An intriguing but incomplete picture: a Canadian book reduces Iranian politics to religious infighting.

An intriguing but incomplete picture: a Canadian book reduces Iranian politics to religious infighting. Conversations in Tehran Jean-Daniel Lafond and Fred A. ReedTalonboooks 224 pages, hardcover ISBN ISBNabbr.International Standard Book NumberISBNInternational Standard Book NumberISBNn abbr (= International Standard Book Number) → ISBN m9780889225503 The Iranian revolution This article is about the 1979 Islamic revolution in Iran. For the political movement in Iran 13 years prior, see White Revolution.The Iranian Revolution (also known as the Islamic Revolution,[1][2][3][4] of 1979 was one of the most significantevents of the 20th century. With demands for democracy, politicalfreedoms, economic justice and national independence, therevolutionaries put an end to the oppressive client state of the Shah,who had been brought back to power more than two and a half decadesearlier by a CIA/MI6 coup d'etat against the democratically electedgovernment of Dr. Mohammed Mossadeq. The revolution began with secular liberal and left intellectuals,artists, lawyers, academics, workers and students, and became a masspopular movement once the Islamists, under the leadership of AyatollahKhomeini Noun 1. Ayatollah Khomeini - Iranian religious leader of the Shiites; when Shah Pahlavi's regime fell Khomeini established a new constitution giving himself supreme powers (1900-1989)Ayatollah Ruholla Khomeini, Khomeini, Ruholla Khomeini , an exiled Shiite fundamentalist cleric, joined the uprising.These Islamists were a heterogeneous group; some were populistsstressing the government of the dispossessed, and others werepragmatists favouring a full-fledged open market economy with anIslamified society. However, both factions were united in seeking the elimination ofsecular liberal and left voices, the majority of whom, following apopulist strategy themselves, had ironically accepted Khomeini'sleadership. After the gradual consolidation of power by the Islamists,occasioned by the hostage taking in the United States United States,officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. Embassy in Tehranin late 1979 and Saddam Hussein's invasion of Iran in 1980,non-religious groups and organizations were brutally suppressed andsilenced, along with any religious organizations that opposed Khomeini.Nonetheless, and against all odds, these non-religious forces haveremained a vibrant, although not easily visible, part of Iranianpolitics, culture and society. Within the religious Iranian power structure itself, leaders haveshifted positions and some former members of repressive apparatuses haveturned reformers, challenging the status quo [Latin, The existing state of things at any given date.] Status quo ante bellum means the state of things before the war. The status quo to be preserved by a preliminary injunction is the last actual, peaceable, uncontested status which preceded the pending controversy. and demanding changeswithin the existing formal legal order. Jean-Daniel Lafond and Fred A. Reed's Conversations in Tehranfocuses mainly on this intra-regime conflict. The authors seem to be nostrangers to the country, and this book follows their several trips(Reed's in particular) to Iran and takes from their earlier works,a film (Lafond's Salam Iran: A Persian Letter) and books(Reed's Persian Postcards: Iran after Khomeini and hiscollaboration with Massoumeh Ebtekar on Takeover in Tehran: The InsideStory of the 1979 U.S. Embassy Takeover). They are sympathetic to theIranians and provide an accessible account of the Islamic regime. Thefact that Jean-Daniel Lafond is the husband of Canada's GovernorGeneral, Michaelle Jean, gives an added level of interest to hisobservations for Canadians. Who are Lafond and Reed's conversations with? If theirintention was to give the general public in Canada and elsewhere anaccurate overview of Iranian society today, then they should haveincluded secular people, including members of the Iranian Writers This is a list of Iranian writers. Persian literature of the 20th centuryBozorg Alavi Jalal Al-e-Ahmad Mohammad Ali Jamalzadeh Sadegh Hedayat Sadegh Choubak Ebrahim Golestan Simin Daneshvar Mahmoud DowlatAbadi Houshang Golshiri Association, journalists-turned-bloggers, even underground rappers, aswell as a full range of religious figures, both reformers andconservatives. Instead, the conversations are limited, with a fewexceptions, to religious players, many of whom are or were directly orindirectly linked to the Islamic regime, so that the book reflects theinner conflicts of the Islamists almost exclusively. On this narrowtopic, it is well written, clear and informative. The problem is thatthe authors wrongly assume their respondents speak for Iran as a whole.In the introduction they announce that "the aim of theseconversations is neither to approve nor disapprove of what Iran says ordoes" [my italics]. Reducing "Iran" to the infighting in��fight��ing?n.1. Contentious rivalry or disagreement among members of a group or organization: infighting on the President's staff.2. Fighting or boxing at close range. ofthe Islamic regime and to religion is a misrepresentation misrepresentationIn law, any false or misleading expression of fact, usually with the intent to deceive or defraud. It most commonly occurs in insurance and real-estate contracts. False advertising may also constitute misrepresentation. of reality, tosay the least. A rigorous reading of the book further points to moreserious problems regarding the authors' understanding andperceptions of Iranian society. In his preface, Lafond rightly criticizes the "officialhistory" of the regime as displayed in the Museum of the Revolutionin Tehran, where leading (religious) personalities such as Ali Shariati Ali Shariati (Persian: علی شريعتی‎) (1933–1977) was an Iranian sociologist, well known and respected for his works in the field of sociology of religion. ,Azam Taleqani and Hossein-Ali Montazeri are "curiouslyforgotten" and conspicuously absent. What is ironic, though, is theequally conspicuous absence of non-religious figures in this book. Giventhe dominant stereotypes about the Middle East in general and Iran inparticular, a reader unfamiliar with Iranian society, politics andhistory would think that religion is all that there is in Iran andnon-religious figures are non-existent. This is quite unfair to acountry that just recently commemorated the centennial of its 1906Constitutional Revolution, when Ayatollah Fazlollah Nuri, the top clericof the time (equivalent to Khomeini), was eventually executed for hisdefence of the absolutist monarchy against constitutional reforms andfor his attempts to establish a sharia-based constitution. It is alsounfair to tens of thousands of enlightened Iranians who were killed,executed and imprisoned im��pris��on?tr.v. im��pris��oned, im��pris��on��ing, im��pris��onsTo put in or as if in prison; confine.[Middle English emprisonen, from Old French emprisoner : en- by the Islamic regime, and to hundreds ofthousands of secular Iranians who have been forced to live in exilebecause they opposed a religious state. In fact, Iranians, despiteproducing the first Islamic fundamentalist regime in modern times, arethe most secular of all the majority-Muslim societies, and it isunfortunate that the heterogeneity of the population in terms of theirreligious affiliation is overlooked in this book. This is no coincidence. The book cover, showing a blind,scary-looking religious chanter chanter:see bagpipe. and young veiled women spectators in areligious procession, sets the tone for the depiction of areligion-soaked society. In his preface, Reed modestly points out thathe found himself "tip-toeing into a rich and multifacetedcivilization deeply immersed in its twenty-five hundred years ofhistory, fourteen hundred of which bore the seal of Islam." At thesame time, he sees this society as essentially different. Despite beingopenly critical of the "militant expansion of the West," histerminology has an obvious Orientalist overtone overtoneIn acoustics, a faint higher tone contained within almost any musical tone. A body producing a musical pitch—such as a taut string or a column of air within the tubular body of a wind instrument—vibrates not only as a unit but simultaneously also in when he talks about"the complex reality of a culture so radically different from ourown." The good intentions are there, but perceptions areproblematic and determine the shortcomings A shortcoming is a character flaw.Shortcomings may also be: Shortcomings (SATC episode), an episode of the television series Sex and the City of the analysis. The authors are critical of the conservative elements of theestablishment and clearly support the reformers. Many of the people theyinterview are disgruntled dis��grun��tle?tr.v. dis��grun��tled, dis��grun��tling, dis��grun��tlesTo make discontented.[dis- + gruntle, to grumble (from Middle English gruntelen; see functionaries-turned-reformers, somepreviously working at the core of repressive apparatuses of the Islamicstate The term Islamic state refers to groups that have adopted Islam as their primary faith. Specifically: A Caliphate in Sunni Islam An Imamah in Shia Islam A Wilayat al-Faqih for the Shia in the absence of an Imamah . Reed and Lafond credit the reform movement with "criticalinnovations," exemplified by President Mohammad Khatami Mohammad Khatami (Persian : سید محمد خاتمی Seyyed Moḥammad Khātamī) (born September 29, 1943, in Ardakan, Yazd Province) is an Iranian scholar and politician. and hisfollowers. The reality is that the reformers of the Islamic regime, andKhatami in particular, never came up with critical innovations, similarto what we witness in other parts of the Islamic world. They neverproduced the likes of Mahmud Taha or Tariq Ramadan Tariq Said Ramadan (born 26 August 1962 in Geneva, Switzerland) is a Swiss Muslim academic and theologian. He advocates a reinterpretation of Islamic texts, and emphasizes the heterogeneous nature of Islamic society. . (1) The vastmajority of Islamic reformers in post-revolutionary Iran, with someexceptions mentioned below, mainly wanted to introduce some politicalreforms within the existing structures of power, and in a sense save itfrom itself. Not only did they not challenge any fundamental views ofShiite Islam, but also they never ventured to counter or criticizeKhomeini's views, or their own earlier views and actions for thatmatter. Massoumeh Ebtekar, the former hostage taker tak��er?n.One that takes or takes up something, such as a wager or purchase: There were no takers on the bets.takerNoun and laterKhatami's vice-president (who, with the help of Reed, publishedTakeover in Tehran), says in her "conversation" that"Imam Khomeini ... understood that we needed ... to develop thebasic elements of democracy for the people" and that "Imamnever looked upon the people as a tool." She is talking of a manwho used his followers as tools to establish one of the most repressiveand obscurantist ob��scur��ant��ism?n.1. The principles or practice of obscurants.2. A policy of withholding information from the public.3. a. regimes in modern times. Even Said Hajjarian, a mostoutspoken and bold reformer and a founding member of the regime'ssecurity establishment, who later paid a very heavy price for exposingthe regime's atrocities, praises Khomeini in his interviews withthe authors. We read, "if you compare the Islamic Revolution withother revolutions, you will see that there was not excessive violence... Ayatollah Khomeini called for patience." The same theme isrepeated in the conversation with another interviewee, Ali Paya Ali Paya is a contemporary Iranian philosopher and writer. He is a faculty member of the national research Institute for science policy (NRISP) in Iran and a Senior Research Associate and Visiting Professor at the Center for Study of Democracy, University of Westminster. . Onewonders if the immediate post-revolution summary trials and executionsof authorities and functionaries of the previous regime, theassassinations of dissidents inside and outside Iran, the disappearancesand the large-scale massacres of several thousand political prisoners onthe direct order of Khomeini could be described as anything but stateviolence. Lafond and Reed are aware of these atrocities, but obviouslythey did not choose to challenge what their interviewees conveyed tothem. The authors converse with several prominent figures who focused onideological reforms, including Abdolkarim Soroush Abdolkarim Soroush (Persian: عبدالكريم سروش ) or Abdulkarim Soroush (1945 - ) is a leading Iranian thinker, philosopher, reformer and Rumi scholar. , a religious academicwho came into prominence after the revolution and became a leadingmember of the regime's cultural revolution, "cleansing"the universities of liberal and left academics and students.Disgruntled, he later devoted his time to theoretical work on religionand politics, and became a staunch critic of the regime. Although hiswritings and speeches angered the fundamentalists, his theories did notadvocate a clear separation of church and state See also: . Separation of church and state is a political and legal doctrine which states that government and religious institutions are to be kept separate and independent of one another. . Soroush, in a sense,was trying to bring religion to the state through the back door, arguingthat government follows society and if society is religious, thegovernment also takes a religious hue. It is obvious that since nosociety is homogenous homogenous - homogeneous in terms of religion or ideology, if thegovernment takes the hue of one group, even that of the majority, thatgovernment cannot be democratic. Lafond and Reed seem very impressed by Soroush and even tend tojustify his past actions. While they elaborately and critically discussthe cultural revolution and its disastrous impact on Iranianuniversities, they take it upon themselves to protect Soroush. We readthat Soroush's "subsequent activity and his firmcommitment--the elements by which history will judge and eventuallyunderstand--stand not only as attenuating factors, but also can beinterpreted as his response to his critics." In fact, Soroush neverresponded to his critics and his critics never "understood"his role in the cultural revolution. The authors devote several sections of the book to women in theIslamic Republic An Islamic republic, in its modern context, has come to mean several different things, some contradictory to others. Theoretically, to many religious leaders, it is a state under a particular theocratic form of government advocated by some Muslim religious leaders in the Middle . Issues of women's rights The effort to secure equal rights for women and to remove gender discrimination from laws, institutions, and behavioral patterns.The women's rights movement began in the nineteenth century with the demand by some women reformers for the right to vote, known as suffrage, and are no doubt one of themost significant issues of post-revolutionary Iran, and a big headachefor the clerical establishment. However, Lafond and Reed's choiceof women to interview is rather surprising. If we put asidenon-religious secular women (since such categories seem to be off theauthors' radar anyway), far more known and significant Muslimactivist women have been at the forefront of the reform movement, suchas Shahla Sherkat Shahla Sherkat (Born 1956 Isfahan, Iran) is a prominent Persian feminist author, journalist and one of the pioneers of Iranian women's movement.Shahla Sherkat is founder and publisher of Zanan and Shahla Lahiji, respectively the editor of Zananmagazine and a publisher, or lawyer Shadi Sadr Shadi Sadr is a notable Iranian journalist and women rights activist.[1]Sadr majored in law and political science and holds a master degree from Tehran University (1999).She is also editor in chief of the Web site Women in Iran. and writer ParvinArdalan, or academics such as Jaleh Shadi-Talab, to name just a few.These women, along with bold activists such as Nooshin Ahmadi Khorasani Nooshin Ahmadi Khorasani is a notable Iranian journalist, women rights activist and community activist.She is among main activists behind One Million Signatures campaign. She was also a founder of Women’s Cultural Center. ,who under most difficult conditions was publishing the now bannedjournal Jens-e dovom (The Second Sex), are all very conspicuous in theirabsence. Moreover, Lafond and Reed at times tend to exaggerate the role ofsome of their respondents, such as Fariba Davoudi-Mohajer, who isintroduced as the founder and president of the Women's Party Women's Party is the name of several political parties: Women's Party (Belarus) Women's Party (Greenland) Women's Party (Israel) Women's Party (Japan) Josei-tō Women's Party (Poland) Women's Party (UK) and ispresented as a "woman who aspires to make the voices of Iran'swomen heard." They tend to give too much credit to this so-called"party," which was just a small group that never got off theground and has remained obscure. The authors meet another woman, KhadijeSafiri, whom they introduce as "one of Iran's leadingsociologists" and an "accomplished scholar." But we learnthat she had preferred to be interviewed in the presence of her husband,was choosing her words with caution in his presence and appears at easewhen the husband leaves the room! It is not clear on what basis theauthors have determined that she is a leading sociologist of Iran and orthat she is an accomplished scholar. In contrast to these interviews, the conversations with twograss-roots women activists and NGO NGOabbr.nongovernmental organizationNoun 1. NGO - an organization that is not part of the local or state or federal governmentnongovernmental organization workers, particularly thehairdresser/ librarian Farzadeh Gohari, are very interesting. Throughher activities, as the authors eloquently describe, "a hairdressing hairdressing,arranging of the hair for decorative, ceremonial, or symbolic reasons. Primitive men plastered their hair with clay and tied trophies and badges into it to represent their feats and qualities. salon becomes a neighbourhood institution, a bedrock ... of localcultural and political life." The conversation with Pari Saberi Pari Saberi (Persian: پری صابری, born 1932 in Tehran) is an Iranian drama and theatre director and winner of the French Literature and Art Cavalier Badge , awell-known theatre actor and director from the pre-revolutionary period,is also exceptional, particularly in that she is among the very fewsecular individuals interviewed and talks about the culture and poetryof Iran. Lafond and Reed were in Tehran in 2004, toward the end of PresidentKhatami's second presidency and at the time of the parliamentaryelections, and they witnessed the disillusionment DisillusionmentAdams, Nickloses innocence through WWI experience. [Am. Lit.: “The Killers”]Angry Young Mendisillusioned postwar writers of Britain, such as Osborne and Amis. [Br. Lit. of the public, who hadlost hope and faith in Islamic reformers. They rightly recognize thatthe reformers had failed to take advantage of the massive support theyhad enjoyed for a while. They say that "the reform movement couldnot break the vice grip of a tightly structured ruling establishment ...[and] Mohammad Khatami, despite--or because of--his personal integrity,had proven a mediocre politician, unable to carry through his ambitiousprogram for opening up Iranian society." Their observation couldnot be more accurate and telling: "Homeless children wandering thestreets, widespread drug addiction drug addictionor chemical dependencyPhysical and/or psychological dependency on a psychoactive (mind-altering) substance (e.g., alcohol, narcotics, nicotine), defined as continued use despite knowing that the substance causes harm. , flagrant and flourishingprostitution are only a few of the most visible symptoms of thebankruptcy of what claims to be a religious state." In their lastconversation with Said Hajjarian, the most influential voice of theIslamic reformers, he laments that people in tens of thousands line upto go and hear a famous classical Iranian singer, Shajarian, but ifPresident Khatami wanted to address the nation, he could not attractsuch a crowd. He concludes that even if the entire government of Khatamiwere to resign, nothing would happen; "it is too late," hesays, and he is right. As is now known, the failures of the reform movement and theboycott of the elections brought Mahmoud Ahmadinejad This article or section may contain inappropriate or misinterpreted which do not the text.Please help [ improve this article] by checking for inaccuracies. , a zealousultraconservative figure to power in 2005. However, given hisgovernment's failure to address the mounting internal andinternational problems of Iran, only one year into Ahmadinejad'spresidency voters overwhelmingly defeated his candidates in the 2006municipal council elections and even in the election of the all-mullahAssembly of Experts, which chooses the Supreme Leader. Religiousinfighting continues and the Islamic regime has proven to be incapableof reforming from within. The task of real reform is now in the hands of Iranians outside theregime, both religious and non-religious secular women and men,particularly the youth who are confronting the regime of terror in amost difficult situation. If they are left to themselves and if noforeign intrigue and intervention is present, they will bring thenecessary change to Iran's political system. The original demandsof the revolution are alive and unmet after almost three decades. Despite some of its shortcomings, Conversations in Tehran is avaluable book about religious conflicts in Iran. One can only hope thatLafond and Reed's next set of conversations will cover a broaderand more representative group of Iranians. Note (1) Mahmud Muhammed Taha, a prominent Sudanese theologian and apublic figure, advocated reform within Islam and was against theapplication of sharia in Sudan for the reason that it would violate thedemocratic rights of non-Muslim Sudanese. Fatwas were issued by Egyptianand Saudi fundamentalists, who were angered by Taha's bravecritique of fundamentalism, and he was eventually hanged in 1985 in theSudan for apostasy apostasy,in religion: see heresy. ApostasySee also Sacrilege.Aholah and Aholibahsymbolize Samaria’s and Jerusalem’s abandonment to idols. [O.T. . Tariq Ramadan is the prominent Muslim theologian andacademic in Switzerland, and the grandson of Hassan al-Banna, theEgyptian founder of the Muslim Brotherhood. Saeed Rahnema is a professor of political science and the directorof the School of Public Policy and Administration at York University.