Islamic Revolution in the eyes of intellectuals (1)

The Islamic Revolution that triumphed in Iran these days in 1979 under the leadership of Imam Khomeini (God bless him) to rid the country from domestic despotism and foreign hegemony, was one of the greatest events of the twentieth century – if not the past few centuries.

One of the factors for its victory was the mass participation of people from all classes and walks of life in the fight against the British-installed and American-backed Pahlavi regime. The second feature which distinguishes the Islamic Revolution from other revolutions is its religious nature. As part of our programmes to mark the 38^th anniversary of the victory of the victory of the Islamic Revolution, in a series of short episodes we will attempt to introduce this great Revolution from the standpoint of intellectuals.

Two prominent Iranologists have taken into consideration two public features, that is, popularity and religiosity, in a jointly written book titled "Pahlavi Dynasty in Iranian History – From Reza Shah until the Islamic Revolution. These are Gavin R. G. Hambly, Professor of History at Texas Dallas University, the US, and Charles P. Melville, Professor of Persian History at the Asian-Middle Eastern Studies (AMES) Department of Cambridge University, the US. They write that in 1979 during the victory of the Islamic Revolution, there were two relevant aspects of more prominence: First and foremost, the mass public participation in the movement which was unprecedented compared to other revolutions in the twentieth century. The second outstanding feature was dominance of its Islamic nature in terms of ideology, organization, and leadership. In practice, every small and big city in Iran was mobilized against the Pahlavi regime, and almost all men and women from all walks of life showed their enthusiasm for toppling the monarchy and ending.

These two Western Ironologists have pinpointed the difference between the Islamic Revolution and the Constitutional Revolution that occurred in Iran in the early 1900s. They also draw a comparison in this book with the movement for nationalization of the oil industry that took place in the late 1940s and early 1950s.

Without the least doubt, the uprising against domestic despotism that resulted in the triumph of the Constitutional Movement in the first decade of the 20^th century, as well as the campaign for nationalization of Iran’s oil industry in the early 1950s could not mobilize all the people in such a mass manner as the Islamic Revolution did during the years 1978 and 79. The first two events were the result of the alliance among religious leaders and nationalist figures and other groups having different aspirations. On the contrary, the Revolution that triumphed in 1979 was absolutely Islamic in nature and the participation of non- religious elements in it was certainly of marginal aspects. Taking the Islamic nature of the Revolution into consideration, the writers of the book "Pahlavi Dynasty in Iranian History”, have stated: The slogans of the masses of demonstrators were almost wholly Islamic. Among the outstanding features were mass prayers, the spirit of martyrdom, and observance of religious occasions, especially the mourning ceremonies of the month of Muharram. These were the revolutionaries' weapon and they led to the advancement of the Islamic movement. More importantly, mosques were among the main organizational units of the revolution.

MA/AS/EA