,
one may ask what about the other "elements" of the revolution.
As for the Mojahadeen-e-Khalq, its failure
resulted
from a dogmatic refusal to see beyond the limits of its ideological
scheme. As for the Tudeh party, they degenerated into a typical
Stalinist party when a group of pro-Moscow individualists gained
control of the leadership. They launched campaigns to help the
Soviet Union acquire oil concession of northern Iran. Consequently,
their echoing of Soviet politics in Iran did them much injustice.
As for the Iranians in exile they created a political
culture (sectarian politics marked by internal tension) that
could not
contribute much to the enhancement of Iranian internal political
transformation (some things seem to never change). As for the
left they were drawn into the cultural orbit of the West; and
to adopt a friendly stance towards the West would have seriously
undermined the whole process of cultural transformation.
And
as for the SAVAK secret police, they never took the clerical
threat seriously. Secular opposition was always perceived as
the real
danger. Thus,
political
Islam truly benefited from the Shah's policies.
The ascent
of political Islam owes much to the fragile foundations of
secular politics and to the political vacuum that the Shah's
regime
effectively created in the 60's and 70's. In their
desire to maintain self-respect, to possess an identity NOT
borrowed from abroad, to avoid being a mere imitation, a second
rate reproduction
of an alien model, the Iranian people choose the indigenous
response; Shia Islam. The remainder of this article will focus on that
response, the most common denominator of their political culture;
Shia Islam.
I will now allow the Iranian people and their leader through
their own words define the revolutionary movement. Their words
may perplex and baffle some; and on the other hand may humble,
inspire, move and shed tears for others.
How you evaluate these
people and their Islamic leader is a question for you to decide.
But one thing is certain, these people were no ordinary people
and their leader was no ordinary leader; and their revolution
definitely was by no means ordinary. The more their revolution
was opposed, the more their revolution was strengthened. Let
us now go back in time and visit the revolution and its aftermath.
A
young revolutionary into the midst of the revolutionary sentiment
recalls:
I was born into a poor family, to a father
whose loving care I did not have for more than nine years.
Then I spend
my childhood
reminiscing about the stories which were told about him. These
were stories of his facing up to injustice and tyranny, of
his standing up against dictatorship and repression. Visible
in his
old and broken face were years of pain and suffering, of fighting
against those who tyrannized him relentlessly.
In our home,
there was always a scarcity of bread, and the most beautiful
music
we ever heard was the sound of my father's prayers. So
long as he was alive, injustice did not dare to intrude though
the small window of our humid room. When the music of his
prayers stopped, I remained with my mother, four brothers,
and twenty-five
years of suffering under tyranny, sorrow, and anxiety.
Throughout
the reign of Mohammad Reza Shah the tyrant, which occupied
all my life, I always searched for someone, who, like my
father,
would stand up to tyranny and without the fear fight with
the landlord, slap the chief of the police in the face, go
to jail
for having defended an old woman, and recite prayers in loud
music.
Suddenly, in the wake of the Revolution,
I heard the voice of a man from the most noble city of
Najaf. The voice
was one
thousand times louder than my father's. A man whose cry
penetrated deep into the very existence of the deprived people.
His words were each like a sacred sword coming down on the
fake regime of the Shah.
I realized that this is my expected
savior
who is coming from Najaf. He has arisen from the site of
Ali's grave, peace be upon him. (From an eyewitness
account of the Islamic Revolution by Akbar Khalili, Gaam
Beh Gaam Baa Inqalaab, Tehran, 1981).
In early 1980's
the Institute for the Intellectual Development of Children
and Young
Adults organized a national competition entitled A
Letter to the Imam. The prize-winning letters were sent
to Imam Khomeini's office. The organizers of this competition
knew of no better prize than a private audience with the Imam.
On 23 Esfand 1362/ March 1984, Imam Khomeini received the organizers
of this event. Here is a letter describing the visit:
The children were waiting for the Imam's arrival
impatiently. As soon as the Imam saw the children, a fatherly
smile blossomed
on his most gracious face. The children all broke into tears.
We all cried. These were tears of joy. The Imam received the
children with open arms. The children gave the Imam a book in
memory of this occasion. They showered his hands with kisses.
The Imam prayed for all the children, one by one. When we returned,
the children were all silent in the minibus. Obviously, it was
the impact of the Imam's visit. We felt we were washed
by a bounteous rain of piety. The kind glances of the Imam had
touched our souls. The children were in ecstasy. As if they had
just smelled the fragrance of a beautiful flower.
Here are some
of the letters... Dear
Imam, I wish to invent something that would make poor people
rich, blind people see, crippled people healthy,
so that I would
help good people. I wish the peasants would not get sick and
dirty. I wish they could have schools, new clothes. Please pray
for me so that I can do all these things. Goodbye.
Maryam Mokhleso, 12 years old, wrote from Damghan,
O,
my leader! I love you. As much as butterflies love the flowers,
with the depth of all the seas, as much as a mother loves
her beloved child, even more than all these, I love you...
As
long as this world exists, and the earth moves around, and
the sun shines, I will remember you, and I will love you like
the
dance of butterflies around the flower and the candle.
She
also wrote,
... when you came I was only 7 years old.
I did not know where you were coming from. But I knew that
you were the spring of our Revolution.
She remembered her dolls:
When you had not come yet, we children used to
play with our dolls,
ignorant of the fact that at the time we ourselves were puppets
to injustice and tyranny, When you came we had no desire
to play with dolls any more. They became old and after a while
they
broke.
Then we began to make wooden guns (although I was a girl,
I learned it from my brother). Childish games had no meaning
for
us any
more. We felt grown up, very proud of the wooden guns we
carried on our shoulders.
She concluded,
O, idol-smasher
Khomeini! You are like a teacher who teaches us the lesson
of faith, of sacrifice. You warn us all the time.
12 year old Majid Valipour Kalti
wrote to Imam Khomeini about his eyeache which made him almost
blind. He also told of his
dream of Imam Khomeini, after which problems with his eyes were
gone. "But you see, Imam, only my mother believed my
dream. All others laughed at me. But that's alright. God knew
I was not lying." He also wrote of his younger brother:
Imam, I
wish, when I grow up, to save enough money to build a school
at the center
of our village so that children don't have to cross the
highway in order to go to school. If our village had a school,
my younger brother would not have been crushed under the
wheels of a mini-bus, and would not have made my mother sad for
ever.
But I also know that if he too were here, he would have written
to you how much he loved you, and how much he would love
to kiss you.
Ziba Taherian, 13 years old, from Isfahan, wrote
that when she was 5 or 6 years old her brother, who was later
martyred for
Islam, showed her Imam Khomeini's picture:
Since then, your love sat in my heart, and I
am convinced it will never leave my heart. O dear Imam! Perhaps
what I am about
to tell you may appear as sheer madness. But believe me it is
the truth. You see, when I look at your handsome picture, your
beautiful smiles deeply move me. Whenever I do something good,
your picture smiles at me, and whenever I commit a sin, if I
look at your picture, the smile is gone from your lips. I feel
that this is not a picture. This is your most gracious being.
O dear Imam, please consider me worthy of your
presence so that I may see you, because meeting my leader enlightens
my heart.
Well, I am not going to take your precious time any longer.
I hope you will answer my letter. I conclude my letter with
my
best wishes for your health and the Mahdi's Revolution
(may God hasten his return!), for the victory of the soldiers,
and for the health of the clergy.
17 year old Zahra Habibian
from Tehran after seeing Imam Khomeini:
That day they had brought us from school to
your house. I had a peculiar feeling. I felt as if I was the
only
one who was coming
to meet you. I did not even see that huge crowd. I was telling
myself, "How would I face him?" I thought it impossible
to see one of "the friends of God." But after an
hour or two, when I entered the Husseiniyeh of Jamaran, I
was just beside myself. I had a strange feeling. Every moment,
anxious
as I was to see you, was like a lifetime. But nothing seemed
to happen.
As soon as the door from which you used to enter
the balcony moved or opened, the crowd fell into a strange
silence.
But when the door opened and one of the guards or someone
else came to the balcony, people would be so disappointed.
At times,
they would say to each other: "Well, maybe the Imam will
not come!" Others would say, "O no, God forbid!"
At
any rate, time was going idly by me, I could clearly hear
my heart beating. I did not know what to do. Should I laugh
or cry!
You kept waving your kind hand to the crowd. I could not
believe it was you. You see, on television, I had seen you
somewhat differently.
But now, right in front of my eyes I was watching a person
which was light incarnate. If I had any power at that time,
I would
have stopped the time, so that I could see you more.
After
about twenty minutes you moved toward the door. I could not
believe
that you wanted to leave... I kept on crying. Even now, after
some years since that day, whenever I am reminded of those
moments, tears come to my eyes. I only have one wish in my
life, actually,
two wishes: one is to see you one more time, and the other
is to be fortunate enough to be graced by martyrdom.
I know
I am
not worthy of either of these wishes. But I beg you to
pray for me to have my wishes fulfilled. You see, just like
you,
I am
a Sayyid too. I think I am entitled to see my own cousin
one more time, very humble and insignificant as I am. Zahra
Habibian.
Imam Khomeini own words on following Iran's model:
Iran is the exemplary
model for all [other] countries. God Almighty might very
well set Iran as an exemplary model [against which
to judge] all those who have controlled tyranny, succumbed
to tyrants, and have not revolted. If they believe in God and
in
the Day of Judgment, they have to have an answer ready for
God Gracious and Exalted that He is.
In that day, America and
Israel
cannot do anything for you. And if they do not believe
in such ideas, they have to have an answer ready for the victimized
peoples
of the world, an answer for the future generations who,
God
forbid, will be trapped because of things that they [their
present ancestors]
are doing; they want to have an answer ready.
If they take
religious values for nothing, then they should consider their
own military
interests. Just for a short period of government, they should
not accept ignominy under the boots of Israel. Muslims ought
to rise. They ought to rebel. God Almighty has said ... Do
not say that you are alone. We have to rise individually,
and we have to rise collectively. We have to rise all together.
We
are all bound by duty to revolt for God, to revolt for
the protection of Islamic countries, against these two cancerous
tumors, one
the corrupt Ba'ath Party of Iraq and the other Israel,
both of which stem from America ... There is no excuse
that
we do not have any weapon. The weapon that you have the
world does not have, and that is the weapon of oil. The world
needs
your weapon. It is the life-vein of the world. This is
the weapon that God Almighty has put at your disposal. Use
it
for God, Almighty
and Majestic that He is ...
I hope that these governments
will give as much importance to Islam as they do to their
zoos ... I hope that God Almighty will support the Muslims
of the world
and deliver them from the tyranny of the superpowers.
And peace be upon you, and God's grace and bounty.
Imam Khomeini on Islamic law:
The divine law is different from the secular
laws. In secular laws not more than one or two aspects can be
considered, and
even those are limited to this world. As limited as these laws
are to this world, they still cannot foresee all its potential
aspects and devise a regulation accordingly.
The divine law,
on the contrary, commences from the moment of an infant's
conception, from the parent's marriage, and even before
that, as to what sorts of people are necessary to produce
a healthy and virtuous child. What sort of husband should be
chosen for
a woman, and what sort of wife for a man.
And there are laws
governing in marriage, all intended for the good of the
fruit which is to grow. There are rules and regulations for
that
very moment when the fetus is to be conceived. All of this
is to generate
an innate growth in man. When the mother is pregnant, and
the child is in the mother's womb, that too has rules and
regulations.
Imam
Khomeini on expansionism:
Their purpose and their objective
is not to conquer lands. Those who talk about the [early] Islamic
expansionism, they have absolutely
no idea what Islam is. They think, Islam is like the United States,
the larger the size of its domain the better. The expansionism
of the prophets is different from the expansionism of rulers.
[The rulers] struggle for this world, conquer for this world,
for their own diabolical power. The prophets [or the contrary]
intend to humanize a multitude. They whip them to become humans.
Their expansionism is to make humans.
It is impossible to appreciate many crucial aspects
of the revolutionary moment that led to the establishment of
the Islamic Republic
in Iran without understanding Ashura.
Sayyid Jalal al-Din Madani
on Ashura in Iran:
The afternoon of Ashura, reminiscent of Hussein's
martyrdom, creates a particularly indescribable atmosphere in
an Islamic
society. Our sociologists have not yet had the opportunity
to analyze the society's psychological state on this day.
Had they collected some data, and had they studied them carefully,
they would have recognized that the condition of sacrifice
and self-annihilation on this day is drastically different
from those
of other days. When a speech has divine support, its influence
is hundreds of times more effective at this time.
British theatrical director Peter Brook, after
he witnessed a performance of Ta'ziyeh:
I saw in a remote Iranian village one of the
strongest things I have seen in a theater: a group of four hundred
villagers,
the entire population of the place, sitting under a tree
and passing from roars of laughter to outright sobbing
- - - although
they all knew perfectly well the end of the story - -
- as they saw Imam Hussein in danger of being killed, and
then
fooling his enemies, and then being martyred And when
he was martyred,
the theater became a truth - - there was no difference
between past and present. An event that was told as remembered
happening
in history 1,300 years ago, actually became a reality
in that moment.
From militant captors of the American
Embassy in Tehran:
In the name of God most Gracious and most Merciful,
Salutations unto thee, O heir of Hussein!
Salutations unto thee, O heir to God's blood - - -
Blood which through the sword became victorious.
Salutations unto thee, O Imam.
Your message breathes spirit into the carcasses of
the dead.
Salutations unto thee, O leader ...
Ashura's defining
characteristic; martyrdom
When Imam Hussein
decided to leave for Kufa, some prudent members of his family
tried to dissuade him. Their
argument was that
his action was not logical. They were right in
their own way.... But Imam Hosein had a higher logic. His
logic was
that of a
martyr, which is beyond the comprehension of ordinary
people.
The distinctive characteristic of a martyr is that
he charges the atmosphere with courage and zeal.
He revives
the spirit
of valor and fortitude among the people who have
lost it. That is
why Islam is always in need of martyrs.
Ashura's role in the April 1979 referendum
In the national referendum, to vote yes for the
Islamic Republic, all a pious Muslim had to do
was identify
with the green
color of Imam Hussein on the ballot. The color
red, that of Shemr,
was reserved for those who wanted to say no to
the Islamic Republic. Thus, to vote yes for the
Islamic
Republic
was to tantamount
to, indeed identical with, fighting alongside
Imam Hussein, something all pious Shias had always wanted
to do but
had never had the
opportunity.
Conversely, to vote no to the Islamic
Republic was, the same as fighting in the army
of Shemr against
Imam Hussein:
an impossibility, a total negation of identity
to any remotely Shia state of mind. Thus in
effect the
Islamic
Revolution
fulfilled, however symbolically, the Shi'ite
Iranian historical wish to
fight (and die) for Imam Hussein: fighting
for Imam Khomeini in 1978
became tantamount finally to being able to
fight for Imam Hussein in 680.
Author Lawrence Reza Ershaghi, B.A. Political Science, University of
California, Irvine.
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Filling the vacuum