Iran, Islam, Revolution & Shi'ism: A Travelogue

By Mushtaq Ul Haq Ahmad Sikander, New Age Islam 13 July 2023 Iran Mein Kuch Din (Few Days in Iran) Author: Mohammad Alamullah Publisher: Pharos Media and Publishing Pvt Ltd, New Delhi, India Year of Publication: 2018 Pages: 128, Price: Rs 120 ----- Iran is an important nation in the comity of Muslim nations. Before the Iranian revolution of 1979, the conditions were quite different in Iran. Now things have changed and being a revolution that was hijacked by Islamists headed by Ayatollah Khomeini, Iran is chalking out a path towards progress. Religion has played a very important role in mitigating the crisis, consolidating the power as well as stopping any attempts at counter revolution. Iran has appeared as a great nation among the Muslim nations, and it did try to stake a claim in leading the Muslim world. Iran since the revolution, has been in competition with Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia is one of the staunchest allies of USA, and enemy of Iran as it terms USA as the Biggest Satan of all. The proximity and enmity towards USA became the defining and decisive element in the relationship between Iran and Saudi Arabia. Both these nations wanted Muslims to follow their model, with Iranian revolution inspiring Muslims and threatening the Saudi monarchical regime. However, what curtailed the reach of Iranian revolution was its Shia creed, that it tried to import like Wahhabism by Saudis. Both these creeds are minority in the Muslim world, so they could never become mainstream, decisive, prominent or powerful. This tussle however, got a sectarian colour as political ambitions of domination exploited religion to achieve hegemony in the Muslim world. The sectarian divide became more prominent during the Arab Spring as both Saudis and Iranians wanted the new dispensation in the Arab world to favor them. The worst manifestation of this sectarian strife and internecine wars was witnessed in Yemen and Syria. This book is a travelogue of a journalist Mohammad Alamullah in Iran, for whom travelling is a passion. This journey for Alamullah is more academic and journalist than adventurous, as we get to know. He discusses the political and foreign policy of Iran, that has led it to be mired in a plethora of problems. Before travelling he was advised by many not to undertake the journey to Iran, given its bloody role in Syria, but he did not pay heed to them. He does not believe in boycotting any nation because of its criminal role. Such a similar stance should be adopted by Muslims towards Israel too, because visiting it will certainly help Muslims broaden their vision, and observe closely the workings of State of Israel. Earlier, Muslims had opted for boycott of Israel, not only at individual level but even at the diplomatic levels. But now, every Muslim nation has been coerced to accept Israel, have economic and diplomatic relations with it. The Twelver Shias (Ithana Asharias) believe in the hidden Imam (Imam e Ghaib) whom they call as Imam Mehdi, the last of the twelve Imams who will reveal himself in the end times. In the city of Qum, the Shia scholars await his return. What is different among the Ulema is that spirituality and materialism seem to be balanced and now Westophobia too is becoming rare in Iran as they seem to have opted for a path of moderation. On one hand if there is moderation, on the other we find that sectarianism has not been decimated, because immediately after the revolution, the Iran-Iraq war resulted in the reinforcement of Shia-Sunni sectarian divide. Similarly, now Iran believes that it is the real vanguard of Islam, while Saudi Arabia contests any such claim. Further, the Arab Spring has fueled the sectarian divide, even as it has retrograded to Arab Winter, but the bitter poisonous sectarianism has not died. This sectarianism does not let the Muslims unite even in the face of external aggression. Iran after the revolution had to consolidate itself and forge a unity among the people. The best way was to trumpet the external aggression and threat by USA and Israel. It was a factual reality too, that USA and Israel in cahoots with Saudi monarchy wanted to dismantle the revolution. They failed in their attempts, and Iran used the slogans of Death to America and Israel quite judiciously to engage people. However, the things on ground are changing, although Iran still politically maintains an anti-USA stance, but culturally it follows it. Hence, there are contradictions in the policies of the regime and what is being followed on ground by the masses. A similar contrast is witnessed in theorizing and pragmatic following of the Islamic values. The western movies, culture and media has executed an onslaught in Iran through the use of soft power. Even Indian movies are dubbed into Persian and masses cherish and relish them. The life style, food habits are discussed too. The vegetables are mostly prepared in water, with very less use of oil, salt and other spices, in contrast to India. Sunnis, in Iran although a minority are persecuted and rendered invisible, with the authorities and management not allowing them to meet any Iranian Sunni. Thus, during his whole trip he could not come across a single Sunni. Some Iranians believe that Prophetic medicine is a cure to all ailments as deadly diseases like AIDS and Cancer, had been discovered during Prophet Muhammad (pbuh)’s times. But reality certainly is different, as these diseases like traffic and aviation were not prevalent or invented yet (P-91). Such beliefs are not confined to Iranians only but most Muslims have such superstitious beliefs. The travelogue is a nice read, and offers few insights about Qum and Tehran. As the trip was a short one, so the travelogue does not offer an exhaustive understanding into the complexity of Iran. It takes decades, to understand people and a country, travelogues certainly can offer few glimpses about different facets of life in Iran, but no permanent opinions about Iran, Shi’ism or the country should be formed after reading this small travelogue. ----- M.H.A. Sikander is Writer-Activist based in Srinagar, Kashmir URL: https://newageislam.com/books-documents/iran-revolution-shiism-travelogue/d/130201 New Age Islam, Islam Online, Islamic Website, African Muslim News, Arab World News, South Asia News, Indian Muslim News, World Muslim News, Women in Islam, Islamic Feminism, Arab Women, Women In Arab, Islamophobia in America, Muslim Women in West, Islam Women and Feminism