The Mantle of the Prophet

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Roy Mottahedeh is a professor of Islamic history at Harvard University. He has written widely in the history of Islam and religion. The Mantle of the Prophet is one of the books that Mottahedeh wrote. In this book, Mottahedeh covers different aspects that include Islamic faith, Iranian city of Qom, traditions derived from the history of Iran, political change in Iran and secular Islamic learning among other issues. Ali Hashemi and Parviz studied together in the same elementary school courtyard. However, each of them took different turns. This paper is a review of The Mantle of the Prophet by Roy Mottahedeh. It will discuss the similarities and differences of the ideologies of Hashemi and Parviz and their oppositions to the Shah. It will also discuss their social backgrounds and cultural influences on their outlook of the world.

The book begins with a detailed description of Qom, an Iranian city where Ali Hashemi, the main point of reference, in the book was born. Mottahedeh also describes the Shi’ite faction of the Islamic faith that entails learning and tradition, in Iran. Mottahedeh managed to introduce readers to political climate, history and tradition from the middle of the twentieth century. Mottahedeh recounts the life of Ali Hashemi from his childhood through his education into adulthood. Ali Hashemi is the contemporary mullah of Qom. The book portrays Ali Hashemi as an alias of a mullah in the University of Tehran. This presents Ali Hashemi as a scholar just like Parviz. However, Hashemi is still engrossed in Islamic religion unlike Parviz. Mottahedeh used Hashemi to bring a clear picture of culture and history in Iran, in different times. Mottahedeh used Hashemi to create a scenario that depicts trends and issues that i...

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...ries and the 1979 revolution. The author presents Iran through the leadership of mullahs and shah tradition. The book has rich information covering the history of Iran. Mottahedeh managed to develop an impressive book that satisfies the curiosity of a reader wanting to understand the history, culture and political atmosphere of Iran through the eighteenth, nineteenth and twentieth century. Roy Parviz Mottahedeh and Ali Hashemi represent two views of Islamic learning and Iranian history and culture. While Ali Hashemi represents a religious view of Islamic learning and history of Iran, Parviz represents a secular view of Islamic learning and ambiguity of culture in Iran. The two views help to bring out the ways in which Islamic religion and culture influenced political atmosphere, in Iran especially at a time when politics in Iran was shaped by religion.

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