THE IRANIAN REVOLUTION
21 February 2009 11:48
By Muhammed Sajjad Tharoo
On the 1st of February 1979, an Air France flight landed in Tehran, however, unlike the thousands of flights which had landed before it, this was no ordinary touch-down, since the plane carried an individual who was to have one of the most profound impacts on a nation in recent human history. Out of the plane stepped an old man, who wore the simple clothes of a religious scholar and had his gaze firmly rooted to the ground. He was aided down the flight of stairs by the plane’s pilot, and experienced his first taste of home soil after 14 years away.
This diminutive figure was none other than Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, one of the great religious scholars of our time, and these are the famous images that many of us will either have witnessed on television at the time or seen in later footage leading up to the Islamic Revolution in Iran. As Khomeini left the airport, he was greeted by several million followers who had waited for years, in anticipation of his return and this day was the culmination of a series of events which led to the overthrow of the previous ruler, Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi whose corrupt rule, his plundering of the nation’s wealth for personal financial gain, and his subservient attitude towards the administration in the United States turned his people against him.
Last week, the nation of Iran has been celebrating 30 years after the downfall of the Shah, and as many of you will have seen in the news, the fervour and passion for the revolution still burns strong amongst many.
Although the history of Iran is long and varied, going back thousands of years and through many civilizations, the recent series of events starts with the creation of the Iranian Constitution in 1906 by the parliament (known as the Majlis). This framework declared that Islam would be the official religion of Iran and that the Shia clergy would determine whether laws passed in the parliament were compatible with the beliefs of Shia Islam. From the early days of the Persian Empire, Iran also had a system of monarchical rule which had taken different forms over the centuries, and even after the creation of the constitution in 1906, continued to run together with parliament.
The modern Iranian rule was established in 1501 under the Safavid Dynasty and changed hands several times after that. In 1921, Reza Pahlavi, launched a successful coup against the government of Qajar Dynasty and within four years, became the most powerful person in Iran by suppressing any uprising, thereby establishing order. Once he came into power, Reza Pahlavi tried to make Iran more secular and western by isolating the Shia clergy and repealing existing laws regarding governance by Islamic rule such as the veiling of women. Those who resisted the compulsory removal of Hijab, had theirs forcibly removed.
In 1941, during the Second World War, Reza Pahlavi was forced to give up the throne to his son, Mohammad, who the West hoped would be a greater ally to them than his father. However, one trait that he inherited from the old Shah was an iron grip on power, and he used this to clamp down on any opposition from religious groups, including the Ulema who criticized him for violating the country’s Islamic constitution. One of the symbols of the Shah’s regime was SAVAK (the secret police) who used to torture and execute opponents of the monarch.
During the rule of first Reza Shah and then his son, Ruhollah Khomeini was pursuing his religious studies in the Holy city of Qum where he had been since 1921. As well being a brilliant pupil, Khomeini showed a great affinity towards philosophy and Islamic Mysticism, being greatly influenced by his teacher at the time Mirza Muhammad Shahabadi.
Khomeini also lectured at the seminaries in Najaf and Qum teaching political philosophy, Islamic history and ethics. His classes focused on the importance of religion in dealing with the practical social and political issues of the day. Amongst his students were Morteza Motahhari and Hossein-Ali Montazari, who both became maraja in their own right. Khomeini himself was declared Marja-e-Taqlid in 1963, shortly after the death of Ayatollah Burujardi.
This was the same year he came to prominence amongst the political establishment in Iran when he opposed a program of reform by the Shah called the White Revolution, which was an American-inspired series of measures which Khomeini believed threatened the Islamic foundations of the nation. A stand-off subsequently ensued between Khomeini and the Shah, and reached its climax when on the afternoon of June 3rd 1963, the day of Ashura, Khomeini delivered a speech in which he drew parallels between the Umayyad caliph Yazid and the Shah, and he warned him that if he did not change his ways, a day would come when the people would cheer his departure. Two days later, Khomeini was arrested and imprisoned resulting in masses of angry protests from his supporters.
On the dawn of November 4th 1964, Khomeini was again arrested by the Shah’s commandos and this time he was flown out of Iran to Turkey. The Shah had hoped that here, Khomeini would fade from popular memory. However, Turkish law at the time prevented Khomeini from wearing the cloak and turban of a Shia scholar, which he felt were an essential element of his identity. Thus in 1965, he left for Najaf where he was to spend the next thirteen years lecturing at the Hawza. In 1970 he gave a series of lectures on the subject of Velayat-e-Faqeeh, the theory of governance and Islamic leadership. The text of these lectures was smuggled back to Iran by visitors who came to see Khomeini in Najaf, and this message was subsequently relayed to all his followers back home. And so the seeds were sown for the uprising which Khomeini had earlier warned.
In June 1975, students in Qum began three days of protest before they were attacked by the Shah’s militia resulting in numerous deaths. From exile in Najaf, Khomeini condemned these attacks but declared them to be the first signs of freedom and liberation from the Shah. Many confrontations between the Shah’s police and protestors ensued thereafter.
The Shah was anxious about the influence that Khomeini was having across the border in Iraq through his numerous political sermons, and thus in September 1978, the Shah reached an agreement with the Iraqi government for him to be expelled. After being refused entry to neighbouring Kuwait, Khomeini decided to go to France, where he took residence in a house in the suburbs of Paris. He invited the world’s media to speak to him, thus ensuring that his message was beamed across the globe. Rather than becoming a forgotten figure, thousands of miles away, as the Shah had hoped, Khomeini became an international icon, bringing the plight of the Iranian people to the world’s attention.
The protests in Iran continued en masse and the Shah’s government was at breaking point. After many discussions with the US administration, which until then had bankrolled the Shah’s rule, it was clear that resistance was futile and the game was up. On January 16th, the Shah left Iran for the last time, and Khomeini landed two weeks later.
February 12th, 2009 marked 30 years to the day when all apparatus of the Shah’s regime, including monarchy, politicians, military and administrative staff, finally collapsed.
Within a few weeks, a nationwide referendum took place which resulted in a massive vote in favour of the establishment of an Islamic Republic, and the day after victory, April 1st 1979, Khomeini declared as the ‘first day of God’s government’. He obtained the title of Imam and became the Supreme Leader (Vali-e-Faqeeh) of the nation.
The domestic goals of the revolution included an increased focus on education, which had been largely neglected under the Shah. The literacy rate at the time of the Shah was 48% but by 2002, this had increased to 76%. Additionally, the new government focused on the health and well-being of its citizens by introducing one of the most effective family planning programmes and encouraging greater awareness of the physical self. The role of women also came to the fore after the revolution and a change of culture ensured that many were encouraged to continue in higher education. As a result, around two-thirds of women attend universities, and women also work in a variety of professions, including the civil service and as MPs in parliament.
Despite the worldwide criticism from many western nations, the Islamic Revolution continues unabated to this date. The impact of Khomeini’s vision has left a lasting legacy not only on Iran’s citizens but also on the outside world and it is therefore an event that history will never forget. During the period of Ashra, as we commemorate the struggle and sacrifices of the family of Hussein after the events of Karbala, and recall the courageous manner in which Bibi Zaynab denounced Yazid’s claim to the caliphate in Shaam, the Islamic Revolution in Iran acts as a modern day example of such an uprising against tyrannical rule.
