Superstition as Ideology in Iranian Politics: From Majlesi to Ahmadinejad (Cambridge Middle East Studies)
Cambridge University Press, 6/6/2011
EAN 9781107005181, ISBN10: 1107005183
Hardcover, 334 pages, 23.6 x 16.2 x 2.2 cm
Language: English
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. 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.
Introduction
Part I. Politicizing Occult Islam
1. Ahmadinejad
a touch of light
2. Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi's supernatural Shi'ism
3. Shah Esma'il Safavi
the quintessentially occult Shi'i king
Part II. Popular Shi'ism
Majlesism
4. Milieu, childhood, sanctity and fame
5. From conceptualization to officialization of a religio-political ideology
6. Deficiency and defectiveness of the human mind
7. Society needs the leadership of jurists and/or kings
8. Superstitious education
fogging minds, fostering resignation
9. Reconfigurating the necessities of belief
articulating a state religion
10. Majlesism as an ideology
Conclusion.