Radical Islam: The Iranian Mojahedin
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 | |
| Author | Ervand Abrahamian |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Series | Society and Culture in the Modern Middle East |
Release number | 3 |
| Subject | Political history of Iran |
| Genre | Nonfiction |
| Publisher | I.B. Tauris, Yale University Press |
Publication date | 1989 28 October 1992 (YUP) |
| Media type | Print (Hardcover and Paperback) |
| Pages | 315 pages, 5½ x 8½ |
| ISBN | 9781850430773 (Hardcover) 9781850430834 (Paperback) 9780300052671 (YUP) |
| OCLC | 17586359 |
| 322.420955 ABR | |
| Preceded by | Iran Between Two Revolutions |
| Followed by | Khomeinism |
Radical Islam: The Iranian Mojahedin is a book by historian Ervand Abrahamian about the late 20th-century political history of Iran, and a thorough case study of the People's Mujahedin of Iran (MEK). The book also includes a short biography of Ali Shariati and a review of his works in order to explore the influence this had on the group's early ideological traits. The book was a duplicate publication by I.B. Tauris and by Yale University Press, being first published by the former in 1989 in the United Kingdom. It is widely regarded as an important academic source on the MEK.
Many sources used for the book are in Persian language.[1] In order to study the MEK, Abrahamian has mainly relied on the pamphlets and other publications of the group.[2] The pamphlets were both on political and philosophical subjects.[1] Other printed sources used were Iranian press, as well as those of Western countries such as the United Kingdom and the United States.[1][2]
He also made lengthy personal interviews with several former and preset members of the MEK, including the group's leader Massoud Rajavi.[2]
Publication history
The book was first published in 1989 by I.B. Tauris & Co., Ltd., an independent publishing house specializing on the Middle East (currently an imprint of the Bloomsbury Publishing) on its 'Society and Culture in the Modern Middle East' series. It was then published by Yale University Press in New Haven, Connecticut on 28 October 1992.
Content
Part I: State and Society
- 1. The Pahlavi Monarchy
- 2. The Islamic Republic
Part II: The Mojahedin
- 3. The Beginnings
- 4. Ali Shariati
- 5. The Formative Years
- 6. The Great Schism
- 7. The Great Release
- 8. To the Masses
- 9. The Road to Karbala
- 10. Social Bases
- 11. Exile
The book is divided into two parts and eleven chapters.[3] Part I reviews history of Iran under the rule of Pahlavi dynasty and then Iranian Revolution and the first decade of the country under the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran, while more-lengthy Part II details the development and experiences of the MEK, covering more than a quarter-century from its origins in the early 1960s up until its transformation in the late 1980s.[3][4] It also features cogent analyses of the MEK's social background, social bases, and ideology, including how the MEK's original aim was "to synthesize the religious values of Islam with the scientific thought of Marxism" and how it injected new meanings and dimensions to old Islamic terms and symbols.[4] A whole chapter is dedicated to a biography of Ali Shariati and an investigation of his works and views, to further discuss their impact on the ideology of the MEK.[5][6] Other themes explored are the group's leadership, structure and electoral performance, the latter during 1979–1981.[3] Included in the book are also several comprehensive lists of MEK members, with extensive biographical information.[6][3] The book also discusses the split within the Mojahedin in 1975 ("The Great Schism") that resulted in "a division among the membership between Islamic Mojahedin and Marxist Mojahedin." The book also explains how, despite the schism, the Mojahedin became what Ayatollah Mohammad Beheshti described as one of the three foundations of the Islamic revolution: "Imam Khomeini, Ali Shariati, and the Mojahedin Organization". The remaining of the book explains the problems that the Mojahedin (as well as other resistance groups) had to face after Khomeini and the religious party took power and how initially the Mojahedin tried to cooperate with the new regime, but it soon became clear that the Islamic Republic would not accept a democratic multiparty system.[3]
Thought the book, Abrahamian argues that the MEK had been established by middle-class intelligentsia and young people profoundly affected by the country's inequalities and oppression who played an important part in toppling the Pahlavi administration and winning the support and respect of many Iranians.[7][8] Then, how after the Iranian revolution, the MEK quickly emerged as one of the biggest and better-organized parties in Iran, with their rallies drawing tens of thousands of participants. Abrahamian then explains how the Khomeini regime oppressed the MEK by executing and imprisoning thousands MEK members and sympathizers that rallied against the new regime.[8] and concludes that the Khomeini regime was successful in dealing with the MEK's public support because it suppressed anti-government manifestations with "brute violence".[7] During the Iranian revolution, the Mojahedin emerged as a viable and popular organization that played a crucial role in overthrowing the Shah's government. Then Abrahamian describes the evolutionary nature of the Mojahedin's ideology,[2] which is considered one of the most important contributions of the book. Before and after the 1979 Iranian revolution, political opponents to the MEK often stigmatized it as “Marxist or Islamic Marxist” to the point that such pejorative denominations became common in stereotyping the organization in the media and academia.[8] According to Abrahamian, the MEK's influence is instead better understood through the analysis of its “conscious self-identification with Shi’a Islam”, which had origins in Iran's urban and middle-class culture. The MEK did support and adapted Marxist social ideas (mainly about class struggle) to “fashion a materialistic interpretation of Islamic history”, but never described themselves as Marxist. According to Abrahamian, the MEK's revolutionary version of Islam differed sharply from Ayatollah Khomeini's new populist Islam.[8] It is also considered critical of the ruling clerics in Iran, as well as militarization of the MEK and its refuge in Iraq.[9]
In the later chapters of the book, Abrahamian examines the MEK's social background and ideology in detail, gathering and analysing a large amount of data in the context of the Iranian state and society.[10][4][8] Abrahamian concludes that though the MEK claimed Shii Islam was “a inherently revolutionary movement”, it did not consider that the Islamic Revolution could also become a clerical revolution.[10] According to David Menashri, Abrahamian's attempts at charting the history of a still-active underground movement is one of the reasons why the book's picture on the MEK does not seem complete.[4][6]
