Have you read The Satanic Verses by Salman Rushdie? A valid question that should be surveyed in the Muslim world to examine the power of religious authority represented by ulama (Islamic scholars) and fukhaa (jurists) in the region. The failed assassination attempt of Rushdie by an American-Lebanese perpetrator on August 13, 2022, reflects the significance of fatwa (religious legal opinion) issued by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, Iran’s powerful Shia cleric who served as the supreme leader (1979- 1989). It is highly likely that the perpetrator was influenced by Khomeini’s fatwa as he was reportedly a sympathizer of the Shia cleric. Taking Iran as a case study, this article tracks the ideology of theological states in the Middle East and the powerful position of Islamic ‘clergy’.
(Demonstrators in Tehran call for the death of Indian-British writer Salman Rushdie after a fatwa was issued by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini)
The Rising Power of Iran’s Shia Clerics in 1979
‘Clergy’ is not commonly used among Muslims though Scottish Historian Montgomery Watt argued that “there is in Islam an institution, or perhaps one should say a series of institutions, through which many of the political functions of the Church are performed.” This argument is consistent with the clerical establishment in Iran where religious leaders fill major political offices after removing the Pahlavi monarchy in 1979.
The 1979 revolution started as socio- political event where Iranians from different shades of political affiliations, including left-wing students (communists) participated in overthrowing Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. Shia clerics, however, orchestrated the revolution and established hegemony over Iran’s political system as Khomeini recognized the importance of using the coercive power of state to ensure the implementation of his vision/teachings of Islam. He constitutionalized the concept of Velayet-e-faqih (guardianship of jurist) to consolidate the power of Shia theologians. Under the headline “The Necessity for Islamic Government,” he wrote that “there must be an executive power and an executor” to implement Sharia law, adding “the person who holds this executive power is known as vali Amir.”
From that perspective, the executor/cleric is powerful because he is representing the will of God and Muslim followers should obey without questioning that divine- inspired authority. Moreover, in the Iranian version of Shia, the twelfth and last Imam has gone into hiding but is meanwhile represented by Islamic scholars (to include ulama, fukhaa and clerics) who have the capacity to interpret Islamic scriptures and issue fatwa (religious opinion) that cover all Muslims’ affairs until the return of Hidden Imam, known as the Mahdi.
Representing the power of Allah on earth is the key to consolidate the authority of religious leaders in Iran, leading to politicizing the religion to control and manipulate people. The gravity of theological-based states is jeopardizing the religion itself. As religion and politics are incompatible variables, in which the former is static and immutable while the latter is dynamic and demands constant policy changing to achieve strategic goals and meet the public demands. When political leaders use religion to form policies, there is high probability that Muslim followers will blame religion if it fails to achieve efficient results. For instance, In the killing of Mahsa Amini by Iran’s moral police last September sparked nationwide protests followed by turbans hashtag where online users shared videos of citizens knocking turbans off the clerics. The recent protests question the legitimacy of clerical leadership and the Islamic political system that has not been comprehensively identified by any of the Islamic scriptures to rule the growing Muslim community in such a complex and diverse world.
Conclusion
Political Islam continued to be powerful ideology that seized power in Iran in 1979 when Khomeini orchestrated the revolution and overthrow the Pahlavi regime. The Iranian revolution had a ripple effect across the Arab-Muslim world, playing pivotal role in consolidating the power of Islamic religious leaders. In other words, it has entrenched the influence of political Islam and Islamic theologians continued to be powerful in Iran and other Muslim countries because they have moral authority that they gained from studying religious sciences and their alleged connection to the divine. However, recent indications have ushered Iran into a new era of deepening crisis between the clerical leadership and society at large, inciting Muslims in other countries to call for secularizing governments and carry out necessary reforms.