DATE=2/11/99
TYPE=BACKGROUND REPORT
NUMBER=5-42586
TITLE=IRANIAN ANNIVERSARY / RELIGIOUS DIMENSION
BYLINE=HASAN JAVADI
DATELINE=WASHINGTON
CONTENT=
NOT VOICED:
INTRO: AT THE BEGINNING OF THE IRANIAN REVOLUTION IN 1979 THE
GRAND AYATOLLAH OF IRAN WAS SHARIATMADARI, BUT HIS LIBERAL VIEWS
WERE IN SHARP CONTRAST WITH THOSE OF AYATOLLAH KHOMEINI, WHO
QUICKLY EMERGED AS THE RELIGIOUS LEADER OF THE REVOLUTION.
SHARIATMADARI DIED IN 1985, BUT HIS SON IS NOW ONE OF THOSE WHO
WANT A MORE LIBERAL IRAN. VOA'S HASAN JAVADI RECENTLY SPOKE WITH
THE SON, WHO LIVES IN HAMBURG, GERMANY, AND OTHER IRANIAN EXPERTS
ABOUT THE REVOLUTION AND ITS EFFECTS ON ISLAM AND DEMOCRACY IN
IRAN TODAY.
TEXT: HASSAN SHARIATMADARI SAYS THAT WHILE THE IRANIAN
REVOLUTION BEGAN IN PROTEST AGAINST THE DICTATORIAL POLICIES OF
THE SHAH, THE DISPARITY BETWEEN THE WAY OF LIFE OF IRAN'S
WEALTHY, WESTERNIZED ELITE AND OTHER IRANIANS GAVE THE REVOLUTION
ADDED IMPETUS. HE SAYS THAT WHILE HIS FATHER WANTED CHANGES IN
IRAN THAT WOULD CLOSE THE GAP BETWEEN RICH AND POOR, HE THOUGHT
THAT THE BEST WAY TO DO THIS WAS BY REFORMING THE SYSTEM, NOT
BY OVERTURNING IT.
/// HASAN SHARIATMADERI ACT ///
HE BELIEVED THAT WHATEVER WAS NEEDED FOR THE COUNTRY
COULD BE ACHIEVED FROM ECONOMIC REFORM AND
LIBERALIZATION IN IRAN. BUT OF COURSE THERE WAS NO
FREEDOM. WHEN THE POWER OF THE SHAH WAS WEAKENED THESE
FREEDOMS COULD HAVE BEEN ACHIEVED ONE BY ONE AND MADE
PART OF THE CONSTITUTION. AYATOLLAH KHOMEINI DID NOT
THINK IN THIS MANNER. HE BELIEVED IN AN ISLAMIC
REVOLUTION AND CHANGE OF EVERYTHING FROM THE ROOT.
/// END ACT ///
SHARIAT MADERI, HIS SON SAYS, BELIEVED IN SEPARATING THE STATE
AND RELIGION, WHILE AYATOLLAH KHOMEINI WANTED TO MAKE THE ISLAMIC
CLERGY AN ESSENTIAL PART OF GOVERNMENT. DURING HIS YEARS IN
EXILE IN IRAQ, AYATOLLAH KHOMEINI WROTE A BOOK -- VILAYAT-I FAQIH
-- ON THE ROLE OF THE SUPREME RELIGIOUS LEADER IN AN ISLAMIC
GOVERNMENT.
THE RIVALRY BETWEEN THE TWO LEADERS LED SHARIATMADERI TO CREATE
HIS OWN PARTY -- HIZB-I KHALQ-I MUSALMAN -- TO OPPOSE THE
HIZBULLAH OF KHOMEINI. BUT NOT TOO LONG AFTER KHOMEINI'S FORCES
GAINED POWER, SHARIATMADERI WAS CHARGED WITH BEING PRO-AMERICAN.
THOUGH NEVER OFFICIALLY ARRESTED, HE SPENT THE REST OF HIS LIFE
UNDER HOUSE ARREST. (OPT) IRONICALLY, IT WAS AYATOLLAH
SHARIATMADERI WHO SAVED KHOMEINI FROM THE WRATH OF THE SHAH IN
1963 BY NAMING HIM A GRAND AYATOLLAH. (END OPT)
BEFORE AYATOLLAH KHOMEINI BECAME THE LEADER, SHIITES IN IRAN
ALWAYS HAD THE FREEDOM TO CHOOSE FROM SEVERAL HIGH RELIGIOUS
AUTHORITIES. GIVING ULTIMATE POWER TO A SINGLE CLERIC IN THE
ISLAMIC GOVERNMENT HAD NEVER OCCURRED BEFORE. WHAT MADE THE
CHANGE POSSIBLE WAS KHOMEINI'S FORCEFUL PERSONALITY, COMBINED
WITH THE REVOLUTIONARY ATMOSPHERE THAT SWEPT IRAN AT THAT TIME.
NOW, AFTER TWENTY YEARS, THE BASIC PRINCIPLES OF ISLAMIC
GOVERNMENT ARE BEING HEATEDLY DISPUTED BETWEEN THE LIBERALS AND
POLITICIANS WHO SIDE WITH THE CLERGY. SOME LIBERAL CLERICS HAVE
EVEN CHALLENGED THE THEORY OF VILAYAT-I FAQIH, SOMETHING THAT
WOULD HAVE BEEN UNHEARD OF A FEW YEARS AGO.
ABDUL-KARIM SORUSH, A PROMINENT IRANIAN PHILOSPHER, SAYS IF
ANYONE OTHER THAN KHOMEINI HAD ASSUMED CONTROL, THE COUNTRY WOULD
PROBABLY BE VERY DIFFERENT TODAY:
//SORUSH ACT//
MOST OF OUR THINKERS AND WRITERS HAVE TAKEN THEIR MODEL
OF ISLAMIC STATE FROM THE IDEA OF VILAYET-I FAQIH. AND
I TELL YOU THAT IT WAS AN ACCIDENT OF HISTORY, THAT THE
LEADER OF THE REVOLUTION OF IRAN WAS A MAN WHO WAS OF
THE OPINION OF VILAYET-I FAQIH. THAT WAS AN ACCIDENT OF
HISTORY, IT COULD HAVE BEEN OTHERWISE. AND HAD HE BEEN
A DIFFERENT PERSON, THE MODEL OF THE RELIGIOUS STATE IN
IRAN WOULD HAVE BEEN DIFFERENT. SO DO NOT TAKE
ACCIDENTS FOR ESSENCES.
//END ACT//
TODAY IN IRAN THERE ARE TWO MAIN THEOLOGICAL SCHOOLS OF THOUGHT:
TRADITIONAL, WHICH DOES NOT BELIEVE IN ANY CHANGES, AND
"INQUISITIVE" OR "PROBING" -- FIQH-I PUYA -- THEOLOGY WHICH WANTS
TO RECONCILE MODERN ISSUES WITH RELIGION. ONE OF THEM IS
AYATOLLAH MARTEZA MONTAZERI, WHO WAS AN IMPORTANT DISCPLE OF
KHOMEINI AND WHO IS NOW IN OPPOSITION. HE BELIEVES IN A MODIFIED
CONCEPT OF VILAYAT-I FAQIH. HE SAYS THAT THE SUPREME LEADER
SHOULD BE GUIDED BY THE PEOPLE AND SHOULD NOT HAVE ABSOLUTE
POWER.
(OPT) MANY OF IRAN'S RELIGIOUS LIBERALS HAVE TAKEN DIFFERENT
APPROACHES ON THE ISSUE OF RECONCILING ISLAM AND DEMOCRACY, .
SORUSH, FOR EXAMPLE, BELIEVES THAT THE KORAN AND THE TRADITIONS
OF THE PROPHET DO NOT, BY THEMSELVES, PROVIDE THE BASIS FOR
DEMOCRACY. BUT SORUSH SAYS THAT SINCE EVERY RELIGION IS SUBJECT
TO INTERPRETATION, THERE IS A WAY THAT IRAN'S ISLAMIC GOVERNMENT
CAN INCORPORATE OTHER INFLUENCES. HE SAYS THAT IRANIAN CULTURE
HAS THREE IMPORTANT SIDES: PRE-ISLAMIC TRADITIONS, ISLAMIC
TRADITIONS AND WESTERN VALUES. HE SAYS THAT, WITHOUT GIVING
SPECIAL DOMINANCE TO ANY ONE OF THESE INFLUENCES, A
RECONCILIATION THAT DOES NOT VIOLATE THE ISLAMIC RELIGION CAN BE
REACHED. SO FAR, HOWEVER, THIS RECONCILIATION HAS PROVED
DIFFICULT. (END OPT)
ALI SAJJADI, AN IRANIAN SCHOLAR WHO NOW LIVES IN WASHINGTON, SAYS
IT IS ESSENTIAL THAT IRAN'S LEADERS FIND A WAY FOR THE COUNTRY TO
BE ISLAMIC AND DEMOCRATIC:
//SAJJADI ACT//
I BELIEVE DEMOCRACY IS A WAY OF LIFE. A WAY OF LIFE IN
WHICH STATE AND RELIGION ARE SEPARATED. TODAY MOST OF
THE LEADERS OF ISLAMIC REPUBLIC, WHO ARE CLERICS, USE
RELIGION AS A MEANS TO GOVERN. THE ESSENTIAL QUESTION
FOR THOSE WHO WANT TO BRING DEMOCRACY TO IRAN, IS HOW DO
THEY WANT TO DO THIS?...THE IRANIAN LEADERS SHOULD
REALIZE THAT SEPARATION OF RELIGION AND STATE IS IN THE
INTEREST OF THE LATTER. AND MAKING THESE TWO INTO ONE
IN THE PAST TWENTY YEARS HAS CAUSED IRREPARABLE DAMAGES
TO RELIGION. THE MAIN QUESTION FOR THE LIBERALS AND
MODERATES IN IRAN IS HOW TO DEAL WITH THIS SEPARATION.
//END ACT//
TO PERSUADE THE CLERGY TO SHARE POWER HAS TO BE VERY HARD. THE
ELECTION OF PRESIDENT KHATAMI WITH 75 PERCENT OF VOTES IN IRAN
SHOWED THAT THE LIBERALS AND MODERATES ARE IN THE MAJORITY IN
IRAN, BUT THE HARDLINERS STILL HAVE CONSIDERABLE POWER. IT IS
NOW LEFT FOR THE MODERATES TO WIN THE BATTLE OF INFLUENCE. HASAN
SHARIATMADARI SAYS THAT IN SPITE OF MANY SETBACKS IN THE PAST
TWENTY YEARS THE IRANIANS HAVE GAINED CONSIDERABLE POLITICAL
AWARENESS. THIS, HE SAYS, WAS THE ONLY POSITIVE RESULT OF THE
REVOLUTION. (SIGNED)
NEB/AJ/KL
11-Feb-99 2:02 PM EST (1902 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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