The Western media machine has gone into 5th gear. We are being told that the world is on the brink of another colour revolution, another dictator will be thrown into the dustbin of history and freedom loving people can expect moral support from the liberal West.
Iran is once again witnessing mass demonstrations and such Ipod loving, rock and roll dancing, Twitter people want to free themselves from the conservative shackles of their forefathers who continue to rule the country. This was the narrative I was sold growing up in the UK about the country my parents were from. I was taught in British schools that ayatollah Iran was a miserable place, authoritarian, autocratic, conservative, ‘all women must cover' and where women were treated as second class citizens.
My recent visit to Iran showed me there was much the West does not understand about Iran and does not want to.
The recent events from Iran have shown the biggest civil unrest since the Islamic revolution in 1979. The unrest has so far led to demonstrations where 7 people have died. Whilst the issue of contention is the election result there are a number of much deeper issues that have been simmering for decades that are now reaching boiling point.
The unrest we are witnessing is a backlash as both the conservatives and reformists have been unable to solve many of Iran's problems especially its economic problems. 3 million people are unemployed in Iran and the trend is set to continue.
Currently only 30% of the Iranian population witnessed the Islamic revolution, 70% of Iran was born after 1979. However on my trip I realised those who witnessed the revolution including many from my family who have mixed views on the revolution and what it achieved. I have family members who lived through both the Shah's rule and then the Islamic revolution. Mohammad Reza Pahlavi focused on modernizing Iran in the name of advancement. This modernization was in many areas and included social reforms.
However nothing really materialised. Aside from a few factories and allowing workers to own shares in them from an economic perspective poverty increased even though more and more oilfields were discovered in the Persian Gulf. The Shah wanted to break the existing economic structure which was built upon farming and made the clergy immensely wealthy. During the 1960's the Shah concentrated on his Social reforms, his reforms were built upon the emulation of the West and instituted western dress, symbolised by his wife and daughters. Such behaviour only alienated the mostly Muslim population from the ruler and this led the Shah to resort to brute force. As the 1970's were in full flow many viewed the Shah as a despot, the economy had not modernized as he promised. As the Shah became ever more authoritarian many began to demonstrate in what they saw as injustices perpetuated by the Shah. The Shah's failure to solve the problems of the country resulted in many to look for alternatives.
Ayatollah Rahulla Khomeini came to symbolize ‘change' and many groups that were not even Islamic mobilised with other groups and brought the country to a stand still. When the Shah ordered the army to open fire on the demonstrators - that was the final straw. Before anyone could shout revolution the Shah had fled the country.
What united the people of Iran around the revolution was everyone wanted change, the Shah had not delivered on his promises and as many explained to me, any person could have become the leader, as long as they condemned the Shah.
The revolution marked a change from one extreme to another. Almost overnight women went from being able to wear the latest western fashion items to being forced to wear the black chador or long dress and head scarf. This major change occurred without addressing the views of the people, and consequently Iranians still had a secular mindset, whilst effectively being forced to act in a more conservative way in public.
As soon as the Islamic revolution was in full swing cracks began to appear with the groups that brought Khomeini to power. As some of the elders in my family explained what began as an authentic and anti-dictatorial popular revolution based on a broad coalition of all anti-Shah forces was soon transformed into a power grab. Except for some of Khomeini's core supporters, the members of the coalition thought Khomeini intended to be more a spiritual guide than a ruler. However his core supporters took positions in important offices whilst many of those who had sacrificed to bring Khomeini to power found they were either exiled, imprisoned or sidelined.
The 8 year war with Iraq meant that all of the nation's production was geared towards the war effort. Once again the economic concerns of the people were neglected. The notions of Islam, Islamic ruling etc according to those who lived the revolution were nowhere to be seen. Islam was never applied, however Khomeini did everything but refer to the Qur'an or the Sunnah. In fact many saw a very different Khomeini once he was ruler, compared to the Khomeini they saw prior to the revolution. Khomeini had been in exile for over 10 years and had no ruling or leadership experience, however he was going to hold on to the nation through hook or crook - in reality Khomeini turned out to be no different to the Shah.
Like the Shah Khomeini did nothing to address the economic problems of the nation. Many elders consider the revolutionary period as causing many of the ills Iran's suffers from today. Such ills are openly paraded on the streets of Tehran and have only got worse. The mineral wealth of Iran has not benefited most the people of Iran.
Today's Iran suffers from a major prostitution problem. According to many surveys up to 500 000 women under the age of 30 make up Iran's prostitution problem. Many have been forced into this due to poverty and the stigma of divorce, a number of such girls are also runaways who were forced into temporary marriages.
Iran also has a huge drug problem. According to the Iranian government there are over 1.2 million drug addicts, with HIV on the rise. Alcohol is widely available and if one is not a cocaine addict they are most likely addicted to Alcohol. My own cousin died in a drink drive crash, whilst another uncle actually produces Alcohol.
My time in Iran showed me that the people of Iran have been failed one too many times, by rulers who promised the world and didn't deliver. The current religious authority has failed the Iranian people both socially and economically, the problems that the revolution failed to rectify, has now been adopted by the reformist's.
The landslide victory of Mohammed Khatami, in 1997 was the first time an open reformist managed to gain power. Ever since a very active reformist movement has gained momentum and used the slogan of reform to call for engagement with the West and Western values in the shape of freedom and democracy. Secularism the separation of religion from public life is in greater demand from the reformists who work hard to promote their ideas through various types of media such as internet blogs and newspapers.
Many of the youth who were born after 1979 witnessing the failure of the revolution in retaliation to an oppressive ‘Islamic' government have looked to the west for progress and solutions, where they feel the Islamic establishment and even Islam in some cases has failed them.
Iran in no way represents Islam, in my trip I found Iran to be a mish mash of everything, whilst Iranian society is drowning in a sea of cocaine and alcohol. I was not surprised when massive demonstrations rocked Tehran as the elections were announced. This is because Mahmoud Ahmadinejad symbolises the failure of the conservatives who have unable to revive the economy. Iranian society is polarized, the educated middle classes adore the West whilst the poor although Islamic are unable to understand how the Islamic texts deal with modern problems. This confusion is leading to many to conclude Islam is the problem.
Iran in some ways it at odds with the reality of the wider Muslim world, whilst the wider Muslim world is returning to Islam, attempting to understand its solutions and calling for the Khilafah and reunification with other Muslim countries. Many Iranians believes they lived under Islam and it was a big failure. But in reality aside from a few rules Islam was never applied. Iran's Islamic rhetoric, was exactly that, the realties of ruling, the economy and judiciary were not Islamic in any way. Ayatollah Khomeini's wilayat al Faqhi remained in the books it was written and pragmatic politics was the order of his revolution.
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Fatima
said:
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Salamon alikom Iran's problem is not about Suuni or Shia . I'm an Iranian ,and I know what is the problem . We are muslem and we following Quran and we don not need to have Disco or alcolhol .... We wanna see muslems women wereing Hejab on the street . We don't wanna have any order from amrica or another non muslem countrys . We don't need to listen to Rap or heavy music .But some of younge people likes such of things and they are not happy with Gorenment ( sorry my English is not very well as you are ) If you listen what this those people saying you can understand better about what is going on there . They not saying we want be come shia or sunni , they don't wanna have islamic country . They thinkig freedom is go to disco and have a drink of alcol or go out with their girlfriend .Do you accept such of things in your country ? If people was happy with shah why we had a revolution 30 years ago ? I hope I could explain a little bit . Thank you |
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marie
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what are these freedoms that the West promises and so many people around the world believe will set them free? I thought that Islam was freedom, yet I see so many turning from their religious teachings for the decadence and seduction of the West. Are wee to uncover our daughters so they can be slaves to the sexual desires of occupation forces? Is that a freedom that you crave? These so-called freedoms are tools of the oppressor that are used to lure and captivate the pure souls of Allah's people. There is much psychology involved. Many well educated scholars and religious leaders are needed to unravel the tapestry of deceit and examine the inter-woven disciplines used to create this illusion that falls upon us all, all around the world. Many prayers are needed to lift the fabric of unreality from our eyes and see clearly what mankind has devolved into amid the material reality of life on earth. man was not created to be manipulated as a profit margin for the elite. Man was created to worship God and live according to His standards. |
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sohail
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very interesting comments made by every one. `MY VIEW` (just an opinion) I think the problem isn`t in shia or sunni imams, or that there is shia influence in the ruling. Rather the people belived in a man who was very spiritualy islamic when he was elected. And totally forgot the Ruling system of islam and it politics (foreign policies, feeding, sheltering, helping the poeple of all status, education etc) this is a clear example of people who are knowledge junkies for jus the spiritual aspect of islam and neglect the Ruling aspect of islam. if Iran followed just the pure basic of an islamic state which is to rule by the rules of allah( food,shelter,and clothes as a priority for all poeple) it would have had a serious chance of surviving the poeple over frowing the government. In conclusion, what i have learnt from this, is that the method the prophet (saw)used to establish the states is clear to see in this country. all the west did is fill the poeple of iran with democratic ideas, and all the poeple want to do is, overthrow the government. inshallah, the Ummah can do the same in all other muslim countries but only fill the muslim with the islamic view os living that give hope to ALL of humankind |
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ahmed
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i think work for the khilafah should focus on those that believe in it. We should not add another dimension to the destablising of Iran, those Iranians that want to should be welcomed into the khilafah and an alliance should be sought with the ruling imams. The khilafah should be shoulder for the Iran to lean on. Our long aim is to reunify Islam into one , but with tolerance and persuasion, and economic assistance. A strong khilafah will be a powerful magnet for Iranians to unify with it. This is the same method for all other muslim lands. |
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Abul Khaliq
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The people are not "waking up" they are revolting against what they see as islam. You can guarantee that the day the iranians overthrow the mullahs - they will NOT be establishing a khilafah (lol) they'll be drinking, partying, committing zina, and implementing rampant, western style secularism. They will rip off their hijabs and tehran will be indestinguishable from paris or any other western capital in terms of dress, morals and behaviour. It will become a CIA base and they will establish full relations with isreal. While i would love nothing more than the khilafah to return, to think that the current events are somehow removing obstacles from the path of establishing the khilafah is naive in the extreme. wslm |
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Abul Khaliq
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Asalamalaikum I agree that shiaism is indeed a central problem - it is steeped in fantastic superstitious beliefs such as the 12th imam living in a cave in the middle of the earth, waiting to come out!! Their imams are basically one major business - conveniently you have to pay 1/5th of your wealth to them!!! anyone with even a moderate amount of common sense can see this is a fraud. Iranians, being shite, believe this to be islam, hence they rebel considering it to be superstious garbage - which it is, except that it is not actually islam, but weirdo shiite views. It is hardly a coincidence that while the rest of the ummah years a return to islam, the only real shiite state - Iran - is fleeing from islam as fast as it can. Alcohol, zina, drugs is utterly rampant in Iran - the article even acknowledges this. Iran is utterly replete with murtadeen, when they hit the west they openly disabandon islam. the article sidesteps the issue of shiaism in an attempt, i feel, to be politically correct. Like it or not - Iran faces a real prospect of overthrowing the current regime and returning to the secular days of the shah. Millions of Iranians will celebrate on the streets that day, alcohol will flow and parties and clubs will flourish. It is become a major western outpost in the heart of the muslim world - and shiaism has a huge part to do with it. wslm |
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abusayf
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Why don't you address the problem head on? The problem is shiaism, If someone curses the sahabah, abu bakr, umar and aishah. How will he bring Islamic rule? If someone believesthe quran we have today is changed and Imam Mahdi will come with real Quran. He is a KAFIR and cannot bring revival. The problems of Iran are caused by Shiah clerics oppresing and abusing the average Iranian. Mut'ah (temprory marriage) is legal legitimising zina and prostitution and Khomeini allowed sex change operations which are paid for by the government. May Allah guide Iranian people back to Ahl us sunnah as they were before Safawids forced Shiaism onto them. |
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Malik
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Assalaamau Alaykum Sister, May Allah (swt) reward you for taking the effort to write this. InshAllah, it will be useful for those that discuss the reality of Iran as part of the effort to re-establish the Khilafah. |
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Zeital
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It seems that there are issues of class and people from different economic strata that also form an underlying cause in different support bases for both candidates, (Mir-Hossein Mousavi and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad). Iran has the same issue as Britain, Europe, America, China, and Russia, namely how does a ruling class control the emotions and antagonisms of the masses? This clip from Adam Curtis about the ‘Rise of the Television Journalist’ makes an apt observation. Furthermore the historical analyses in CAPITAL are as relevant to understanding economic problems and societal upheaval as it was during the period of 19th Century. http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7889586355561291332 http://davidharvey.org/ Regardless of culture, background, or class, or even current geopolitics and struggle for global dominance, the ruling oligarchy has that underlying fear of how to control and placate their civilian populations. Another issue is while Iranians struggle for their own individual freedoms, how much awareness is there of motives from external belligerent states (that have interests in undermining regimes) regardless of the politicians who lead? Iran remains a strategic hub, and what draws N.A.T.O, and the rival S.C.O is much more than the domestic upheaval in Iran. ARTICLE: Obama's Doublespeak on Iran by Ismael Hossein-Zadeh http://www.counterpunch.org/zadeh06102009.html ARTICLE: History suggests the Coup will fail by Patrick Cockburn http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/history-suggests-the-coup-will-fail-1708996.html ARTICLE: From Mossadegh to Ahmadinejad: The CIA and the Iranian experiment by Thierry Meyssan http://www.voltairenet.org/article160670.html ARTICLE: Stolen Election in Iran? An Inside View of Vote Fraud by Maarten Doude van Troostwijk http://www.lewrockwell.com/orig10/van-troostwijk1.html INTERVIEW: Professor Noam Chomsky http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=676452061991429040&ei=xU8FSde-Jpn-qAPJ9Oj3Dw&q=chomsky+st.+pauls&hl=en Education is a system of imposed ignorance”. Noam Chomsky |
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waqas
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By grace of Allah one by one all obstacles lying in the path of the Khilafah are falling down. Many Shia's were fooled by the clerics in Pakistan into thinking its an Islamic state. We were always given the impression that shias will never accept anyone besides a shia, and will never accept anything besides shiism. But i guess all these events should be an eye opener for all shias. The myth of an invincible and perfect khameini is breaking in the heart of Iran. And its none other than Shias who are standing up against him. Secondly many shia clerics are speaking out against what exists there, a clear indication for pakistani shias that shias in Iran look more deeply rather than sectarianly. And thirdly the myth that iran is an islamic stste is now dying out, espeecially when major clerics and supporters of the revolution are coming to the streets. Insha Allah this will be a very positive step in the realisation of what a true islamic state (khilafah) is, as now even the shias and sunnis in pakistan who had been stung by the sectarianism virus will wake up! |
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