A superstitious reading of the world based on religion may be harmless at a private level, yet employed as a political tool it can have more sinister implications. As this fascinating book by Ali Rahnema, a distinguished Iranian intellectual, relates, superstition and mystical beliefs have endured and influenced ideology and political strategy in Iran from the founding of the Safavid dynasty in the sixteenth century to the present day. The endurance of these beliefs has its roots in a particular brand of popular Shiism, which was compiled and systematized by the eminent cleric Mohammad Baqer Majlesi in the seventeenth century. Majlesi, who is considered by some to be the father of Iranian Shiism, encouraged believers to accept fantastical notions as part of their faith and to venerate their leaders as superhuman. As Rahnema demonstrates through a close reading of the Persian sources and with examples from contemporary Iranian politics, it is this supposed connectedness to the hidden world that has allowed leaders such as Muhammad Reza Shah Pahlavi and Mahmud Ahmadinejad to present themselves and their entourage as representatives of the divine, and their rivals as the embodiment of evil.
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'An important book.' Times Literary Supplement
Book Description
A superstitious reading of the world based on religion may be harmless at a private level, yet employed as a political tool it can have more sinister implications. As this fascinating book by Ali Rahnema relates, superstition and mystical beliefs have endured and influenced ideology and political strategy in Iran from the founding of the Safavid dynasty to the present day. The endurance of these beliefs has its roots in a particular brand of popular Shiism, which was compiled and systematized by the eminent cleric Mohammad Baqer Majlesi. As Rahnema demonstrates through a close reading of the Persian sources and with examples from contemporary Iranian politics, it is this supposed connectedness to the hidden world that has allowed leaders such as Muhammad Reza Shah Pahlavi and Mahmud Ahmadinejad to present themselves as representatives of the divine, and their rivals as the embodiment of evil.
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An education
Aug 26 2012
By Sc
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Paperback
A very rich and detailed book. As an American, I was struck by the extent to which Iran's clerics espouse a range of political opinions, not the one-note "loony mullahs" the media here likes to portray. The author takes this as a given, and it's not his main point at all, but the extent to which Iranian politics is dynamic and contested, even from inside the power structure, was a revelation to me. I should say that the book is difficult to follow at times for someone unfamiliar with Iran, particularly that it spans several centuries of intellectual and political thought. But I persisted and I'm glad I did, and I am now looking for more good reads on this fascinating country.
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