Transnational Effects of the Islamic Revolution

The Thought of the Islamic Revolution
Transnational Effects of the Islamic Revolution

The question is, why, how, and to what extent the Islamic Revolution of Iran, has influenced the Muslim world? In the issue of measuring the reflection of the Islamic Revolution of Iran within the Muslim countries of the Middle East, the study of the status of Iran as a guardian for such Revolution is very important because, in this regard, Iran is considered as an independent or motivating factor and the countries of the Middle East are assumed to be dependent or inspired by the doctrine of the Islamic Revolution ‌(‏Heshmatzadeh. 1999: 213).

 

The Islamic Revolution of Iran is “active” and the intellectual and practical developments of Islamic movements throughout the Muslim world are all “passive.” Iran is the only country among 51 Islamic countries that have experienced a profound and fundamental revolution. The events that occurred inside this country, as well as the political behaviour of the Iranian people, will have direct and indirect impacts on other countries. Within the concept of “Iranian society,” the theoretical attitude and practical behaviour of the people through different and successive generations are considered as independent factors.

 

If the revolutionary excitement of people or the internal generativity and flourishment of the Islamic Revolution becomes weak, and the practice of political socialization and transferring values ​​and attitudes of the first-generation to future generations do not occur properly, then it is natural that this phenomenon will reduce the reflection of Islamic doctrine in other countries. With that said, the reflection of the Islamic Revolution is deeply embedded in the efficiency of the system and the maintenance of legitimacy, through satisfying Iranian citizens.

 

As far as the future is concerned, there are two possible scenarios: first is civilization making of the Islamic Revolution and second is misrepresenting this country (Shojatzand, 2006: 45) Each of these two states would influence the reflection of the Islamic Revolution.

 

The internal affairs of Iran have direct effects on the external influences of the Islamic Revolution. The Iranian policy to export the notion of revolution, like other aspects of foreign policy, expresses the dynamic interactions between domestic and foreign policy (Mohammadi, 2007: 75).

 

The foreign policy of any country is in line with its domestic policies. Behaviours that originate in foreign policies are caused by the domestic layers and complexities of these policies (Sari’ al-Qalam, 2000: 47).

 

The Attitude and Behaviour of the Government and Leaders of Iran

 

The effects of the Islamic Revolution of Iran on the Muslim countries will be of two types: intentional influence aimed at the project of exporting the revolution and the patterns of thought of the leaders; and natural influences (Barzegar, 2003). Concerning the letter, Imam Khomeini stated: “There was not a continuous flow of propaganda – with respect to the ideology of Revolution – even inside the country... I must say that the Revolution has progressed by itself, we did not play a role... it is not like that we derived them towards the Revolution with our propaganda campaign. This Revolution was reflected there by itself, and those who utilized their reason would understand your message.” Imam Khomeini, volume 14, page 43, February 5, 1981).

 

The effects of the second category are the result of the natural transmission of messages and concepts of the Islamic Revolution.

 

Attitudes and Behaviour of the Society: A Case Study

 

The main question of this paper is the influence of the Islamic Revolution – as the cause – on Middle Eastern Muslim countries as a dependent variable. Therefore, there are two sides to the question: society and state. In this context, the data should be organized correctly so that different subdivisions will be identified.

 

The sub-axis of this third matter may be classified into two categories: the structural features of the society studied here, which can be regarded as political, economic, and cultural backgrounds, and the attitude and behaviour of the case community concerning the Islamic Revolution.

 

In terms of studying the context, there are two settings of favourable and unfavourable concerning the influence of the Islamic Revolution. Indeed, in the discussion of “effect” and “reflection,” on the one hand, we face the “influential” which is the Islamic Revolution of Iran, and the “impressionable” which is an impressionable society on the other. Examining the favourable and the unfavourable impressionable environments is crucial because the positive or negative settings have a direct influence on their impressionability from the Revolution. The more favourable the settings of the country or movements are the greater will be the level of impressionability and vice versa. Richard Dekmejian mentions two prerequisites for the emergence of the powerful Islamic movements: first, the emergence of a supreme leader and, second, a society that is deeply disturbed.

 

The context is provided for the development and absorption of political Islam within a society that is experiencing a crisis (Dekmejian, 1999: 172-163). In the theory of dissemination, this is referred to as the receptive and unreceptive contexts with respect to the innovation (Barzegar, 2003: 59).

 

The unfavourable and favourable settings for accepting the message of the Islamic Revolution may exist at the same time. For example, regarding the issue of common history and language and a similar culture especially the Persian language, the ground is prepared in Afghanistan for accepting the message of the Islamic Revolution.

About 50% of the Afghan people speak Dari (Afghan Persian) (Aliabadi, 2003: 9)‎. But with respect to religious affiliations, 70% to 74% of Muslims are identified as Hanafi Sunni while only 25% are Shi’ahs (Aliabadi, 2003: 21)‎.

 

The influence of Sunnism and Wahhabism and the inevitable engagement of Iran with the Shi’ahs of Afghanistan have reduced the level of acceptance of the influence of the Islamic Revolution in that country. Thus, this element of sectarianism has resulted in a political response that has made the situation unfavourable. Thus, the subject matter can be divided into the field of political, cultural, and economic context studies. These areas, in turn, come under the category of favourable or unfavourable typology. These settings appear as “decreasing” or “increasing” factors.

 

The Attitude and Behaviour of the Case Study (The Government) Toward the Islamic Revolution

 

Another part of the data comes under the category entitled “the receptive state” (Mahden, 1999: 149-163). Of course, the case state itself enjoys a dynamic state in a manner that takes different shapes in different periods, decades and stages. Thus, the second issue that is addressed in this section would be divided into foreign and domestic policy:

 

A) Foreign Policy

 

The initial position of the government concerning the Islamic Revolution, whether being silent, is a domestic matter; somehow a regional earthquake has occurred; a positive, negative or neutral position.

 

The secondary positioning of the government (Bengrid, Valdani, 2002: 103) in relation to the internal unrest, including the introduction of Iran as an instigating factor concerning that government and pretending that Iran is interfering in their internal affairs, and making such allegations; addressing the support and role of a foreign country without mentioning the role of Iran; warning Iran; refusing to continue the political and diplomatic relation with Iran.

 

Analyzing their reaction to the Iran-Iraq War is of importance. Many experts believe that, before that, the Islamic Revolution of Iran had played an important role in encouraging the Arab revolutionary, Islamic or political movements throughout the Muslim world. But the fact that Iranians were left with no choice but to defend and the war has led to the perception that the Islamic Revolution of Iran is merely an Iranian or a Shi’ah movement (Rajaei, 2002: 81-83).

 

The fluctuations of the official relations between the revolutionary government of Iran and the regional governments are studied through the following quantitative criteria and indicators:

 

  • Diplomatic relationships show a foreign country’s diplomats and high-ranking officials visiting other countries.
  • The official statements of the officials on various occasions and their interpretation and analysis by newspapers and the government.
  • The inverted indicator of the growth of relations with states or relations with nations, which in many cases, has been the result of the existing gap between people and governments.
  • Studying bilateral trade or financial-economic support and its reflections.

 

B) Domestic Policy

 

The following is the data that can be studied in the context of the domestic policy of the governments towards the Islamic Revolution:

 

  • Controlling the citizens’ travel to Iran and putting restrictions on this issue.
  • Making citizens’ travels to other countries easier is an indicator of desirable relations or improvement of relations between the two countries and their willingness for exchanging thoughts and activities (Sari' al-Qalam, 2000: 114) Karl Wolfgang Deutsch has examined this issue among the European and North African countries (Deutsch, 1978: 45-51).
  • Suspecting those who have travelled to Iran and interrogating them.
  • Paying special attention to target groups such as foreign pilgrims, students or citizens who have been in contact with Iranians
  • Analyzing the content of the talks of the trial and the courts concerning the cases of subversion and political destabilization and consider whether the role of Iran is addressed in such cases or not.
  • Evaluating the mechanisms and deceptive propaganda aiming to portrait a negative image of the Islamic Revolution.
  • Mechanisms for oppression and threatening.
  • Facilities and financial enticement to attract opponents and gain their loyalty to the existing political system. For example, the Ba’athist government of Iraq and Saddam utilized the stick and carrot policy (threatening and deceiving) concerning Shi’ahs; that is, execution, torture and imprisonment of prominent dissidents simultaneous to giving privilege to Shi’ahs (Keddie, 1995:119).

 

In addition, after the Saudi Shi’ah uprising in the Eastern province on November 28, 1979, the Saudi government, besides severe repression, has invested heavily in reforming its economic structures, educational system and other local services. Many changes and developments have occurred between 1980 and 1985 in this Shi’ah and deprived area. The roads were asphalted. Schools and hospitals were built. The land was divided among people. Various kinds of loans were given. New shopping centers were opened and sewage systems were built (Ebrahim, 2008: 161). Indeed, following the Shi’ah uprisings, the government by spending billions of dollars tried to affect and deceive the Shi’ah community so that they were no longer affected by the doctrine of Islamic Revolution.

 

Acting on the basis of the inherent characteristics of the revolutions that seek to change the existing situation, the regional governments take joint action against the revolutionary state. For this reason, revolutions, including the Islamic Revolution, give rise to some kind of regional convergence. This convergence and coherence are utilized to counteract the effects of the Islamic Revolution especially in neighbouring countries of Iran (Halliday: 1997).

 

The launching of a war by Iraq against Iran was intended to neutralize the immediate impacts of the Iranian Revolution on the Shi’ahs of Iraq. In this sense, the war increased and strengthened the sentiment of Arab governments in supporting Iraq and led to a reduction in the effectiveness of the Iranian Revolution (Khadduri, 1988: 172; Keddie, 1995: 122) since the Islamic Revolution challenged political structures and legitimacy in the Islamic world, especially the Arab world.

 

Conclusion

 

The Islamic Revolution of Iran has had long-term effects on Muslim countries. John Esposito in a book dedicated to the global impact of the Iranian Revolution states[1]: “Both of friends and enemies of the Revolution consider that the Iranian Revolution has had a major impact on the Muslim world and the West. For some, the Iranian Revolution is the source of inspiration and motivation, and for others, the immediate danger that has jeopardized the stability of the Middle East and the West” (Esposito, 1990: 317).

 

Iran’s Revolution has succeeded at least in making an indirect and involuntary impact, i.e., spreading ideas, concepts and innovations; a typical example of this can be seen in the Islamic movements of the Shi’ahs of Lebanon.

 

The “political Islam” was the message of the Islamic Revolution, which addressed the discourse of political Islam against the discourse of secularism that was questioned with the onset of the Islamic Revolution (Akbarzadeh, 2007: 115-125; Fox, 2008: 19).

 

This concept of political Islam took different manifestations in different contexts. Within the Sunni world, the Islamists of Turkey adopt moderate attitudes. Despite intense initial inclinations, they gradually believed that the Iranian Revolution was a Shi’ah one and hence could not be propagated among the Sunnis of Turkey. These approaches led to a fundamental turning point in the group’s attitude towards the Iranian Revolution and consequently the localization of its messages, which finally was manifested through the emergence of the Welfare Party (Mohammad, 2007: 390).

 

They did not turn their back on the Iranian Revolution, but were convinced that occurring such revolution in Turkey, which is dominated by military powers, is impossible. Thus, they utilized the ideology of the Islamic Revolution in an intellectual context and, for example, struggled with the isolationist attitudes of Sufi thoughts in Turkey. The intellectual movement of Turkey, with the support of the foundations of the ideas of the Islamic Revolution and their nativization, was able to achieve an independent position in the 90s and enter the political arena in the form of the Welfare Party (Pourbanab, 2000: 92). Thus, the Islamists of Turkey, along with Egypt, Tunisia and some countries are pursuing an electoral strategy to achieve a favourable situation instead of pursuing a revolutionary solution (Keddie, 1995:122).

 

Iran has made various impacts on many countries and Islamic movements in different times and places. Therefore, considering the four factors of attitude and behaviour of Iranian society, attitudes and behaviour of Iranian leaders, attitudes and behaviour of local governments, and attitudes and Behaviour of the people of the society, in addition to the indicators and implications of each factor as well as their interactive relationships, we would see a broad spectrum of impressionability or influence.

 

Indeed, in each country, a certain style of influences of the Iranian Revolution can be observed. Within this special “style” while there are similar effects, similar features are also found depending on the time and place. A researcher who is interested in studying the impact of the Islamic Revolution of Iran on other countries and regions can benefit from this proposed framework as an analytical work and through further studies identify the threads of influence in a more precise and detailed way.

 

In other words, this article tries to move from one component (a part) to the next (a whole) and to form a conceptual framework through inductive reasoning. However, in some cases, one may move from the “whole” towards the “part” which means he may carry out an “analytic” work and of course, through this process of studying the “part” and “whole” accurately analyze the “proposed framework for studying the case.”

 

 


[1] Mahmoud Esmailnia, Muslims of Southeast Asia and the Islamic Revolution of Iran, 1998: 9-23

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