The origins of Shia Islam can be traced to political differences among the followers of the Prophet Mohammad within different Muslim communities in the seventh century and later. As a minority, Shias have always regarded themselves as an oppressed and distinct group within Islam, and have developed a series of rituals and ceremonies that highlight tragedies in Shia history.
Shiism in Iran has not only been a religious belief; it has also been part of national culture and identity since the Safavid dynasty made Shia Islam Iran’s official religion in the sixteenth century, in order to give the country a separate identity and stop the influence of the neighboring Sunni Ottoman Empire.
supreme leader: The spiritual leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran and the man who has the final say in all affairs of the state; the position is currently filled by Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. “Supreme leader” derives from the Persian term valie faqih, which literally means “jurisprudent guardian.” The concept was developed by Ayatollah Khomeini in the 1960s; according to it, during the absence of the twelfth imam, a high-ranking cleric (not necessarily a marja) should be in charge of all affairs of the country. The majority of Shia theologians do not believe in velayat-e faqih (guardianship of the jurisprudent); rather, they believe that the marjas’ guardianship should be limited to the most vulnerable members of society, such as orphans and widows. According to Article 109 of Iran’s Constitution, the supreme leader should be a scholar in various fields, just, pious, have the right combination of political and social acuity, and be prudent and courageous. As no single man (the leader cannot be a woman) can have all these qualities, in Iran today, velayat-e faqih governance is essentially religious dictatorship.
Tudeh Party of Iran: Iran’s communist party, established in 1941. In the beginning, the Tudeh claimed that it was a party of the oppressed and fought for the prosperity of all Iranians, and many educated Iranians, even some religious people, joined it. But eventually, after a series of factions separated from the party, it became a purely communist party. The Tudeh was banned in 1949, and many of its members were executed and tortured in the 1950s through the 1970s. Yet the majority of party leaders migrated to the Eastern bloc, under Soviet protection. After the 1979 Islamic Revolution, they returned to Iran and rejuvenated the party; it once again became one of the most influential parties in Iran. The Tudeh supported Ayatollah Khomeini’s anti-American policies and even defended some of the atrocities committed by the regime in the name of revolutionary justice. In 1983, the Islamic government announced that the Tudeh was secretly trying to overthrow it. Khomeini ordered the arrest of Tudeh leaders, including some in the military. Most of them were executed between 1983 and 1987; many others spent over a decade in prison. Currently, the Tudeh has almost no activities inside Iran and survives in name only, with few supporters.
Further Reading, Listening, and Watching
NONFICTION BOOKS
Tortured Confessions by Ervand Abrahamian (University of California Press, 1999)
The Pivot of the Universe by Abbas Amanat (I. B. Tauris, 2008)
The Quest for Democracy in Iran by Fakhreddin Azimi (Harvard University Press, 2010)
Mohammad Mosaddeq and the 1953 Coup in Iran, edited by Mark J. Gasiorowski and Malcolm Byrne (Syracuse University Press, 2004)
Transit Tehran, edited by Malu Halasa and Maziar Bahari (Garnet, 2008)
State and Society in Iran by Homa Katouzian (I. B. Tauris, 2006)
The Persian Sphinx by Abbas Milani (Mage, 2009)
The Mantle of the Prophet by Roy Mottahedeh (Oneworld, 2008)
Treacherous Alliance by Trita Parsi (Yale University Press, 2008)
The Iran Primer, edited by Robin Wright (United States Institute of Peace Press, 2010)
FICTION AND POETRY BOOKS
The poetry of Rumi, translated by Coleman Barks (HarperOne, different years)
Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám, translated by Edward Fitzgerald (Oxford University Press, 2009)
The poetry of Hafiz, translated by Daniel Ladinsky (Penguin, different years)
Strange Times, My Dear, edited by Nahid Mozaffari and Ahmad Karimi Hakkak (Arcade Publishing, 2005)
My Uncle Napoleon by Iraj Pezeshkzad, translated by Dick Davis (Modern Library, 2006)
You will also enjoy listening to the classic Persian music of Hossein Alizadeh, Kayhan Kalhor, Shahram Nazeri, and Mohammad Reza Shajarian and the modern Iranian music of Hitchkas, Kiosk, and Mohsen Namjoo.
Those interested in Iran should also watch the following films:
FICTION FILMS
Rakhshan Bani Etemad: Nargess and Under the Skin of the City
Asghar Farhadi: Fireworks Wednesday and About Elly
Bahman Ghobadi: A Time for Drunken Horses
Manijeh Hekmat: Women’s Prison
Abbas Kiarostami: The Traveler, Close-Up, and Ten
Majid Majidi: Baran and The Color of Paradise
Dariush Mehrjui: The Cow and The Tenants
Jafar Panahi: The Circle and Offside
Kambuzia Partovi: Border Café
DOCUMENTARY FILMS
Mahnaz Afzali: The Red Card
Maziar Bahari: And Along Came a Spider and An Iranian Odyssey
Rakshan Bani Etemad: Our Times
Forough Farrokhzad: The House Is Black
Albert Lamorisse: The Lovers’ Wind
Kim Longinotto and Ziba Mir-Hosseini: Divorce, Iranian Style
Mohsen Makhmalbaf: Salaam Cinema
Ebrahim Mokhtari: The Tenancy and Zinat
Mehrdad Oskouei: Nose, Iranian Style and The Other Side of Burka
Norma Percy: Iran and the West
Hamid Rahmanian: The Glass House
Kamran Shirdel: The Night It Rained
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
MAZIAR BAHARI is an award-winning journalist, documentary filmmaker, and human-rights activist. A correspondent for Newsweek from 1998 to 2010, he was born in Tehran, Iran, and immigrated to Canada in 1988 to pursue his studies in film and political science. Bahari’s documentaries have been broadcast on stations around the world, including HBO, BBC, and the Discovery Channel. In 2009, he was named a finalist for Spain’s Prince of Asturias Award for Concord, often described as Spain’s Nobel Peace Prize; he was nominated by Desmond Tutu. He lives in London with his wife and daughter.
AIMEE MOLLOY is the co-author of three previous books: Jantsen’s Gift with Pam Cope; This Moment on Earth with Senator John Kerry and Teresa Heinz Kerry; and For God and Country with James Yee. She also served as an editor of Laurie Strongin’s Saving Henry. She lives in Brooklyn with her husband.
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