Islamic fundamentalism

Religious fundamentalism is a belief in a strict adherence to a specific set of “rules” that a religion has set or made. This adherence to certain beliefs is open to different interpretations of the religion, creating many different groups and branches from the same faith. These different groups do not always find ways to live together peacefully. In some cases, they compete in civil or religious wars to dominate the national identity or religion. Islamic fundamentalism is a broad term that refers to the moral or theological approach of certain groups within the Islamic tradition who hold that the Koran is the indisputable and literal word of God, and that Muslims are required to strictly adhere to the religious practices and moral codes found there. “Most forms of Islamic Fundamentalism maintain that a true Muslim state and society is essential for following Islamic religious law, and hold that there should be no distinction between religious and political life, a position that puts them in tension with the modern democratic principle of the separation of church and state” . In the case of Islam, the different interpretation of the Koran, have lead to a number of different fundamentalist groups. “Muslims believe in one, unique, incomparable God. Who has neither son nor partner, and that none has the right to be worshipped but Him alone. He is the true God, and every other deity is false. He has the most magnificent names and sublime perfect attributes. No one shares his divinity, nor his attributes. Muslims believe that God revealed books to his messengers as proof for mankind and as guidance for them. Among these books is the Koran, which God revealed to the Prophet Muhammad. God has guaranteed the Koran’s protection from any corruption or distortion.” . Are these different interpretations of the Koran as a life guide that create the diversity of fundamentalist groups and beliefs within the Islamic Religion.

The Iranian Revolution of 1978–1979 has been one of the most significant sociopolitical developments in the Middle East and the entire Muslim world since the early years of the 20th century. “The revolution brought a profound transformation in Iran’s sociocultural fabric and its polity by overthrowing a centuries-old monarchical system and establishing an Islamic republic based on the rule of a Shi’a jurisconsult”. The Iranian Revolution has had a far-reaching impact on several Islamic regions and countries, especially in the Persian Gulf region and the Levant. The start of the sustained popular demonstrations that led to the overthrow of Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi dates back to late 1977. However, the genesis of the anti-Shah movement and the subsequent regime de-legitimization dates back to the oil nationalization crisis and the establishment of a dictatorial system by the Shah in the early 1950s. The Iranian Revolution was triggered by many causes, mainly political, but it shared some religious motifs too. The revolution started with the discomfort of the proletariat with the current government at the time and the economic situation of the country, but later in the process some non-violent fundamentalist groups joined the cause claiming their protest against the “westernization” of the country. The revolutionaries chose the Ayatollah Khomeini as the spiritual leader of the revolution, when the revolution succeeded and the old regime was overthrown the new Islamic republic consolidated and took place with the Ayatollah Khomeini as its leader. The Iranian Revolution was more a political than religious movement. Although the Iranian Revolution had religious motifs such as the consolidation of the Islamic Republic and its religious leader.

It is more a political movement because it started with revolts, protests and demonstrations against the corruption and the behavior of the government, which then lead to an economic crisis and the presence of western countries in the Iran. But later on when the Shah decided to fight against the Islamic religion and the Iranian culture the revolution turned to concentrate in the religious meaning. The Shah was fighting the Islamic religion and created many different anti Islam policies. Therefore many Islamic scholars opposed him for a long time and later on Khomeini became the leader of this anti Shah movement. Although it started as a political protest in the end all this movement turned out to be based more on religious thoughts and Islamic fundamentals. And this is why it is also called Islamic revolution. Additionally, after the Revolution all the laws of the country were revised based on Islamic laws and its outcome turned to be the proclamation of the new Islamic republic, which “was established in April 1979 after the revolution successfully overthrew the monarchy of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi." . The ideology of the Islamic Revolution has been called a “complex combination” of nationalism, political populism, and Shia Islamic religious radicalism. The Iranian revolution expresses itself in the language of Islam as a religious movement with a religious leadership, a religiously formulated critique of the old order, and religiously expressed plans for the new. Muslim revolutionaries look to the birth of Islam as their model, and see themselves as engaged in a struggle against paganism and oppression. Although the revolution did started, in fact was triggered by political and economic reasons. “In 1975, a drop in oil revenues (Iran’s main source of income) led to a serious economic crisis. This set the stage for one of the protests that eventually toppled the Shah’s regime” . The Iranian citizens fought and showed their discomfort against the western presence in the country, which was leading to a series of reforms by the government known as “westernization” what lead to many revolts and demonstrations.

The government at the time was controlled by outside nations (U.S.A and Britain). “In the early 1950s when Britain discovered Iran’s oil, the Shah, a western controlled "marionette" was put into power to control and nationalize this resource. During the late 1970’s the people of Iran started to revolt against this western control in their country” . This external control of the government not also affected the countries’ political and economic system but it made the citizens very angry. Another event such as the removing of President Dr. Musaddk who was a strong defender the national interest made the situation even worse in the country. “The event of President Dr. Musaddk being removed from the government by the U.S.A and Britain supporting coup in 1953 is considered one of the most important issues. The most popular and known by the public as the defender of national interests, President Dr. Musaddk in Iran ousted from power in this way, had a negative effect on Iranian people. Also Iranian experts

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