State and religion in contemporary Iran modernity, tradition, and political Islam (1979-2005) Rad, D. Citation Rad, D. (2010, June 24). State and religion in contemporary Iran modernity, tradition, and political Islam (1979-2005). Retrieved from https://hdl.handle.net/1887/15789 Version: Not Applicable (or Unknown) Licence agreement concerning inclusion of doctoral thesis in the License: Institutional Repository of the University of Leiden Downloaded from: https://hdl.handle.net/1887/15789 Note: To cite this publication please use the final published version (if applicable). State and Religion in Contemporary Iran Modernity, Tradition, and Political Islam (1979-2005) Proefschrift ter verkrijging van de graad van Doctor aan de Universiteit Leiden, op gezag van Rector Magnificus Prof. Mr. P.F. van der Heijden, volgens besluit van het College voor Promoties te verdedigen op 24 Juni 2010 klokke 10 uur door Darius Rad geboren te Tehran-Iran in 1963 1 Promoters: Prof. dr. Peter Mair Prof. dr. Mohamed Salih Examiner Commission: Prof. dr. Toraj Atabaki Prof. dr. Bas De Gaay Forman Prof. dr. Frank de Zwart Prof. dr. Mehdi Parvizi Amineh. 2 State and Religion in Contemporary Iran Modernity, Tradition and Political Islam, 1979-2005 Contents: Pages Acronyms & Abbreviations Introduction 6 Hypothesis: Modernisation Process in Contemporary Iran 10 Hermeneutics Approach and Narrative Style of Writing 12 CHAPTER ONE: Modernity, Tradition, and Political Islam 18 1. The IRI’s Elite Approaches: Hermeneutics and Traditions 20 Three Fundamental Instruments of Domination of the IRI’s Elite Culture 31 1.1.1. Unitarianism 32 1.1.2. Essentialism 37 1.1.3. Dualism 41 1.2. Some Instruments of Domination of the IRI’s Political Culture 43 1.2.1 Ideology 43 1.2.2 Organisation 47 1.2.3 Civic Virtue: Social Responsibilities 52 Conclusion 56 CHAPTER TWO: The IRI Ideologies and Modernity in Contemporary Iran 1. The Ideologies behind Political Reform 59 1.1. Why Political Reform Started 60 1.1.1. Pan-Islamist Elite Dissatisfaction 61 1.1.2. Ayatollah Khomeini’s Death 66 1.1.3. Islamic Economy Policy 71 1.1.4. Technological Challenge 72 2. Power Struggle and Political Modernity 74 3. Conceiving Political Modernity 86 3.1. The Ideological Guidelines for Political Reform 87 3.2. Definition of Politics and Political Modernity 95 3.3. Dilemma of Modernity and Critical Thought 103 4. The Political Reform and Other Political Changes 109 4.1. The Thought-Practice of Islamic Politics and Political Modernity 110 4.2. The Islamic Republicanism and Political Modernity 113 4.3. The Islamic Institution-Building and Political Modernity 116 4.4. The Islamic Leadership Reform and Political Modernity 118 4.5. The Arena of the IRI’s Reform on Politics 120 Conclusion 121 CHAPTER THREE: The IRI Organisations and Modernity in Contemporary Iran 124 1. The IRI’s Politics and the Informal Grouping in the IRI 126 3 2. Formal Organisations and Political Reform 129 2.1. The First Category of Groups behind Political Reform 130 2.2. The Second Khordad Front Associations 132 2.3. The Association of Combatant Clergy 136 3. The SKF’s Struggles with Guardian Council 141 4. The CIR and the SKF IIPF 146 5. The Civil Society Associations and Political Reform 155 1. Political Reform and the Universities 161 6.1. The Second Category of Groups behind Political Reform 161 6.2. Political Reform and the Universities Associations 165 6.2.1. An Overview of the Events 165 6.3. The OSU’s Political Discourse and Students Debates 174 7. Concluding Remarks and Conclusion 176 CHAPTER FOUR: Political Discourse on Modernity and its Development in Contemporary Iran 1. Searching for a Consensus on Political Modernity 184 2. Pan-Islamist Intellectuals Critiques of the Modernity 194 3. Secular Theories and Political Modernity 200 Conclusion 210 CHAPTER FIVE: The Supreme Nature of Power in Contemporary Iran 214 1. A Republican-Islamic Mixed Nature of Supreme Power 216 2. Republic of Dualism: Debating Power and Supreme Power 221 3. The Extensions of Power in the Political System 233 Conclusion 246 CHAPTER SIX: Political System and Ideological Changes in Contemporary Iran 248 1. Alternative Theories and Political Models 251 2. Changes in Theories for an Alternative Politics 255 2.1. Abdul-Karim Soroush’s Alternative Theory: A Religiously Democratic Government 256 2.2. Mohammad Mojtahed Shabestari’s Alternative Hermeneutic Theory: A Humane Reading of Religion 261 2.3. Babak Ahmadi’s Alternative Theory: Modernity and Critical Thought 267 3. Testing Alternative Theories 272 4. Alternative Theories on Republican Nature of Supreme Power 272 4.1. Mohsen Kadivar’s Alternative Theory: Republican Nature of Supreme Power 273 Conclusion 281 Summary 282 Postscript 298 Bibliography 304 4 Acronyms & Abbreviations ACC: Association of Combatant Clergy AE: Assembly of Experts CIR: Crusaders of Islamic Revolution CIR: Council of Islamic Revolution CS: Civil Society GC: Guardian Council IA: Islamic Association IAS: Islamic Association of Students IIPF: Islamic Iran Participation Front IMF: International Monetary Fund IRI: Islamic Republic of Iran NGO: Non Governmental Organisations OSU: Office of Strengthening Unity REC: Regime’s Expediency Council SAP: Structural Adjustment Policy SC: Servants of Constructions SKF: Second Khordad Front SQST: Society of Qum Seminary Teachers UIA: University Islamic Association WTO: World Trade Organisation 5 Introduction The title of this study raises questions about the meaning and the significance of the words 'modernity', 'tradition' and 'Political Islam' in contemporary Iran. The purpose of this study is to reveal true meanings of the thoughts and practises of the post-revolution Iranian elites and intellectuals, in relations to and alongside the social events, to emphasize the existence of a modernisation process in the institution of state and the moderate re-interpretation of Islam in the religious establishment, which together have given rise to the distinctly Iranian features of political development. This study shall be in a socio-historical setting because political changes and social events in contemporary Iran are difficult to identify and impossible to understand unless their roots are discovered in their true locations. The word ‘modernity’ in this study refers to the emerging post-revolution Iranian society, the socio-political institutions developing from a more traditional form and the rising pre-eminence in the political system - a particular type that is developing through the rational-legal authority through which the state institution follows its hierarchal principle; some democratic and plural ideologies have evolved through the post-revolution Republican model.1 The word ‘tradition’ refers to those areas in which a jurisdictional system is not clearly specified and duties are delegated by absolutist jurisprudence and which can change at any time - diffuse in political authority where no explicit rules exist. The word ‘contemporary’ limits the scope of the study to the recent decades (from the 1979 Islamic revolution to the 2005 Iranian presidential election), with a greater emphasis on more recent years. The blanket term ‘Pan-Islamist’ is intended to cover all the various Islamic political groups and tendencies which have been using Political Islam as their worldview and which hold Ayatollah Khomeini as a symbol of their claim to power. However, it consists of many different, sometimes conflicting, political groups and tendencies, as well as individual elites competing for power. The word ‘Republicanism’ (although Islamic) refers to the ideology that governs the Iranian nation as a political system (republic), with an emphasis on liberty (as defined in the Iranian Constitution), rule of law (which cannot be arbitrarily ignored by the government), popular sovereignty, and the civic virtue (social responsibility) practiced by citizens. The world ‘narrative’ in this study refers to a performative style of writing. ‘Hermeneutic’ refers to the method, spirit and approach of the study, 1 - Modernity, according to Giddens, at its simplest is a shorthand term for modern society or industrial civilization. Portrayed in more detail, it is associated with (1) a certain set of attitudes towards the world, the idea of the world as an open transformation by human intervention; (2)a complex of economic institutions, especially industrial production and a market economy; (3) a certain range of political institutions , including the nation-state and mass democracy. Largely as a result of these characteristics, modernity is vastly more dynamic than any previous type of social order. It is a society - more technically, a complex of institutions - which unlike any preceding cultures lives in the future rather than the past. See Anthony Gidden ‘Conversations with Anthony Giddens: Making Sense of Modernity 1998, p.94. 6 as well as the knowledge of interpretation in order to disclose the system of meaning of the text and the communication. The concept of ‘Text’ in this study is extended beyond written documents to any number of objects subjected to interpretation, such as the literal event of speech and experiences. The term Pan-Islamist ‘liberal’ refers to individual or group of Muslims who support social liberalism (a political ideology that seeks to maximise individual liberties). The term Pan-Islamist ‘conservative’ refers to individual or groups of Muslims with political philosophies that favour tradition, where ‘tradition’ refers to religious, cultural or nationally defined beliefs and customs having an established values system and goals. Some sociologists may note that some of the more rarefied sociological concepts are absent from the discussion in this research. Others may not be impressed because it does not demonstrate a sophisticated knowledge of Western philosophy. Still others may be disappointed with the absence of elementary Islamic theology. However, discussion of any of these absences would not have been helpful in clarifying the subjects in hand, or, they have already been extenisively covered in other books and articles, the scientific value of those results may now be assessed against the present knowledge of the academic institutions concerning Iranian politics.