The Ayatollah begs to differ by Hooman Majd
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This is the first book which I read which was not on my reading list. Usually I browse through books in bookstores shelves and then I chose the ones which are right for my palette. Then I add them to my reading list and depending upon my Mood and Time, I order out of this list. I bought this book from a stall in one of those Mall fairs.
I never knew much about Iran and Islam and I don’t think that most of my fellow countrymen do. I grew up in a town where we had decent enough Muslim population so I knew some of their customs and festivities but I never knew why they were like that. Like why there was a procession on Moharram or What is a Tajiya or Why do Shia’ites morn on Moharram and most of all “What is the Difference between Shias and Sunnis”
Couple of years back I had read a book “Karbala”, written by Munshi Premchand. That was my first introduction to Shia Islam, and thankfully that book was written in Hindi so I had no problems understanding the content. Munshi Ji had written it as a Play so you get to know the approximate conversion which might have taken place.
Mr. Majd has given a vivid description of Iran which consists of their Culture, the Polity, Religion, Social Structure and the History which made Iran what it is today.
Iran was once a predominant Zoroastrian nation, till the inception of Islam. Around 600 AD, With Muslim conquest of Persia, it became an pure Islamic nation but predominantly with Shia beliefs. Till 1979 Iran was a Anarchical society, after which the Islamic Revolution happened and after this it has became a mix of Democracy plus Theocracy. For more on Iranian History, you can visit Wiki.
I really liked the book specially the insights it gave me on Iranian Diaspora. I’ve compiled few notes of mine.
Mr Majd started the book with Islamic philosophy of “La’illa ha il’allah” : There is no God but Allah. Its Persian equivalent is “Yeki-bood; yeki-nabood” :There was one; there wasn’t one.
Interesting insight into Islamic Socialism:
“While American (and some European) politicians may often come from ordinary backgrounds, their lifestyles usually change dramatically when they are in office, and by the time they have reached the pinnacle of power, they are long removed from their more humble roots. Iranian leaders in the Islamic Republic, however, clerical or lay, continue to live their lives almost exactly as they always have, living in modest houses in their own neighborhoods surrounded by their social peers, driving nondescript cars, and maintaining their social networks. There is no presidential palace, no equivalent of the White House, in Tehran, and despite the wealth of the Islamic Republic, no fleet of limousines, or even the level of security one would assume, for Iran’s leadership. The presidential automobile is a Peugeot (albeit armored), and President Ahmadinejad lives in the same house he always has in a lower-middle-class neighborhood, while his predecessor, Mohammad Khatami, lives in a small villa, nice but not especially so, in North Tehran”
In 2nd chapter he tells us about “Laat” and “Jahel” the two different yet related social aliases for the local gangsters although Gangster might not be the correct description.
Alongside there is a mention of Revolutionary Guards, which is a powerful force directly under Supreme Leader. Revolutionary Guards are involved in everything from oil, such as contracts for drilling and exploration, to the import-export market.
The 3rd chapter discusses the different Power Point in Iran, one of them is Hashemi Rafsanjani, chairman of the Expediency Council (a body that is technically above the president and supervises his work).
“Rafsanjani, from the pistachio-producing town of Rafsanjan, had been one of Khomeini’s closest aides and advisers, almost always seen quietly by his side, but his public profile had risen when he became president in 1989 and served two terms until Khatami’s election in 1997. Rafsanjani’s wealth (and his penchant for accumulating more of it), along with his sons’ extensive business dealings and his notoriety overseas (an Argentine judge has issued an arrest warrant for him for his alleged role in the bombing of Buenos Aires’s Jewish Center in 1994), many argued, would lead him not to seek the Supreme Leader’s office but rather to use his influence and power to put someone else, considerably weaker than himself, in the job.
Rafsanjani’s white turban: he was not a Seyyed, a direct descendant of the Prophet Mohammad who is entitled to wear a black turban, and in the Shia tradition of placing great importance on bloodline in the legitimacy of rule, it might be difficult, at least for some, to accept a non-Seyyed as their Supreme Guide.”
Another of the focal points of Iranian liberal politics is former President Mohammad Khatami.
“Seyyed Mohammad Khatami, however, black-turbaned and with the blood of Mohammad coursing through his veins, was a name that kept surfacing as a likely choice. There was, of course, the question of his religious credentials, for even though he was a Seyyed, he was only a Hojjatoleslam, a rank below Ayatollah, and the Supreme Leader is supposed to be a marja-e-taghlid, or “source of emulation,” the Persian definition of a Grand Ayatollah. But that hadn’t stopped Khamenei from becoming the Supreme Leader in 1989; he was overnight promoted to Ayatollah (promotion to Ayatollah happens by consensus among other Ayatollahs), and soon thereafter was being referred to as “Grand.” Those who spoke of Khatami as potential Supreme Leader were genuinely excited by the prospect, and those who dismissed him as a candidate felt he lacked the cunning required to pull off such a feat (in both cases being complimentary to Khatami, for the cunningness of mullahs—or akhound, as they are known in Farsi—is considered both legendary and their fundamental character flaw).”
Khatami’s, biggest fault. “He didn’t designate a successor, and that doomed the reform candidates. If only he had groomed someone, if only he had properly endorsed one of the candidates, that person would have won easily, and we wouldn’t be stuck with this idiot, this ablah!”
I learnt about a major difference in Sunni and Shia philosophy:
“Sunnis, the orthodox of Islam if you will, believe in a strict Islam that takes the Koran as the literal word of God, not to be interpreted by man, whereas Shias, with their clergy, Ayatollahs and others, have, contrary to popular belief, a much more liberal view in that the church can interpret the Koran and the Hadiths (the sayings and deeds of the Prophet Mohammad according to witnesses and scholars who wrote them down) for the masses who might not have the educational and religious qualifications to do so. Qom and Najaf (in Iraq) are the two towns where the clerics go to learn how to do so.”
I don’t think so that a common man has the aptitude and intelligence to decipher the complex religious strictures, and hence I agree to Shia way of Interpretation of Koran rather than Blindly following it. But this is a two way Sword, if the Mullah isn’t knowledgeable enough and doesn’t has the vision to perceive these saying in relevant context, and it might lead to another Jihadist movements.
One of the ayatollah, whom Mr. Majd met was Ayatollah Lankarani. Ayatollah Lankarani has a webiste: www.lankarani.org/eng/ which operates in seventeen languages, including Swahili and Burmese. It gets updated daily with the Ayatollah’s proclamations, fatwas, or religious commands and general information, but, most important, it is a place to ask questions and Ayatollah will reply to you, maybe sometimes it’ll be team of Talibs working under him, but he reviews each of the replies.
There is a very interesting insight about the composition of Iranian universities. It’s like “A smart government should try to induct as many student into the campuses who sympathize with the government philosophy, just to counter popular Middle-Class intellectual propaganda.
After the US-Iran relations become sour after the Islamic revolution, few of Iranians who were living abroad feared for the backlash against them. Some of them actually changed their name like
Mohammads became Moes or Michaels, Hosseins became Henrys or Harrys. Best of the lot was “ Davoud Ramzi can easily become David Ramsay”
Grand Ayatollah Hossein-Ali Montazeri: One of the Ayatollah who begs to differ.
Montazeri, once Khomeini’s designated successor, subsequently disgraced for criticizing him and the government, placed under house arrest in Qom for his dissent, and finally freed during Khatami’s presidency, qualifies as perhaps the first Ayatollah to differ with the ruling establishment on political and religious matters, and was far senior to Khamenei at the time of his ascendancy to the position of all-powerful leader of Iran.
Mr Majd gave a reasoning so as to “Why Iranians chose Ahmadinejad as the Persident?”
“Iran would not have produced a president such as Ahmadinejad had they not been unfairly blamed for the limitations of the political system, a system that meant they had to compromise with and even yield to the Supreme Leader and the more conservative politicians at every turn.”
I found an interesting analogy from “The Dark Knight”, when Alfred tells Wayne that “You forced them into the corner and with desperation they turned to a Man whom them didn’t fully Understand”. I believe maybe Americans did the same while choosing Bush.
it is the word of God Himself, and therefore not subject to interpretation by man. Except, for Shias, by the Ayatollahs. Shia Islam, the overwhelming majority sect in Iran, a less-overwhelming majority in Iraq and Bahrain, and a large segment of the fractured religious makeup of Lebanon, has both a church and a clergy.
Persian/Arab Vocabulary
Few of the Persian words which I picked up while reading this book:
Velayat-e-faqih—“guardianship of the jurist”
Valih-e-faqih -- The Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution
Imam: Sainthood
Seyyed: a direct descendant of the Prophet Mohammad who is entitled to wear a black turban
Eid al-Adha (marking the end of the hajj
Hojjatoleslam: Expert on Islam
Followers Of Ali : Shia
Taghiyeh: lying to protect one’s own individual life, or is it, if you are a religious leader, to protect your larger Shia community from demise.
Gharb-Zadeh: “West-toxified”
“Allah-hu-Akbar!”: God is Great
PBUH: Peace be Upon Him
Pairidaeza: Four Walled garden (paradise)
Ta’arouf: (Mutual Acquaintance) is an integral part of Iranian Social-cultural conversation.
”Sepah-e Pasdaran-e Enghlab-e Eslami”, or “Guardians of the Islamic Revolution Corps” : Check École Nationale
I’ve many more things to write about, which I’ll write in my next post.
