The crisis of religious legitimacy in Iran

Middle East Journal

Volumn 53, Issue 2, 1999, Pages 200-215

  Olivier, Roy ^a  

^a CNRS   (France)

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EID: 0033096705     PISSN: 00263141     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: None     Document Type: Article

References (21)

1. Montazeri has distanced himself from the concept of the VF, which he defended in the 1980s; he now favors a "nezarat-e faqih," that is, a supervisory power limited to the protection of the Islamic validity of the laws. Hosein 'Ali Montazeri, "Nezarat-e faqih," Rahe Now, no. 18, 31.5.1377 (1997-98).
2. Chapter 1, Article 1 of the Constitution states that the form of the government, an Islamic Republic, has been endorsed by "the people of Iran," "through the affirmative vote of a majority of 98.27 percent of eligible voters," implicitly making the people's will one the sources of legitimacy. Then the absolute sovereignty of God is expressed (Article 2/1), while Article 5 states that "the just and pious faqih" should exercise the "velayat" during the occultation of the Hidden Imam, and Article 6 says that "the affairs of the country should be administered on the basis of public opinion expressed by the means of elections." Text of the Constitution provided in Persian and French by the Iranian embassy in Paris. For an English translation, see (http:// eurasianews.com/iran/const.htm). Analyzing the conceptual origin of the Iranian Constitution, Chibli Mallat speaks of a "dual emanation of sovereignty." See Chibli Mallat, The Renewal of Islamic Law (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993), p. 72.
3. Chapter 1, Article 1 of the Constitution states that the form of the government, an Islamic Republic, has been endorsed by "the people of Iran," "through the affirmative vote of a majority of 98.27 percent of eligible voters," implicitly making the people's will one the sources of legitimacy. Then the absolute sovereignty of God is expressed (Article 2/1), while Article 5 states that "the just and pious faqih" should exercise the "velayat" during the occultation of the Hidden Imam, and Article 6 says that "the affairs of the country should be administered on the basis of public opinion expressed by the means of elections." Text of the Constitution provided in Persian and French by the Iranian embassy in Paris. For an English translation, see (http:// eurasianews.com/iran/const.htm). Analyzing the conceptual origin of the Iranian Constitution, Chibli Mallat speaks of a "dual emanation of sovereignty." See Chibli Mallat, The Renewal of Islamic Law (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993), p. 72.
4. Ervand Abrahamian, Khomeynism (London: Tauris, 1993).
5. For a history of the formation of the modern Shi'i clergy, see Said Amir Arjomand, The Turban for the Crown (Oxford: Oxford University press, 1988), chapter 1.
6. See Mallat, The Renewal of Islamic Law, p. 44.
7. Abrahamian, Khomeynism, p. 35.
8. Letter to the President of the Assembly of Experts in March 1989, in Mohammed Yazdi, Qanun-e Assasi Baraye Home (The Constitution for Everyone) (Tehran: Amir Kabir Publishing House, 1375/1996) (text provided to the author by Nushin Yavari d'Hellencourt).
9. For a study on the discrepancies between the avowed goal of "shariatization" and the real practices of the government, see Ziba Mir Hosseyn, Marriage on Trial, a Study of Islamic Family Law (London: Tauris, 1993).
10. For quotations and discussions of this letter and of other declarations of Khomeini, see Mallat, The Renewal of Islamic Law, p. 90; and Shahrough Akhavi, "Contending Discourses on Shi'i Law on the Doctrine of Wilâyat al Faqih," Iranian Studies 29, nos. 3-4 (Summer-Fall 1996), pp. 262-65.
11. For quotations and discussions of this letter and of other declarations of Khomeini, see Mallat, The Renewal of Islamic Law, p. 90; and Shahrough Akhavi, "Contending Discourses on Shi'i Law on the Doctrine of Wilâyat al Faqih," Iranian Studies 29, nos. 3-4 (Summer-Fall 1996), pp. 262-65.
12. These include Mir-Hosein Musavi, Mohsen Nurbakhsh, Hasan Habibi, 'Ali Velayati, Mostafa Mirsalim, 'Ali Larijani, Muhammad Hashemi, Hassan Firuzabadi, Gholamreza Aghazade, and others.
13. These include Ahmad Jannati, Muhammad Reza Mahdavi-Kani, Muhammad Kho'einiha, and others.
14. Jean Pierre Digard, Bernard Hourcade, Yann Richard, l'Iran au XXième siècle (Paris: Fayard, 1996), p. 208.
15. Chapter 1, Article 2-5 stresses the role of "imama" while Article 2-6 explicitly refers to "the Sunna of the Ma'sum," that is, the Shi'i Imams; and Article 12 states that "the official religion is Islam and the school is the twelve Imam Ja'fari."
16. Some clerical institutions have financial autonomy, like the religious holding Astan-e Qods in Mashhad, which manages the immense waqf (religious endowment) linked to the Shrine of Imam Reza. But, even if Astan-e Quds subsidizes many educational institutions, it is not in the classical framework of the howze (religious teaching center) under a marjas supervision. Its manager, Ayatollah Vaez Tabassi, is one of the more influential notables behind the scenes, but he is not considered as a grand ayatollah and marja'.
17. Hosein Borujerdi, who died in 1961, was probably the first of the maraji' to be recognized as the only leading religious authority of his time.
18. Grand Ayatollah Muhammad Sadiq al-Sadr and two of his sons were killed in Najaf on 19 February 1999.
19. See Olivier Roy, The Failure of Political Islam (Cambridge: Harvard University Press. 1995).
20. Iranian Television, 26 July 1996, quoted by BBC on 30 July 1996.
21. 'Abdolkarim Sorush is the pen name of Farajollah Dabbagh, a scientist who studied epistemology and wrote extensively about philosophy and religion. He played a leading role in the "Islamization" of the university from 1981 to 1983; but he became increasingly concerned by the politicization of Islam. He has written many articles in the journal Kyan, advocating a separation between Islam and politics, urging a "religious civil society." He is now considered the leading figure among the liberal thinkers in Iran.