Khumayni's Religious Thought and the Iranian Revolution

Résumé du document

In Iran, people belong to the sect of Twelver Islam, which is the main branch of Shi'a Islam. The Twelvers believe that Ali was the supposed direct successor of the Prophet Muhammad, he was the first Imam, being the rightful leader of Muslim faith, while the Sunnis acknowledge him as the fourth Caliph. In Shi'a Islam, the twelfth Imam, or the Mahdi, is somewhere on earth, and will come back to make the world perfect under Islam.

The Islamic revolution of 1979 brought down the Pahlavi dynasty, bringing in a new and unprecedented form of government never before seen in Iran.

What are the roots of this new government ? How was it able to take power ? Is it something completely new, or perhaps it is something rooted in the Iranian Shia society ?

Extraits

[...] As we have seen earlier, he brought new ideas in Iran, ideas that seduced parts of the Iranian people. Why did they subscribe to his themes and thesis ? Well, since 1925, the Iranians were ruled by the Pahlavi dynasty, and different social groups gradually became more and more angry at it. First of all, since the Pahlavi dynasty was in charge, the human rights dropped to reach a very bad stance, people got jailed for no reason, or got tortured for example. [...]

[...] Since the are cunning and resourceful group of people. I fear that - God forbid - they may one day achieve their goal, and that the apathy shown by some of us may allow a Jew to rule over us one day. May God never let us see such a day ! (Khumayni, pp. 78-79). He accuses the Jews of corrupting the Qur'an, the Muslims' Holy Book, and to have imperialist desires to rule over the world. We understand how deep his hate to the Jews is, and this hate goes also to Israel, which is the arch enemy of Islam, Muslims and Iran. [...]

[...] But why Reza Shah and Khumayni were so prompt to think their own educational systems ? It is easier to make young people adhere to ideas, as they are quite ingénue, and are less stained by the previous ruler's own propaganda. Then, it is here again the clergy‘s role to hold education, because State intervention in [education] is always a pretext for the destruction of the foundations of Islam on orders of the imperialists. This happens in all Muslim countries without exception. [...]

[...] Sunnis and Shiites have the Kuran in common, but they don't always interpret it the same more. Furthermore, they have some Hadith (tradition, telling the life of the Prophet Muhammad) in common, but the Shiites also have their own Hadith. In general, Shi'a Islam gives a lot of credit to the Hadith, which helps understanding the Kuran, that would be meaningless without the helpful Hadith. In effect, the Hadith gives full practical examples of implementation of Islam's principles. Sharia differs between Sunni and Shi'a Muslim, in that Shi'a believe that Sharia can only be derived from God's appointed successors, as opposed to Sunnis who believe in an election by the people. [...]

[...] He uses what is called Low Islam or Folk Islam which must reach the masses, the low rank of the society. This Low Islam recalls the understandings of religion, the cult and the emotions. It stirs the people, for example the martyrdom is the main topic included in the Low Islam In that sense, the Ayatollah does not only focus on what is called High Islam which can be related to the divine laws, and the scholars aware of it, the clerics, the Ayatollah, the Ulama (Gieling which is also of course very important and essential. [...]