THE TURBAN
FOR THE CROWN
The Islamic Revolution in Iran
The objective of this book is to explain the Islamic revolution of 1979 in Iran and to assess its significance in world history. It is clear that the Islamic revolution in Iran is a cataclysm as significant and as unprecedented in world history as the French revolution of 1789 and the Russian revolution of 1917. It has indeed a good claim to being considered the surprise of the century, a century not devoid of surprises. Few considered the rise of theocracy in a modernized state a possibility, and even fewer thought it might result from a popular revolution. What added to the wry poignancy of the event was that the Ayatollah succeeded in raising the banner of Islamic theocracy in the land of the Shah, the last King of Kings who, until the day of his departure, commanded a large army equipped with the latest weapons.
Contents
Chronology of Significant Events in Iranian History Since 1500 / xi
Introduction / 3
I RISE OF THE MODERN STATE AND THE TRANSFORMATION OF SOCIETY
1. Religion, Government, and the Social Structure in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries / 11
Establishment of Religious Uniformity and Consolidation of Shi'ite Clerical Power in Iran / 11
Collapse of the Safavid State and Tribal Domination of Urban Society in the Eighteenth Century / 16
The Qajar Government and the Social Structure of Iran in the Nineteenth Century / 20
Emergence of the Modern Idea of the State and Failure of Centralizing Reforms / 27
2. The Constitutional Revolution: 1905-1911 / 34
Revolution and Parliamentary Democracy: April 1905-June 1908 / 35
Constitutional Reforms of the State: 1907-December 1911 / 40
Traditionalist Counterrevolution and Tribal Civil War: 1908-March 1912 / 48
Compromises in the Constitutional Revolution / 57
3. Formation of the Modern Bureaucratic State in the Twentieth Century / 59
Modernization of the State Under Reza Shah / 59
Impact of the State on Iranian Society / 69
Mohammed Reza Shah's "White Revolution" and Its Consequences / 71
4. Shi'ism Versus Statism / 75
Sources of Conflict Between the State and Hierocracy / 75
Confrontations with the State During the Constitutional Revolution / 78
The Era of Pahlavi Modernization / 80
II FROM TEMPORAL TO THEOCRATIC ABSOLUTISM
5. Khomeini and the Islamic Revolutionary Movement / 91
The Resurgence of Islam / 91
Revolutionary Politicization of the Islamic Movement / 94
Charismatic Leadership and Revolutionary Traditionalism / 100
6. The Revolution of February 1979 / 103
The Myth of the Islamic Revolution / 103
The Revolutionary Alignment of Social Classes / 106
The New Middle Class and the Revolution / 108
Paralysis and Collapse of the State / 114
The Armed Forces and the Revolution / 119
The United States and the Iranian Revolution / 128
7. Revolutionary Iran: February 1979-December 1982 / 134
Disintegration of the Pahlavi Regime and Establishment of Dual Power / 134
The Clerical Coup d'Etat of November 1979 / 137
Termination of Dual Power and Direct Clerical Takeover of the State / 141
8. Consolidation of Islamic Theocracy / 147
Principles of Legitimacy of Theocratic Government and the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran / 147
Elimination of Opposition and Normalization / 154
Distinctive Institutions of the Islamic Republic of Iran / 163
Continuities Between Pre- and Post-Revolutionary Iran / 173
III REFLECTIONS ON THE ISLAMIC REVOLUTION
9. The Revolutionary Transformation of Shi'ism / 177
Transformation of the Shi'ite Theory of Authority / 177
Transformation of the Shi'ite Law / 184
10. Significance of the Islamic Revolution: A Comparative Perspective / 189
Causes and Preconditions of the Islamic Revolution / 189
Teleology of the Islamic Revolution / 202
Conclusion / 210
Appendix / 211
Notes / 221
Glossary of Persian and Arabic Terms / 249
References / 255
Index / 267
Preface
This work was conceived at the onset of the revolutionary upheaval in Iran in 1978 to 1979, In addition to the cited historical sources, documents and publications, which include a number of important recent memoirs, it draws on a number of interviews I have conducted since that time with the key personalities of the old and the new regime. The first of these was with Grand Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini in Neauphle-le-Chateau, France, on January 2, 1979. I have subsequently interviewed the former prime minister, Shahpour Bakhtiar, the former president, Abo'l-Hasan Bani-Sadr; two of the surviving highest ranking generals who took over the army after the Shah's departure on January 16, 1979; the former British ambassador to Iran, Sir Anthony Parsons; the former American ambassador to Iran, William Sullivan; the former director of the Iranian National Oil Company, Hasan Nazih who was the first important nationalist figure to break with Khomeini, and many other Iranians most of whom prefer to remain anonymous. I was also present during an exclusive interview with the former Empress, Farah Pahlavi, conducted by my wife, Kathryn Arjomand.
Furthermore, at the time of the outbreak of the revolution I was working on a project on religion and the state in Shi'ism (The Shadow of God and the Hidden Imam, published by the University of Chicago Press in 1984).
In 1977 and 1978, the research on the project brought me to encounters with "The Signs of God" (literal translation of ayatollah), including the late Grand Ayatollahs Kazim Shari'at-madari and 'Abdollah Shirazi and the Grand Ayatollah Shehab al-Din Najafi Mar'ashi, who were then quite accessible and could talk fairly objectively and openly about the issues that were suddenly to become capital with the establishment of Islamic government. I am grateful to all the above for their assistance with this project.
The crucial period for the writing of the manuscript was the year I spent at the Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton (1984-85). I am most grateful to the Institute's faculty of the School of Social Science, to the fellow members with whom I discussed my work, and to the staff, especially Lucille Allsen whose editorial suggestions while typing the manuscript I came to value.
I also wish to express my gratitude to the State University of New York at Stony Brook for providing me with a grant-in-aid to start the project at an early stage, and to Professors Lewis Coser, John Gagnon, Dick Howard, and James Rule for their comments on an earlier draft of this book at a symposium organized by the Department of Sociology.
Professor A. K. S. Lambton read and commented on an earlier draft of the manuscript. I am very grateful to her.
Finally, I wish to thank the editors of Government and Opposition and Middle Eastern Studies for their kind permission to use materials previously published in their journals. My article, "Iran's Islamic Revolution in Comparative Perspective," World Politics 38, no. 3 (April 1986) Copyright © 1986 by Princeton University Press, is also reprinted here in a modified form with permission of Princeton University Press.
Needless to say, none of the persons named above bear any responsibility for the ideas and opinions expressed in this book or for its shortcomings. For these, I alone am responsible.
Stony Brook, Long Island
June 1987 S. A. A.
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Arjomand, Said Amir.
The turban for the crown. (Studies in Middle Eastern history)
Bibliography p. Includes index.
1. Islam and politics—Iran. 2. Iran—Politics and government—20th century.
3. Iran—Politics and government—1979- . I. Title.
II. Series: Studies in Middle Eastern history (New York, N.Y.)
DS316.6.A74 1988 955'.05 87-15231
1 3 5 7 9 8 6 4 2
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