In this section, the reasons which are related to the social actors of the Islamic Revolution in Imam Khomeini’s thoughts are discussed. In this regard, we will begin with the leaders as the influential actors and then we will study the role of the masses.
Imam Khomeini’s Leadership
Imam Khomeini chose the overthrowing of the monarchy and the formation of an Islamic state as ideals of his movement. The latter was not seen as an aim in previous uprisings. Of course, ignoring the principle of the political system in the past does not mean that it has been accepted or legitimized by the clergy; rather, they believed that it is less likely or almost impossible to accomplish such a goal.
One of the main characteristics of Imam Khomeini was his “firm faith” and “unshakable belief,” whose morals and decisions had a direct and undeniable influence on the process of the Islamic revolution and its victory.
Ayatollah Motahhari described the leadership of Imam Khomeini in the Islamic Revolution as being “prophetic” considering it following the path of the leadership of divine prophets. Imam Khomeini was able to awaken the divine instinct of people and move the masses along this path. Therefore, although the prominent personality traits of Imam Khomeini somehow played a role in the acceptance of him by people as a leader, they did not have a central role in this regard.
In his analysis of the causes of the social acceptance of Imam Khomeini among people, Ayatollah Motahhari emphasizes the cultural and historical structure, saying: “The reason that Imam Khomeini became the uncontested leader of this movement is that in addition to the fact that he had all the characteristics necessary for leadership (such as truthfulness, open-mindedness, courage, decisiveness, etc.), he addressed the intellectual and spiritual orientations as well as the needs of the Iranian people which were ignored by others.”
Imam Khomeini, as a religious authority and revolutionary leader, has proved that Islam can provide anti-regime individuals or groups with intellectual support. On the one hand, he managed to mobilize the masses and organize the political struggle and on the other hand, he took a pivotal role in the formation of and spreading the revolutionary ideology which was based on Islamic political thought. Also, by corresponding the revolutionary struggles to the Shi’ah doctrines he became the founder of the new system which mobilized the masses against the Pahlavi monarchy. Furthermore, through reviving the religious values he managed to prompt people to move towards their true self.
Imam Khomeini: The Ideologue of the Islamic Revolution
The ideology of the Islamic Revolution is, in essence, an endogenous ideology and has a cultural origin that is very pervasive and encompasses most of the people of Iran. In general, the factors that contributed to the general acceptance and dissemination of the ideology of the Islamic Revolution were as follows:
- Being indigenous and endogenous and its relation to the Islamic-historical culture of people;
- Efforts made by the Islamic groups to remove the doubts from the minds of people and introducing the revolutionary concept of the Islamic ideas;
- Imam Khomeini’s personality, thoughts, strategies and 4-the trusts which the masses and elites had placed in Imam Khomeini and the clergy and their views.
Specific features of Imam Khomeini’s ideology are:
- Adopting a fundamental attitude and denying the existing order: Imam Khomeini directly addressed the complete rejection of the monarchy;
- Relying on religion: The second feature of Imam Khomeini’s ideology is the emphasis on religion. This emphasis is on two aspects: first in terms of content; and second in terms of symbols and language;
- Simplicity: Simplifying and explaining the vague and complex facts
- Ambiguity: He did not clearly and completely describe the ultimate objective of the movement;
- Downgrading the obstacles of mobilization: Highlighting the possibility of solving problems and overcoming the obstacles have been among the methods Imam Khomeini used to motivate people.
- Having faith in gaining victory and interpreting the worst events positively: Creating the mentality of gaining victory and showing that achieving the goal is possible are other requirements of the movement.
Imam Khomeini and the Mobilization of the Mass of People
At the time of the revolution, through mass mobilization, Imam Khomeini was able to make various groups of people (including the masses and the elite) involved in countries’ affairs. Among the contemporary revolutions, the Islamic Revolution is unique in terms of the number of elites and masses involved in it. Except for those who had been affiliated with the former regime, which opposed the revolution, almost all people and individuals became involved in the revolution and accepted Imam Khomeini’s commands. The trust people had placed in Imam Khomeini, his methods of leadership, the mosques and takiyahs becoming the centres of demonstration as well as the role that the clerical groups played throughout the country who relied on the role of Imam Khomeini in leading the revolution, created a powerful and widespread movement to which the Shah’s regime and its foreign supporters could not show a preventive response.
Popular Recruitment and Organization
Imam Khomeini has always tried to create complete cohesion and coordination among the revolutionary forces. He has always referred to the role of the clergy as a group seeking popular recruitment and organization.
He emphasized the importance of establishing a coherent and orderly organization and presented the practical strategies in this regard. Imam Khomeini, based on the Islamic doctrine, formed the primary core of the uprising. He trained forces who were active in accomplishing his ideals, which were the very implementation of pure Islam. Also, Imam Khomeini, the leader of the Islamic Revolution carefully made efforts in choosing the methods of the struggle. Given the circumstances, he chose strategies and tactics at every stage of the revolution without which the occurrence and victory of the Islamic Revolution would have been impossible. Those strategies include training the revolutionary forces in the years before the revolution and the strategy of the negative struggle, namely taking the opportunities of the gatherings and strikes at a national level as well as the strategy of not getting into a fight with the armed forces during the revolution.
The Shi’ah clergy, who followed Imam Khomeini’s Islamic movement, are taking an intermediary role between the leader of the revolution and the masses. In the course of the Islamic Movement of the Iranian people, the “mobilizing leader” and, after him, the “clergy,” gradually conveyed their perception of the structural contradiction and incompatibility between the secular social order and the Islamic one to the people through different means (issuing statements, demonstrations, sit-ins, making speeches in mosques and takiyahs on Islamic occasions, distributing religious journals, etc.).
The leader as the architect and manager of the revolution has the responsibility of managing and institutionalizing the revolution as well as controlling the revolutionary situation. In the Islamic Revolution, Imam Khomeini instituted the ideals and policies of the revolution and implemented republicanism and Islam in accordance with the will of the people in all elements of society, and through confronting the oppositions and threats, he prepared the grounds for the establishment and continuation of the Islamic governance.
The Role of the Mass of People as Social Actors of the Islamic Revolution
Imam Khomeini considers the ordinary people who are not organized and often constitute the deprived class of the society, as the oppressed and deprived class that played a prominent role in the victory of the Islamic Revolution. For Imam Khomeini, the revolution did not depend on any particular class. However, he believed that among the “masses” the oppressed, poor, slum dwellers, the marginalized and deprived, the third class which he called the “supreme class” have taken the main responsibility during the revolution as historically the believers have always been following the path of scholars, clerics, and prophets. Therefore, in the view of Imam Khomeini, the upper classes did not play a role in the victory of the revolution, and the origin of the revolution was mostly the disadvantaged, slum dwellers and deprived people who, while relying on divine help, contributed to the movement and played a prominent role in the victory of the Islamic Revolution.
By informing the Iranian people and focusing on two elements of the divine duty and enjoining good and forbidding evil Imam Khomeini became a pioneer in making people aware of the necessity of struggle against the enemies as well as the ways of divine and religious guidance. In addition, through his words, he spread his message and the idea of his uprising among people. The main reason for the people’s inclination towards Imam Khomeini was the “Islamic-Shi’ah culture and thought.”
It can be said that people saw their ideals and goals being reflected in Imam Khomeini’s thinking and action that a type of unity was formed between Imam Khomeini and ummah. Hence, Imam Khomeini through a typical and people-centred process was placed in the leadership position of the Iranian people’s movement and revolution. Also, he was the religious authority, which in Shi’ah culture is considered as the highest religious position after the Imamate of the infallible Imams. Thus the effect of the speech and movement of a marja’ among the masses was very profound. Among the factors that had widespread social influence and the overwhelming power of popular mobilization are:
- Holiness and religious sanctity of some people, because of being placed as the representative of Imam al-Mahdi who is in occultation;
- Being the intellectual authority and a role model for people with respect to the religious decrees and doctrines;
- Enjoying ethical virtues including having a simple lifestyle, piety, virtuousness, and sincerity;
- Being independent of political sovereignty;
- Establishing and continuing close ties with people;
- Enjoying a network of human resources across the country;
- The existence of the structures in Islamic-Shi’ah culture which are used for establishing relationships and creating integrity such as mosques, husayniyyahs, as well as religious ceremonies.
Characteristics of the Mass of People
Belief in God
Imam Khomeini insisted on believing in God and relying on divine power as the spiritual power of the movement and believed that “the power of the Iranian nation comes from their reliance on God.”
“Imam Khomeini believed that the uprising of the Iranian nation was for God and enjoyed divine help and the maintenance of divine blessings is the source of all victories. Therefore, in the view of Imam Khomeini, the cause roots of the success of the movement were relying on the power of God, moving from the soul to the truth and from the material world to the unseen world, overcoming the temptations and egos and taking the divine path. Also, he believed that “the sword does not bring victory, rather it would be obtained by blood and the power of faith.”
Sacrifice and Martyrdom
Self-sacrifice and perseverance were at the forefront of the values addressed by Imam Khomeini. The Ashura uprising has played a key role in creating the spirit of martyrdom-seeking among people. Historically, the symbol of martyrdom can be found in the life and martyrdom of Imam al-Husayn (a), the third Shi’ah Imam. After the martyrdom of the students of Feyziyeh Seminary in Qom as well as the Taleb Seminary in Tabriz, Imam Khomeini stated that “we must continue our path because we believe it would result in either victory or martyrdom, and explicitly declares that by the Grace of God we will fulfil our divine duty and reach either of the two results both of which are good and valued.”
Imam Khomeini saw martyrdom as the manifestation of faith in the unseen and a divine gift that is rooted in the belief in monotheism. Considering such belief, the person who is seeking martyrdom is pleased by the satisfaction of God and accepts His will and its influence on men’s destiny. Imam Khomeini regarded martyrdom as the manifestation of forbearance which is among the transcendent levels of faith and believed in the spiritual victory and ultimately the victory of blood over sword.
Forbearance and Endurance
The resistance and patience of Imam Khomeini was an exemplification of the verse “Those who say, ‘Our Lord is God,’ and, further, stand straight and steadfast” and he never gave up in the face of hardships and stated that: “If they break up our bones, execute us, burn us alive, and if they take our women and children as captives and insult them before our eyes, we will never make a compromise with the unbelief and polytheism.” Although it seemed that the Iranian nation, which sacrificed about fifteen thousand martyrs, was suppressed yet this action of the Pahlavi criminal regime to which a fifty-year stigma had been attached, carried a stigma forever.”
Unity of the Ummah
Imam Khomeini talks about the unity of people: “Our nation’s great uprising is against the Shah and the monarchical system, therefore, it seeks to overthrow this regime and create integrity among all segments of the society.”
Imam Khomeini regarded the unity and integrity of people and their attention to the defeat of the despotism and being united while holding firmly to the rope of God as the causes of the continued and coherent involvement of people in political affairs believing that mobilizing the masses, the unity and integrity of people and their activism during the revolution as well as fighting with determination are all the major factors which play a role in the victory of the movement. In this regard, he was of the opinion that the unity of people and the army forces including the Gendarmerie and Shahrbani is an example of integration and a guarantee for the movement’s victory.
The Methods to Mobilize the Mass of People
Holding the Congregations in Mosques
For many years, mosques have played an important role in the fight against the tyrannical systems as well as the influence of foreigners. In fact, they have been a place for gathering, exchanging ideas and information and social activities. In the view of Imam Khomeini, gatherings in the mosques and husayniyyahs are serving as the social education and propaganda that raises awareness among people. He believes that propaganda and education are two important and essential activities and somehow the responsibility of people. Raising the importance of religious rituals and expressing that the clergy should expose the evil plans of tyranny and address the status quo of society and its problems through their speeches, he always sought to eliminate tyranny and cruelty believing that gatherings of people contribute to the awareness and mobilization of the masses.
Demonstrations
Imam Khomeini believed in holding demonstrations as a solution to the existing problems, and that the peaceful demonstrations would pave the way for the overthrow of the regime. In fact, Imam Khomeini considered the demonstrations as a referendum against the Shah. In his view, the demonstration was considered as a means of achieving the real aims of the movement, the regime’s overthrow and the establishment of the Islamic state.
“The revolution of Iran is an Islamic movement that continues and will continue when the Shah leaves the country. Basically, people hate the royal constitutional government. It is impossible that the Shah gives freedom to the oppressed people of Iran. The demonstrations and strikes which carried out all over Iran are a referendum against the Shah, aren’t they?”
Strikes
Imam Khomeini proposes going on a strike against the treasons and vulgar and deceitful fabrication of the Shah’s regime and its agents in gatherings. “All the Iranians are angry; there is a strike all over Iran. If they end the state of siege, people will immediately overthrow the regime and defeat it, because it has oppressed them.”
For Imam Khomeini, demonstrations, strikes, and other forms of social protest do not only serve as propaganda, but also they would infiltrate the tyrannical government, and if all people oppose the activities of the government, they could stop it.
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