Religious Statecraft: A Nuanced and Engaging Account of Contemporary Iranian History

I'm reading Religious Statecraft by Mohammad Ayatollahi Tabaar, a book that offers a deep and insightful analysis of contemporary Iranian history.

The book challenges the common misconception that the "Islamic Revolution" of 1979 was the result of a unified religious and clerical movement that seized power with the aim of establishing an Islamist state.

Instead, Tabaar shows, through fascinating primary sources, how Ruhollah Khomeini, from the get-go had political ambitions that clashed with the traditional Shia Islam and the clerical establishment. To pursue his political goals, which were opposed to the Shah and foreign intervention, he devised a radical ideology that sought to overthrow the quietist Shia Islam and use it as a mobilizing force for his political agenda.

From the beginning of his political activism, Khomeini faced resistance from the top marjas (religious authorities) and the clerical establishment, who adhered to the traditional Islam that shunned direct involvement in politics and maintained a mutually beneficial relationship with the monarchy. They repeatedly cautioned him against undermining the "Shia Shah" and the "only Shia majority country" in a predominantly Sunni region.

The Shah and the senior clerical establishment were actually allied and cooperative against Khomeini and his ideology until the very end of the Shah's regime. But Khomeini was cunning and pragmatic, and he maneuvered against them by forming alliances with nationalists and leftists and using their immense organizing capacity to spread his agenda and ideology, which many knew very little about.

The Shah and SAVAK (the secret police) tried their best to discredit Khomeini's Islamic credentials, in collaboration with the top clerics of the time. The notorious Ettela'at newspaper article that attacked Khomeini, which sparked the revolution, was a reflection of this and an attempt to tarnish his Islamic credentials and associate him with communists and leftists.

Similarly, the Shah exiled Khomeini to quietist Najaf, which the Qom clergy also approved, hoping he would fade into obscurity. He and the Qom clergy were also pleased when he chose to go to France, believing it would further damage his Islamic image.

But Khomeini was above all a shrewd and strategic and Machiavellian politician. He maximized his influence in each of these locations, and with his alliances, disseminated his message across Iran.

In France, his Western-leaning advisers made sure he presented a polished and friendly image of himself to the world. But all along, Khomeini had a radical revolutionary goal that was as much against traditional Islam as it was against the Shah. The creation of a political Shia Islam, a Shia Islam that rules the state.

It is remarkable how his ideology has now become synonymous with Shia Islam for many in Iran and beyond, when it is incredibly radical and discordant with the traditional practice of the religion. And after the revolution, Khomeini systematically marginalized all his former allies while consolidating his system, where the "Islamic" political system he created could override Islamic law and practices itself, with radical tenets such as the parliament being able to overturn Islamic law, the "velayat-e faqih" (guardianship of the jurist) having absolute power, and the preservation of this system being even more important than "fasting or prayer."

Mohammad Ayatollahi Tabaar's book is a must-read for Iran watchers.