Iran, the land of the Aryans, is the 18th largest country in the world with a population of nearly 80 million. Since the 1979 revolution and the establishment of the Islamic Republic, science and technology have made remarkable progress. It ranks 8th in the world in weapons production and has 11 million well-trained paramilitaries. Due to its central location in the Middle East and between Europe and Asia, this is a country with a special geostrategic significance. Iran is bordered by Afghanistan and Pakistan in the east, Persian Gulf and Gulf of Oman in the south, Iraq in the west, Turkey in the northwest, and Russia and Kazakhstan in the north. Iran also plays an important role in the international arena. Energy security and the world economy because it has huge oil and gas reserves. Therefore, especially for European and US governments, if they want to maintain good relations with Iran, they must understand Iran's thinking and government system.
A fundamental problem in understanding the nature of the Islamic Republic of Iran is the lack of understanding of the concept of the Islamic Republic. The result is a serious misunderstanding of governance principles, political structures, decision-making processes, operational systems, and external relations. In order to understand this concept correctly, we must first focus on the structure of Islamic religion, and then consider the meaning of the Republic and the subsequent form of government in this context.
Islamic society
Unlike Christianity, Islamic religion lacks a hierarchical structure. For example, under the Christian Catholic Church, there is a strict hierarchical structure. It begins with the summit of the Pope, down to the Cardinal, Archbishop, Bishop, and ends with the parish priest. The overall operation of the system is strictly controlled from the top. The higher we go in the administrative structure of Christianity, the more luxurious the office, the more expensive the office, the more symbolic, the more impressive, the different occasions, and the increased number of servants. When it arrived at the Vatican and the highest public pope, everything was good at the summit.
There is no such religious hierarchy in Islam. Islam is an individualized socialist religion. Everyone is the master of his own faith and individually follows the teachings of Islam to the extent he desires. Like other Muslim worlds, millions of Iranians do not pray five times a day, do not fast, do not believe in covering the body for women, and do not participate in Friday sermons. However, they confidently believe that they are Muslims. Usually, forgetting to be a Muslim, you only need to believe in Allah [God] and Muhammad as his prophet. What you believe and follow is entirely up to you and your relationship with your creators. In studying the Islamic principles and laws developed during and after the Prophet Muhammad, it is clear that many people may encounter problems in correctly understanding them and need to refer to Islamic intellectuals to solve these problems. These people have invested years of life and time to study Islam and its corresponding social norms,
Each large community, based on its size, has one or more of these people. They are classified according to their level of knowledge, the breadth of learning, and their academic contributions. At the lowest official level of knowledge, known as "Mulla", followed by "hojjatol-Islam" and "ayatollah", this is the highest degree in academia granted to Islamic religious experts, its principles, laws, history and traditions. It takes years of hard work to get this title, several levels of exams, academic writing, and a final oral exam in front of the Ayatollah Group, which is recognized as an expert. Ayatollah in the Islamic world has the same title as a doctorate. Degrees in other higher education institutions are harder to achieve. When he was finally qualified to win the championship, the student was already in his 40s.
Among the approximately 80 million Iranians, the number of Ayatollah may be around 100.
They are residents of large communities, and in addition to the Chewing City as an Islamic education center, many residents Ayatollah are full-time teachers like university professors. Every Ayatollah is free to choose his place of residence. If they encounter certain religious problems, individuals in their area of residence are free to mention one of them, but most Iranians never mention Ayatollah or follow them. This is good evidence of the personal nature of Islamic religion. Islam is a religious belief that everyone believes in itself, not a belief set by Ayatollah. Millions of Iranians do not follow the principles of official daily prayer or fasting during Ramadan, but they consider themselves to be loyal Muslims. Mullah and other smaller scholars chose one or more Ayatollah to mention that they solved their religious problems. They are free to choose, they can be changed at will, or they can be more than one.
Ayatollah usually pursues a modest lifestyle and is easy to access. In general, they receive income support from religious donations or donations to the property of local mosques. They are completely independent of each other, but some people may be considered knowledgeable by others. The academic reputation of some scholars may be far beyond the area in which they live or even in other countries. These few people are known as the Great Alatura, such as Iraq's Great Ayatollah Sistani and Iran's Shariatmadari and Montezeri.
Now, if we transfer this social and religious structure to the republican government, we will have a special and unique form of government that is socialist and democratic. The basic democratic nature of Iranian Islamic society is that Ayatollah Khomeini created a supreme leader with absolute political power in drafting a new Iranian constitution, controlling the main powers of all government, including the military and the judiciary. the reason. At the political level, we have a system of so-called Islamic religious experts who are loyal to the top leaders who maintain their pre-moderate lifestyle while taking on senior political positions.
The weekly Friday prayers throughout the country are a traditional way for the Islamic government to keep in touch with the people. For example, in Tehran, Friday's prayers were held at the University of Tehran, with hundreds of thousands of people attending, and almost all important government officials, especially senior officials, were present. The leader of the highest leader appointed the leader to pray. Historically, Friday prayers are the foundation of the Islamic government structure. This is one of the early steps in the formation of Islamic countries, and is somewhat similar to urban meetings in the United States.
It includes two sermons that must be delivered, the first being religion, beautifying and praising God, and the second being politics, proposing social, economic, and political issues that affect people and everyday life. Therefore, at least once a week, people are in direct contact with their leaders, understand government policies, and have the opportunity to ask questions and communicate with the leadership.
In addition to the Office of the Supreme Leader, Iran has developed a two-party system, often referred to as moderates and radicals. Although they are not called political parties, the two groups are well organized and very effective in the election process. Iran has a parliamentary legislature with a total of 290 seats. A positive aspect of this democratic process is that, unlike the US Congress, where the current president is likely to be re-elected, in Iran only about half of the running public officials are re-elected. The democratic process is very active in the Iranian parliament. The debate is very open and often very active. It is not uncommon for some members of a group to vote with another group member on certain concerns. This trend has eliminated a single majority rule like England. Sometimes, only one-third of the bills proposed by the government passed the parliament [parliament]. It also rejected a higher percentage of public officials than the US Senate. These are just some aspects of democracy in the Islamic Republic.
Government concept and its power limitations
Separating radicals from moderates is a profound controversy about the role of government in Islamic society. According to Ayatollah Khomeini, the founder of the Islamic Republic, the government is an institution appointed by the Almighty and established with the absolute power entrusted to the prophet. It is an entity that replaces the secondary regulations of the Islamic normative law. "The government is the primary rule of Islam, giving priority to prayer, fasting and pilgrimage." "However, it is wrong to assume that no one should protest what we say or do. On the contrary, criticism and discovery of mistakes are for the promotion of humanity. One of the sacred gifts, "but he did not give the Islamic government a definitive definition of "in the current sensitive situation," referring to the Iran-Iraq war. "He would rather remain silent."
Since then, the role of the government in Islamic society has been the subject of intense debate between the moderate and radical groups. Activists favor highly socialized large-scale public investment projects that raise taxes, control prices, state control of business, and reform land ownership. Moderates oppose all of this, some claim that...
Orignal From: How important is Iran to the West, and why do Iranians support the Islamic Republic?
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