The Impacts of Iran’s Islamic Revolution Upon the Islamic Awakening Movements in North Africa (2010-2012): A Case Study of Tunisia, Egypt and Libya

The Thought of the Islamic Revolution
The Impacts of Iran’s Islamic Revolution Upon the Islamic Awakening Movements in North Africa (2010-2012): A Case Study of Tunisia, Egypt and Libya

Based on the Islamic concept, religion cannot be separated from politics. This is because religion does not only involve preaching and teaching matters related to the individual, ethics and belief. Rather, apart from these, it also comprises social, political and military rules and so on. According to Islam, the government does not arise from a class and authoritarian or group position but is rather formed from the crystallization of the political ideals of a nation that is both religious and intellectual, which organizes itself in the process of intellectual and ideological transformation to find its way to the ultimate goal of moving towards God. (Eshraqi, 2005: 93)

God, the Most High, also says in the Noble Quran:

هُوَ الَّذِی أَرْسَلَ رَسُولَهُ بِالْهُدَىٰ وَدِینِ الْحَقِّ لِیُظْهِرَهُ عَلَى الدِّینِ کُلِّهِ وَلَوْ کَرِهَ الْمُشْرِکُونَ

It is He who has sent His Messenger with guidance and the religion of truth to manifest it over all religion, although they who associate others with God dislike it. (The Noble Quran – 9:33) (Eshraqi, 2005: 93)

Among the features of the noble religion of Islam is its lack of limitation in respect to time, location and the audiences. Islam is meant for everybody in all places and at all times. This is contrary to the other heavenly religions which were dedicated to a special time and place and the prophets were commissioned to preach among their own people. Moreover, their practical laws were also appropriate for their time. With the advent of the last heavenly religion, addressing, ‘Oh people!’ it talks to each and everybody in every part of the world. Likewise, its time is not limited and it shall remain forever and the practical rules and regulations were set for everyone. (Imam Khomeini (ra), s.d: 307)

There are several traditions and verses from the Noble Quran which depict the comprehensiveness of the religion of Islam. They also explain that this religion has a plan for all the scopes of life and does not only involve the moral and individual aspects of a person. Owing to this fact, we ought to mention that Islam aims to guide mankind in all the aspects of his life and it also considers the transcendent development (cultural, moral and spiritual aspect) of man. Nevertheless, from the fact that Islam is a complete religion and has a plan and solution for human growth and transcendent development, however, the contemporary leaders, imperialists and dictators in the Muslim countries within the Middle East and North Africa, have prevented the implementation and materialization of these instructions. This is due to their dependence on Western countries or for preserving their social class interests. By means of torture and pressure upon the people and at times, the colonial influence, true Islam was deprived of its role.

Nonetheless, in parallel to this category, there was also another group comprising of Islamic intellectuals and scholars who despite being kept far away from the power, due to the religious context present in such societies, always provided an alternative to governance and the development of society and the development of these countries and specifically, in North African countries, the Muslim Brotherhood and its affiliates can be mentioned as examples.

Despite the presence of these forces and on account of the fact that the people and also the leaders of these groups had never witnessed an objective example and a real epitome of the realization of political Islam, the formation of Iran’s Islamic Revolution provided the motive, identity and the necessary power to the people of these countries and especially the youths. This led to a phenomenon known as the Islamic Awakening, which was revealed with the presence of millions of people on the scene. This was to such an extent that it must be pointed out that the presence of the Islamic groups and forces in these countries, were the backgrounds for the realization of such movements and the formation of Iran’s Islamic Revolution was what enabled the fertilization of these seeds.

The definition of the Islamic Awakening

The contemporary era has witnessed the revival of Islam in different political and social aspects under the title ‘Islamic Awakening’ in the last century. (Aghajani, 2010: 89). Awakening is contrary to sleeping and it refers to the activation of the intellect and awareness. Therefore, the Islamic Awakening means the emergence of genuine and pure Islam in man and society. Islamic Awakening refers to the revival in the light of genuine Islam. In other words, this term means the revival of Islam whereby under its shelter, justice and all the other transcendent teachings and values are revived. (Shiroudi, 2009: 11)

Contrary to the diversity of different tendencies and subdivisions, the Islamic Awakening is the herald of a single message throughout history with this aim: “We have returned in order to bring religion back to the realm of individual and social life.” This feeling and self-awareness is a combination of the two states of modesty and the intention to return to the pure and true values ​​of the past. In regards to modesty, it is due to the honour that God has promised to the believers which the Muslims are deprived of today. Furthermore, our return to Islam means that our backwardness is due to our distance from genuine Islam.

Owing to this reason, if we want to summarize the two elements of modesty and the return to Islam in one sentence, we ought to say that the meaning and message of Islamic Awakening, is that we should return to the pure Islam in order to recapture our past glory or to attain our lost dignity. In other terms, Islamic Awakening means that from the fact that we have taken a huge distance from the Islamic concepts and values in terms of beliefs, etiquettes and social acts, we ought to do whatever we can in order to compensate for our failures of the past centuries.

The aim of this return is to form a new Islamic culture by utilizing the pure Islamic values and the human experience is human civilization. In light of this, the aim of the Islamic Awakening movement is to form a universal culture that is based on the teachings of the Holy Prophet (s) whereby rationality and spirituality, power and morality, knowledge and value, knowledge and actions are achieved together. (Islamic Propagation Office, 2006: 359).

The History of the Islamic Awakening

Based on the definition given above for the Islamic Awakening, at least on the theoretical view, it is also possible to witness samples of the return to the Islamic values and the employment of these values in practical terms in the dim and distant past. On this account, by referring to the history of the formation of the Islamic Awakening, we are trying to answer this question: is the Islamic Awakening a new phenomenon or on the contrary, its roots can be traced to the past and Iran’s Islamic Revolution?

By taking a look at the factors and backgrounds of Westernism in the Muslim world, it becomes crystal clear that the factors of internal weakness and stagnation of the Islamic societies along with an all-out colonial invasion both military and cultural managed to create heterogeneous and inappropriate ideas in the Islamic societies and gradually shaped the Western approaches. In opposition to the Western approaches, there is an extensive and great movement of the Islamists, who are attached to the Islamic culture and thought and are aiming to return to the true Islam and rebuild the society according to the Islamic principles and values. (Aghajani, 2010: 90)

That being the case, we can trace back the efforts to restore the glory and grandeur of the first Muslims and return to pure Islam, from the very first day that the Islamic society faced humiliation and imperialism from the Western powers. Just like Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the current leader of Iran’s Islamic Revolution, said during the first conference of the Islamic Awakening that was held in Iran: “There is no doubt that the big social transitions always rely on the historical and civilizational support and the accumulation of knowledge and experience. In the last one hundred and fifty years, the presence of great intellectual and jihadi Islamic figures in Egypt, Iran, India and countries from Asia and Africa are the backgrounds for the current state of the Muslim world.” (Kayhan-e Farhangi, 2011: 5)

Thus, in this way, it can be witnessed that from the time that the Europeans got influenced by the Muslim world and began epitomizing it, they managed to step by step achieve tremendous developments in the seventeenth, eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. During these eras, due to two major factors, the Muslim world gradually went into slumber and remained far away from the pure thoughts of Islam. The first factor was colonization and exploitation by the Europeans in this vital geographical and intellectual region. The second one was despotism and deviation from the Muslim rulers. These two factors inflicted deadly damage to the Muslim world which reached its climax during the First World War. This is because the Ottoman Empire which in some cases, was counted as the place of refuge for the Muslims, was mainly overthrown due to those two factors. As a consequence, an astounding military and intellectual attack by the Europeans started against the Muslim world. This was in a way that the Muslims became alienated and considered Islam to be the factor causing their backwardness. As a result, the Muslims thought that perhaps by imitating the Europeans, they may compensate for their backwardness. (Velayati, 2005: 217)

In the meantime, during these eras, even though some people were trying to epitomize the Western culture, there were also people who with deep circumspection and insight regarding the situation and conditions, concluded that the reason for the backwardness and slumbering of the Muslim world is not from Islam. Rather, it is because the Muslims have distanced themselves from genuine Islam and its ideologies. These people made efforts to inform the people to go back to pure and true Islam. By paying heed to this matter, we cannot just term the latest waves of uprisings amongst the Muslims as a mere phenomenon unique to the present time. Rather, the roots of this must be traced back to the dim and distant past.

The relationship between Iran’s Islamic Revolution and the Phenomenon of the Islamic Awakening

As the most influential incident of the 20th century on the international stage, Iran’s Islamic Revolution has a global message, and in practice and objectivity, it has had international implications. An overview regarding the incidents at the international stage and specifically the Muslim world after the victory of Iran’s Islamic Revolution, whereby a significant part of that had a direct relationship with the victory of Iran’s Islamic Revolution demonstrates the fact that this revolution has been and is playing a global role.

The formation of Iran’s Islamic Revolution had its influences on the region such as transforming the factors affecting the geopolitics of the region. This was to such an extent that in addition to being a serious competitor to Western liberalism, as a geopolitical factor, the ideologies of genuine Islam and the concepts and its revolutionary teachings have attracted the attention of many Western scholars. (Fazelinia, 2009: 37). For the time being, it seems that Iran’s Islamic Revolution and specifically its nature and ideology has been the basis of self-awareness and awakening in the rest of the Islamic movements in the other Muslim countries.

In reality, what causes the fear and anxiety to the superpowers and the global imperialists on one hand, and the Islamic Awakening in the other regions, on the other hand, is a new thought, the new man and the human relations – it is the new spirituality that the Islamic Revolution has proposed, and this thinking is directly related to the Shi’ah Islam (religious element). (Shafi’ifar, 1999: 326). Until before Iran’s Islamic Revolution, the religion of Islam was only considered to be a religious ideology. Nevertheless, Iran’s Islamic Revolution activated its potential political aspects and the Shi’ah thought, with its structural cohesion in Iran, showed that it could create one of the greatest revolutions in history.

The cultural-value components of the Islamic Revolution, over a gradual process, have made a significant difference in the behavioural variables and Islamic beliefs – identities of the people of the Middle East and North Africa in the face of the prevailing political structures. Iran’s Islamic Revolution showed that religion can be considered to be an influential element in the global decision-making system, and by relying on the indigenous beliefs, the Muslim world has the necessary power and strength to shape the social and political structures.

Iran’s Islamic Revolution granted the Muslim countries this self-belief that with a thorough knowledge of Islamic culture and redefining goals such as freedom, independence, dignity and based on the pattern of thinking, awareness, decision-making and information, it is possible to open the door to Islamic creativity. By proving the capability of the religion of Islam for governing and reviving the role of religion as an influential element upon the global transitions, Iran’s Islamic Revolution has managed to take actions in order to revive the Islamic identity based on the link between religion and politics (Sarayani, 2011: 38-39)

In the meanwhile, an overview regarding the views of the founder of the Islamic Revolution, Imam Khomeini (ra) also depicts this matter. “In the same manner that Iran revolted and defeated the colonialists, all the countries must revolt and pour these wastes in the garbage cans.” (Imam Khomeini (ra), 1992: 633)

“Oh the oppressed people of the world! Get up and save yourselves from the claws of man’s enemy; do not accept more oppression than this since God is with the oppressed ones.” (Imam Khomeini (ra), 1992: 924)

According to what has been said, the victory of Iran’s Islamic Revolution has proposed Shiism and at a wider scope, Islam, as the most vital mediator at the Shi’ah level and the Muslim world. This was in such a way that most of the movements including both the Sunni and Shi’ah adopted Iran’s Islamic Revolution as their epitome for their campaigns. Indeed, just as Iran’s Islamic Revolution in the theoretical dimension, was not confined to its specific geographical range, and laid the foundations for the global socio-political goals, in the practical dimension too, it arranged its strategy in such a way that the exact global and human goals of the revolution were subjected to attention. Owing to this fact, we can conclude that the formation of the Islamic Awakening in the countries of the Middle East and North Africa has a deep connection with Iran’s Islamic Revolution.

The Impacts of Iran’s Islamic Revolution Upon the Formation and Strengthening of the Islamic Awakening in Other Countries

Iran’s Islamic Revolution has a lot of impacts upon the Muslim societies and all the free-men of the world whereby we will try to mention some of them. These impacts were as follows: Strengthening the political awareness among the Muslim nations, encouraging and promoting the Islamic mode of dress, the union of the state and religion, drawing a courageous face of Islam, strengthening the attitude towards the divine rule, paying attention to the citizens and their needs, propagating the religion, providing a new model for the world management, fighting against the colonialists and so on. (Shiroudi, 2009: 13-27)

Other than the cases mentioned above, some of the most important impacts of Iran’s Islamic Revolution, upon the latest uprisings in the countries of the Middle East and the North African region are as follows: Fighting against the global Zionist and the United States, the Islamic Middle East against the American Middle East and the realization of the true Islamic identification. (Sarayani, 2011: 49).

Other impacts of Iran’s Islamic Revolution upon the formation and spreading of the Islamic Awakening in the other countries are as follows: propagating the revolutionary Islam, spreading the political Islam, promoting the political and social status of the Shi’ahs, spreading the culture of resistance, considering the centrality of the clergy on political matters and the mosque as a centre of the struggle, participating in political literature and cultural propaganda methods. (Tahiri, 2010: 81-95).

In general, it can be stated that utilizing religion in creating a desired social change is the most important impact of Iran’s Islamic Revolution and Imam Khomeini (ra) upon the Islamic Awakening movements. With this background, efforts are being made to examine the Islamic Awakening in North African countries such as Tunisia, Egypt and Libya.

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