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religion in iran
religion in iran politics
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The 1979 Iranian revolution is a revolution that changed the country of Iran for the better.
The Iranian revolution resulted in many events which include the overthrow of Reza Shah
Pahlavi, and the upbringing of Ayatollah Khomeini. Ayatollah Khomeini who replaced
Reza Shah with the role to improve a better perspective about Islam and to protect the
realm of the Shiaa community.
The Iranian revolution began with the overthrow of then leader Reza Shah, who was a non-
Muslim, western powering monarch. The people of Iran protested against Shah in order to
replace him as their leader. Iranian citizens lead Shah to flee the country of Iran because they
were fed up with his regime. Mehdi Bazargan was arranged to be prime minister of Iran due
to the power of Islamic leader Ayatollah Khomeini.
Ayatollah Khomeini was the founder of the Islamic Republic, who became known as the
leader of the Iranian Revolution and of the Shiaa community. Iranians welcomed their new
leader in the streets of Tehran. Khomeini came into Iran in order to change its democracy, build
a common wealth of Islam in order to bring it into his regime. He was a Shiite extremist who
believed that God was with him throughout his leadership. He would preach and make decisions
without the permission of Iranian prime minister Bazargan. Khomeini came into Iran as a new
ruler, who brought the rise of the Islamic empire into power. “The Islamic republic was seen as
providing a public good and a greater Islamization of society and politics rather than
development” (Ghesari, 97).
Khomeini was trying to spread Islamic republic throughout Iran. An election...
... middle of paper ...
...ieved the upbringing of power towards the shiaa community. If it wasn’t for
Khomeini Iran would not be the way it is today. Khomeini had brought up Iran under his rule as
a religious nation, which lead to having the largest population of shiaa in one country. With the
help of the Ulama, his strong actions and speeches, Ayatollah Khomeini had bettered Iran, both
politically and religiously.
Works Cited
Arjomand, A. Said. Turban for the Crown: The Islamic Revolution in Iran. Oxford University
Press, Incorporated. 1989.
Clawson, Patrick, Rubin, Michael. Eternal Iran: Continuity and Chaos. Palgrave MacMillan. 2005.
Ghessari, Ali, Vali, Nasr. Democracy in Iran: history and the quest for liberty. Oxford University Press. 2006
Mir-Housseini, Ziba, Tapper, Richard. Islam and Democracy in Iran. I.B Tauris & Company,
Limited. 2006.
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Prior to the Islamic Revolution, Iran was ruled by the Shah, Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi, and furthermore, not governed by religion. The Shah’s White Revolution launched a series of reforms in 1963 that are indicative of where women’s rights for Iran were heading prior to the Islamic revolution. The reforms included, giving women the right to vote, run for office and to become lawyers and judges. This large of a reform in regards to women’s rights, was far more drastic than anything Iran had experienced in the past, and the shock of these “extreme” measures, received a large backlash from over 90% of the population1, the Shia Muslims.
...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.
and mass emigration. In 1941 Iranian monarch Reza Shah, was removed from power by the
Relations between Iran and Syria had entered a phase of strategic coordination, thanks to two men, Saddam Hussein and Musa al-Sadr, though the impact of each was quite different. Through Musa al-Sadr and his group in the Amal movement, including some leading Iranians such as Mustafa Chamran the first defence minister in the government of post-revolutionary Iran, the late Syrian President Hafez al-Assad got to know Ayatollah Khomeini and his ideas, to the extent that Iranian activists close to Khomeini, were carrying Syrian diplomatic passports, before the revolution in February 1979. After Musa al-Sadr, the former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein played a role in strengthening relations between Tehran and Damascus, without realizing the effects that this would have on Iraq and the region. Saddam engaged in a war with Iran shortly after the revolution. Not only did Tehran feel in danger, but a sense of danger has spread from Tehran to Dam...
The Islamic Republic of Iran, formerly known as Iran or Persia, was crowded with a young generation looking for full freedom against the Shah. Persia, once as a powerful country with vast oil resources, soon became a vulnerable nation, ready to accept a new leader to guide them. The people were ready for change, but were the changes they got the changes they were looking for. The people wanted freedom against the shah, (For generations Iran was ruled by Kings) who allowed some freedoms, but it was somewhat limited. The people wanted freedom of speech, so that the press could freely publish their own opinions. They wanted to get rid of a law that made all eighteen-year-old males attend two years of military service unless they are accepted to a university, which would allow them attend the army later as a service worker. The shah was anti-religious, which was not ideal for many of the civilians in Iran. Savak (Secret organization of Iran) was accused of many anti – human rights actions, such as killing students who protested and immediately jailing press members for inappropriate conduct. A major problem was that the shah was a “puppet” of the United States many say, because the Shah would constantly confer with the U.S. of all of his decisions as ruler. The after affects of the revolution resulted in similar conditions, however. Human rights are horrible, the government limits all freedoms, the economy has suffered greatly, average salaries are hard to live with, most of the educated people in Iran fled to foreign countries, the quality of public schools is horrible, and the government still controls all television broadcasts and keeps a watchful eye on the newspapers. From bad to worse is what many people feel has become of Iran, but the people are ready for a real change.
After the deposing of the shah by revolution, the people of Iran elected a democratic l...
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Iran is the only country in the world to have completely and truly succeeded in creating an islamic state using political Islam. The modern western tendency to separate church and state is frowned upon there, Islam is believed to be an integral part of politics, a way of life. This is evident through the 1979 Iranian revolution and institution of the Ayatollah Khomeini.
Hassan Rouhani, President of Iran, is a popular leader and a skilled negotiator in a hated country.
Over the course of the last century, the Islamic Republic of Iran (formerly known as Persia) has seen colonialism, the end of a dynasty, the installation of a government by a foreign power, and just over three decades ago, the popular uprising and a cleric-led revolution. These events preceded what could be considered the world’s first Islamic state, as politics and fundamentalist religion are inextricably linked in contemporary Iran. Looking at Iran from the mid 1940’s until the present day, one can trace the path that led to the rise of fundamental Islam in Iran in three distinct periods. The first is that which began with the rise of secular nationalism and the decline of Islam. In the second, the secular, western-friendly government eventually gave way to the Islamic revival in the form of a government takeover by hard-line clerics and disillusioned, fundamentalist youth; both motivated and led by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. Rule of Iran by these fundamentalist clerics then led to the formation of the fundamentalist Islamic theocracy that governs present-day Iran. The current government has some democratic appearances, but all real power is in the hands of the supreme leader, an Ayatollah who is chosen by the Assembly of Experts, a group of clerics chosen by the Guardian Council. With the Iranian Revolution, political Islam was born, with the fundamentalists holding the reins of power in Iran to the present day.
In the 1970’s Iran, under Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi was a very centralized military state that maintained a close relationship with the USA. The Shah was notoriously out of touch with working class Iranians as he implemented many controversial economic policies against small business owners that he suspected involved profiteering. Also unrestricted economic expansions in Iran lead to huge government expenditure that became a serious problem when oil prices dropped in the mid 1970’s. This caused many huge government construction projects to halt and the economy to stall after many years of massive profit. Following this was high rates of inflation that affected Iranians buying power and living standards. (Afary, 2012) Under the Shah, political participation was not widely available for all Iranians and it was common for political opposition to be met with harassment, illegal detention, and even torture. These measures were implemented by the Iranian secret police knows as ‘SAVAK’. This totalitarian regime combined with the increasing modernisation of the country paved the way for revolution.
A few years later in 1979 the Islamic revolution began, causing the Shah to flee (introduction pages one and two).
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