Signs from Allah: History, Science and Faith in Islam
166. Ayatollah Khomeini and the Iranian Revolution of 1979
By Professor Nazeer Ahmed
Concord, CA
Only a free society, wherein each individual is free to express himself can collectively aspire to discovering the next level of its national consciousness. Freedom is an essential pre-requisite to human progress. The real tragedy of coups, dictatorships, despotic kingships and colonization is that they scuttle the natural evolution of societies, suppress ideas and retard human progress.
The coup of 1953 was a disaster for the political development of Iran. It derailed the natural evolution of Iran towards a constitutional republic with broad participation from the masses. After the coup, the nationalists were arrested, put on trial, executed or put under house arrest.
At the other end of the political spectrum, the communists were decimated. Some of them went under-ground or coalesced around the Tudeh party where they continued to receive covert support from the Soviet Union. This left the political arena open for a frontal confrontation between the monarchists and the religious right. The monarchists were backed by American might but the religious right had the advantage of tradition and history, for it has been true that while most of Islamic history is the story of kings and conquerors, Islam itself looks askance at monarchical and dynastic rule. It is to protect themselves from a curved hook from the religious flank that Muslim kings and despots often found it convenient to call themselves Amir, Amir ul Mo’mineen, Khalifa or Imam rather than king, a ruse that continues to this day. The Shah promised the Iranians riches of the world with the corruption that is inherent in any such human endeavor. The religious right promised them justice and the hereafter. The long-term outcome of such a battle should be obvious to a student of history.
In this article we will summarize the ideational basis of this struggle for the soul of the Iranian people, and ultimately, for control of its political destiny and its oil riches.
Adored by those who love him, scorned by those who dislike him, Ayatollah Ruhullah Khomeini towers high as the central figure in the events leading up to the Iranian Revolution of 1979. He was a religious scholar, a revolutionary, a political leader and an ideologue all rolled into one and a principal player on the world stage in the second half of the twentieth century. Millions followed his lead. And millions opposed him. He offered a vision of heaven on earth to the Iranian people but his actions also brought untold hardships on the people of the Middle East. The twentieth century would not be the same without this giant figure.
The twentieth century witnessed the appearance of many a scholar who struggled with the grand issue of establishing an Islamic way of life. Some were successful; others perished in the struggle. Our distinguished readers are no doubt familiar with these works. The Turkish poet Zia was a primary source of inspiration for the secular Turkish Republic that was established by Kemal Ataturk following the dissolution of the Khilafat. The writings of Allama Iqbal formed the basis for a conceptualization of Pakistan. Maulana Maududi provided perhaps the most voluminous narration for establishing an Islamic way of life. His political views were rejected by the Muslims of India but they found a niche in Pakistani politics. Hasan al Bannah and his Muslim brotherhood ran into the secular Arab nationalism of Gamal Abdel Nasser and were crushed. Syed Qutub was extreme in his rejection of all systems non-Islamic and his writings evoke suspicions of extremism even to this day. Ali Shariati was a Western trained liberal Islamic ideologue but his incisive works were cut short by his untimely death. Of all these attempts, only the idea of Vilayat e Faqih advanced by Khomeini found its full expression in the Iranian revolution of 1979. Khomeini was alone among scholars of his ilk who not only formulated their ideas but pursued them relentlessly and lived to try their implementation in the matrix of the national politics of an ancient and proud people and their impact on international affairs. Only Khomeini lived to see the triumph and tragedy of his ideas, its promise as well as its disappointments.
It must be emphasized at the outset that none of these ideas are applicable to societies wherein Muslims live as a small minority. They are only useful for their didactic and historical insights. Muslims in America, Europe, China or India, for instance, must engage in their own rigorous intellectual exercise and chart out their own destiny consistent with the promise and challenge of their specific and situational national experience. This is a continuous process and it must continue with broad participation from the knowledgeable public.
What is Vilayet e Faqih? I remember a conversation with a young Iranian scholar almost thirty years ago. “The Sunnis live in a house that has no roof and no furniture”, he said at the end of a long discussion, “whereas, the Shias live in a house that not only has a roof but is embellished with furniture”. There you have it, the understanding of Vilayet at the operational level. The words Vilayet and Faqih have different meanings in the Sunni and Shia schools, and there are differences of opinion even within each of the Sunnah and Shia schools. We will avoid our own opinions here and present the ideas as advanced by Khomeini. The quotes are taken from Islam and Revolution, Writings and Declarations of Imam Khomeini, by Hamid Algar, Mizan Press, Berkely, CA, 1981.
The idea of Vilayet e Faqih did not originate with Khomeini. In the cited reference, Khomeini states: “The subject of governance of the faqih is not something new that I have invented; since the very beginning, it has been mentioned continually”. He offers the rulings given by Mirza Hasan Shirazi prohibiting the use of tobacco during the tobacco revolution of 1906 as an example of guidance offered by a faqih which all other fuqaha were obliged to follow. Khomeini continues: “The late Kashif al-Ghita expounded much of what I have said. The late Naraqil also was of the opinion that the fuqaha are entitled to exercise all the worldly functions of the Most Noble Messenger.”
Throughout Islamic history, scholars, kings and conquerors have sought validation for their ideas and their actions in the Qur’an and the example of the Prophet. As an example, the intellectual storms that overwhelmed the Islamic world in the eighth century CE following the eruption of the Mutazalites were fought on the basis of the Qur’an. The Mutazalites as well as the anti-Mutazalites, the philosophers as well as the traditionalists, all sought their justification for their views from the Qur’an. The idea of Vilayet e Faqih is no exception to this rule. It is here that we have to search for its roots and its foundation.
Great ideas transform nations and guide them towards their destiny. When they are applied in the matrix of human affairs, they are necessarily compromised to reflect the cultural norms of a people and accommodate human frailties. It is like rain water. When it falls from the heavens, it is pure and brings with it the Grace of God. Before it gives life to a dead earth and transforms a desolate landscape into lush gardens, it must necessarily create gushing, muddy rivers which cause havoc in the land.
The ideas that animated the Islamic world in the twentieth century, those of Zia Gokulp, Allama Iqbal, Dr Ali Shariati, Maulana Maududi, Hassan al Banna, and yes, Imam Khomeini are no exception to this rule. Each one of these ideas held out the promise of a better world when it was nascent. When it was applied, it was muddied, compromised and often scuttled or abandoned.
Each of these ideas sought its justification in the Qur’an and the Sunnah of the Prophet. Expressed another way, no idea that cannot be traced to the Qur’an and the Sunnah of the Prophet has a chance of survival in the Islamic body politic. But when you study these ideas in depth and examine their relationship to the revealed Word, you will find that the human ideas were in themselves a reflection of the interpretations of their authors. The revealed Word, like a diamond with infinite cuts, reflects light in many directions, and lends itself to multiple interpretations. That is the beauty and majesty of the Qur’an. It reflects light no matter where you stand. It offers guidance whether you are in the East or the West, North or the South, whether you are a liberal or a conservative, a modernist or a traditionalist, a scholar or an illiterate, a minority or a majority, a Sufi or a Salafi, a Bedouin or a city dweller, living in the eighth century or in the twenty-first century. It is for this reason that our ulema have said that Ijtihad is a continuous, unceasing process. Each generation must rediscover for itself what its existential destiny is through a process of rigorous, continuous, unceasing struggle and apply Divine guidance to its own lives. Muslims, who constitute one quarter of the human race, live in different cultures and have a myriad of historical experiences.
(The author is Director, World Organization for Resource Development and Education, Washington, DC; Director, American Institute of Islamic History and Culture, CA; Member, State Knowledge Commission, Bangalore; and Chairman, Delixus Group)
