The Religious Institution In Iran And The Winds Of Change
Youssef Azizi Al-Hayat 2005/04/16 There is a continuous apparent phenomenon in Iran which is the historical competition between the religious institution - be it Zoroastrian or Shiite - and the Monarchy. It seems that the Iranians or at least the rejuvenating generation started to criticize these two traditional institutions (the clergy and the Monarchy) or any other institution that adopts inheritance in the governing process. With regards to the establishment of the Monarchy, some Iranian intellects believe that the concept of Wilayat Al Faqih is a continuation for the idea of the Tsarist charisma, which was the unifying factor for the Persian Empire prior to Islam. Had this enormous popular force which overthrew the despotic Monarchy and established the Iranian revolution been in another country this force would have resulted in the establishment of an electoral republican system. If we exclude the period that Iran was under the influence of the Islamic empire, the religious institution was very close to the political authority where the Shah Ismail the Safavid in the 16th century established the first Shiite empire in Iran. However, the role of the religious institution was diminished during the reign of Shah Reza Al Pahlavi (1941-1925). Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, son and successor advocated the policy of carrots and sticks in dealing with the religious institution. Nonetheless, during the sixties period with the expansion of the Islamic tide, the religious institution started to strengthen its posture among the public until it was finally able not to oust the Shahs regime but the Monarchy in Iran. After the Islamic revolution, the leader of this revolution took Qum as his headquarters in order to administer the religious school that he had established in that city. Later on, this religious institution lost its trust in the Islamic liberal forces that it had appointed in order to administer the country. Accordingly the religious institution introduced changes to the proposed draft constitution that the Islamic liberal forces had formulated and the issue of the Wilayat Al Faqih was introduced under the direct order of Al Khomeini himself. As a result, the religious clergy controlled the three main authorities in the country and they administered these authorities during the war with Iraq. The first feature of Persian proclivity started to appear among the religious clergy during the beginning of the revolution; however these tendencies needed at least two decades in order for it to become a central establish for the official policies in Iran. Rafsanjani during his reign tried to open a breathing window by allowing cultural openness, however the agitated situation almost resulted in a revolution inside the Islamic revolution, had it not been for the emergence of the reformist political movement which resulted in the election of Mohammad Khatami as president. The arrival of the religious clergy to power in Iran resulted in important changes in the sociological, political and intellectual lives of these religious clergy. The religious institution in Iran, with its Shiite majority and Sunni minority, was solid on the eve of the Islamic revolution in Iran because of the weakness of the other leftist, liberal and democratic parties. The Shiite religious institution after the Islamic revolution expanded, as before this revolution this institution was reduced to two main Hawza (religious schools) Qum (in the center) which is the most important and the Mashhad (north east). After that many Hawza were established not only in the provinces and the cities but nearly in every district in Iran. The important feature in the religious Hawza especially the one on Qum was the fact that modernization and change was bolstered by the youth more than the religious clergy. Some analysts consider that this is an unprecedented feature in the Islamic world. The religious clergy that exercised their power in Iran became secularists because of the employment of their efforts in the political realm; we could consider these clergy to be politicians rather than being religious men. The religious Hawza during the past two decades were separated into two intellectual and political movements: the traditional movement and the modernization movement. Certain Nationalist (Persian) sentiments dominated over some the religious schools. These movements that included religious clergy who were judiciary and government officials in the Iranian government apparatus played an important role in the religious and political scene especially during the presidential and parliamentary elections in Iran. Despite the efforts of the Islamic intellectual it seems that the occurrence of change towards the modernization of the structure of the Hawza will not happen unless these changes stimulate the core of these religious schools, advocated by enlightened religious clergy with strong influence. This is what we are seeing today even though this process is still slow, as the traditional movement is showing an obstinate resistance towards religious and intellectual modernization. No doubt that the destiny of modernization and the sociological, political, and intellectual development in Iran is strongly attenuated to the degree of success of this process? http://english.daralhayat.com/opinion/contributors/04-2005/Article-20050416- 4ac48377-c0a8-10ed-001a-14114f809687/story.html ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> DonorsChoose. A simple way to provide underprivileged children resources often lacking in public schools. Fund a student project in NYC/NC today! http://us.click.yahoo.com/EHLuJD/.WnJAA/cUmLAA/TySplB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [EMAIL PROTECTED] -------------------------- Brooks Isoldi, editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: osint@yahoogroups.com Subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. OSINT, as a part of The Intelligence Network, is making it available without profit to OSINT YahooGroups members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of intelligence and law enforcement organizations, their activities, methods, techniques, human rights, civil liberties, social justice and other intelligence related issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. We believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
