Ancient Persian Legacy Still Plays Role in Revolutionary Ira

Items in the news
onepence~2
Posts: 221
Joined: Fri Apr 11, 2008 1:17 am

Ancient Persian Legacy Still Plays Role in Revolutionary Ira

Postby onepence~2 » Thu Jan 14, 2010 1:21 am

...

http://www.payvand.com/news/10/jan/1102.html

...
...
...


Iran's tradition of divinely inspired rule has often been debated but never before denounced in a mass political protest. This tradition has deep roots in Iranian culture and history.

The tradition of God-sanctified rule dates back to the sixth century B.C.E. In pre-Islamic times, ancient kings ruled on behalf of the Zoroastrian god, Ahura Mazda. So did King Darius I of the Achaemenid dynasty (558 B.C.E.-330 C.E.) and Ardeshir and Shahpur of the Sassanid Empire (224 C.E.-651 C.E.) before the arrival of Islam in Iran in the seventh century C.E.

Since then, most Iranian leaders have claimed kingship on the basis of divine favor. Shah Ismail I (1501-1524) considered himself "the Agent of God" and Shah Abbas I (1587-1629) was believed to represent the Twelfth Imam. They were all addressed with the honorific title, "the shadow of God" on earth.

But in 1979, the Islamic Revolution, led by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, destroyed Iran's ancient institution of kingship. In its place, Khomeini created a "government of God" ruled by a divinely approved and politically qualified religious jurist. As such a leader, Khomeini ruled from 1979 until his death in 1989, after which Khamenei took up the mantle.

This revolutionary change is said to contradict mainstream Shia tradition, which excludes clerical rule. It is also contrary to Iran's ancient tradition of governance. In the pre-Islamic and Islamic eras before the Revolution, Zoroastrian priests and learned Shia jurists were influential in politics, but they never ruled the state.

Khomeini, however, created the Islamic state as a republic in which the people would also govern. This duality of rule - by the divinely approved supreme leader and by ordinary people - was considered contradictory at the founding of the Islamic Republic and has been debated ever since.

...
....

Separation does not mean a society is devoid of religious belief; it means only that faith should be the concern of the individual. In spite of separation, Americans are one of the most God-fearing people in Western democracies. Still, the boundary between religion and state continues to be disputed and litigated.

Yet, Iranian secularists might note that the system of governance created by the founding fathers of the American Republic has been able to cope with religion-state controversies peacefully, without violence and bloodshed, for more than 200 years.

Iranians created the systemic predicament they now face and they alone must find a peaceful and constructive way to resolve it.

About the author: R. K. Ramazani, coeditor of Religion, State and Society: Jefferson's Wall of Separation in Comparative Perspective, is Edward R. Stettinius Emeritus Professor of Government and Foreign Affairs at the University of Virginia.

Return to “News”