WHY RELIGION?
Being one of the theocratic countries, Iran has been isolated from the rest of the world due to its strict religious rules and the rigidity of the religious leaders. Therefore, I believe it would be interesting to analysis the cause of such cleavage and see how it impacted political participation in the country.
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
The religion cleavage of Iran can be traced back to the split of the Islamic belief of Shiism and Sunnism. The split of the religion was primarily based on the dispute of the succession of Prophet Muhammad in 632 A.D.. While most of Muhammad’s followers wanted the whole community to determine the successor, a small group of people believed that the person should be someone from Muhammad’s family. Therefore, they nominated Ali, who was married to Muhammad’s daughter. This small group of people was known as the Shiites. On the other hand, those who believed that the elite of the community would be the best successor were known as the Sunnis. Although Ali eventually became the fourth caliph, civil and religious leader of a Muslim state, the succession of Ali marked the start of a violent split in the Islamic society.
Effects on Political Participation
There is
almost no political participation in Iran due to its Constitutions which grant
almost all political powers to the religious leaders who "interpret"
the law. These religious leaders are known as the Council of Guardians who are
appointed by the Supreme Leader and other Islamic institutions in Iran. The
Council of Guardians approves laws, however, only those which adhere and
benefit the Islamic belief. Therefore, political freedom is extremely limited
in Iran. For instance, a newly formed party will have to issue a license from
the Ministry of Internal Affairs for their activities. However, if any of its
activities are deemed to be against the interest of the regime, the license
will be revoked. As a result, there is no true "participation" in
Iran and opportunities are limited because everything is strictly censored by
the group of religious leaders.
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The Mosque
The mosque, considered as a religious
and civic duty for the people, is the only direct political participation in
Iran. People participate in weekly congregational prayers which deliver
political sermons, and many religious-political associations gather at the masque
organizing various activities, investigating religious credential aspirants,
conducting classes for education, and setting up teams to monitor shop price
and personal behavior.
Ironically, in a survey conducted by the World Value Surveys, more than 90 percent of people in Iran consider themselves as being religious Muslims while less than 30 percent of them attend the weekly mosque activity. Such contradiction between the self-determination and actual performances of the people resulted from the over-politicization of religion which leads to the disenchantment with religion among the citizens.
Ironically, in a survey conducted by the World Value Surveys, more than 90 percent of people in Iran consider themselves as being religious Muslims while less than 30 percent of them attend the weekly mosque activity. Such contradiction between the self-determination and actual performances of the people resulted from the over-politicization of religion which leads to the disenchantment with religion among the citizens.
Personal Insights and Prediction
However, there
is a gradual split between the government and the religious leader now as the
Association of Researchers and Teachers of Qom, a group of Iranian religious
leaders, calling the recent presidential elections and the new government it
created “illegitimate” in July. Such expression shows a growing conflict of
interest between President Rouhani and the
religious leaders. Furthermore, because of the sanction that is isolating Iran
from the other countries and suppressing its economy, it is likely that reformist
President Rouhani would compromise with the West on the nuclear weapon Iran is
currently obtaining. Such compromise is against the will of the religious leaders
because they still believe that holding the nuclear weapon is the best way to
protect themselves from the western invasion.
Charts
Links
1. http://web.clas.ufl.edu/users/kenwald/pos6292/Tezcur%20et%20all%20Critique%202006.pdf
2. http://www.immi.gov.au/media/publications/statistics/comm-summ/_pdf/iran.pdf
3. http://www.iranreview.org/content/Documents/Political_Participation_in_Iran.htm
4. http://countrystudies.us/iran/97.htm
5. http://www.gozaar.org/english/articles-en/Political-Participation-in-Iran.html
6. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/joshua-gleis/religious-divisions-in-ir_b_230866.html
7. http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/iran/religion.htm
2. http://www.immi.gov.au/media/publications/statistics/comm-summ/_pdf/iran.pdf
3. http://www.iranreview.org/content/Documents/Political_Participation_in_Iran.htm
4. http://countrystudies.us/iran/97.htm
5. http://www.gozaar.org/english/articles-en/Political-Participation-in-Iran.html
6. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/joshua-gleis/religious-divisions-in-ir_b_230866.html
7. http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/iran/religion.htm