Religious Statecraft

Religious Statecraft PDF Author: Mohammad Ayatollahi Tabaar
Publisher: Columbia University Press
ISBN: 0231545061
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 395

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Book Description
Since the 1979 revolution, scholars and policy makers alike have tended to see Iranian political actors as religiously driven—dedicated to overturning the international order in line with a theologically prescribed outlook. This provocative book argues that such views have the link between religious ideology and political order in Iran backwards. Religious Statecraft examines the politics of Islam, rather than political Islam, to achieve a new understanding of Iranian politics and its ideological contradictions. Mohammad Ayatollahi Tabaar traces half a century of shifting Islamist doctrines against the backdrop of Iran’s factional and international politics, demonstrating that religious narratives in Iran can change rapidly, frequently, and dramatically in accordance with elites’ threat perceptions. He argues that the Islamists’ gambit to capture the state depended on attaining a monopoly over the use of religious narratives. Tabaar explains how competing political actors strategically develop and deploy Shi’a-inspired ideologies to gain credibility, constrain political rivals, and raise mass support. He also challenges readers to rethink conventional wisdom regarding the revolution, Ayatollah Khomeini, the U.S. embassy hostage crisis, the Iran-Iraq War, the Green Movement, nuclear politics, and U.S.–Iran relations. Based on a micro-level analysis of postrevolutionary Iranian media and recently declassified documents as well as theological journals and political memoirs, Religious Statecraft constructs a new picture of Iranian politics in which power drives Islamist ideology.

Religion and Nation

Religion and Nation PDF Author: Kathryn Spellman
Publisher: Berghahn Books
ISBN: 9781571815774
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 252

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Book Description
"Given the lack of information about this population in the Westrn world, the focused materials presented in this book help build a better information base on the diverse practices and beliefs of Iranian outside their homeland." - Choice "[This] first full-length study of the Iranian Muslim diaspora in Britain . . . enhances our empirical and theoretical understanding." - The Muslim World Book Review An estimated 75,000 Iranians emigrated to Britain after the 1979 revolution and the establishment of the Islamic Republic. They are politically, religiously, socio-economically and ethnically heterogeneous, and have found themselves in the ongoing process of settlement. The aim of this book is to explore facets of this process by examining the ways in which religious traditions and practices have been maintained, negotiated and rejected by Iranians from Muslim backgrounds and how they have served as identity-building vehicles during the course of migration, in relation to the political, economic, and social situation in Iran and Britain. While the ethnographic focus is on Iranians, this book touches on more general questions associated with the process of migration, transnational societies, Diasporas, and religious as well as ethnic minorities. Kathryn Spellman received her MSc. and Ph.D. in Politics and Sociology at Birkbeck College, University of London, where she is currently an Honorary Research Fellow. She is a lecturer of sociology at Huron International University in London and Syracuse University (London Campus). Kathryn is also a Visiting Research Fellow in the Centre of Migration Studies Department at the University of Sussex.

Spirituality in the Land of the Noble

Spirituality in the Land of the Noble PDF Author: Richard Foltz
Publisher: ONEWorld
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 232

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Book Description
An evocative journey into a diverse culture, this is the engaging yet long-neglected story of Iran’s influence on the beliefs, practices, and scriptures of the world’s religious traditions. Spanning the full spectrum of Persian history from the earliest settlers right up to the present age, Foltz offers a fascinating and invaluable insight into not only Iranian identity, but also the way in which religious traditions grow and change.

Religious Minorities in Iran

Religious Minorities in Iran PDF Author: Eliz Sanasarian
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 113942985X
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 251

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Book Description
Eliz Sanasarian's book explores the political and ideological relationship between non-Muslim religious minorities in Iran and the state during the formative years of the Islamic Republic to the present day. Her analysis is based on a detailed examination of the history and experiences of the Armenians, Assyrians, Chaldeans, Jews, Zoroastrians, Bahais and Iranian Christians, and describes how these communities have responded to state policies regarding minorities. Many of her findings are constructed out of personal interviews with members of these communities. While the book is essentially an empirical study, it also highlights more general questions associated with exclusion and marginalization and the role of the state in defining these boundaries. This is an important and original book which will make a significant contribution to the literature on minorities and to the workings of the Islamic Republic.

Iran

Iran PDF Author: Michael M. J. Fischer
Publisher: Univ of Wisconsin Press
ISBN: 0299184730
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 361

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Book Description
Unlike much of the instant analysis that appeared at the time of the Iranian revolution, Iran: From Religious Dispute to Revolution is based upon extensive fieldwork carried out in Iran. Michael M. J. Fischer draws upon his rich experience with the mullahs and their students in the holy city of Qum, composing a picture of Iranian society from the inside—the lives of ordinary people, the way that each class interprets Islam, and the role of religion and religious education in the culture. Fischer’s book, with its new introduction updating arguments for the post-Revolutionary period, brings a dynamic view of a society undergoing metamorphosis, which remains fundamental to understanding Iranian society in the early twenty-first century.

Islam, Judaism, and Zoroastrianism

Islam, Judaism, and Zoroastrianism PDF Author: Zayn R. Kassam
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 9789402412666
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
The earlier volume in this series dealt with two religions of Indian origin, namely, Buddhism and Jainism. The Indian religious scene, however, is characterized by not only religions which originated in India but also by religions which entered India from outside India and made their home here. Thus religious life in India has been enlivened throughout its history by the presence of religions of foreign origin on its soil almost from the very time they came into existence. This volume covers three such religions—Zoraoastrianism, Judaism, and Islam . In the case of Zoraostianism, even its very beginnings are intertwined with India, as Zoroastrianism reformed a preexisting religion which had strong links to the Vedic heritage of India. This relationship took on a new dimension when a Zoroastrian community, fearing persecution in Persia after its Arab conquest, sought shelter in western India and ultimately went on to produce India’s pioneering nationalist in the figure of Dadabhai Naoroji ( 1825-1917), also known as the Grand Old Man of India. Jews found refuge in south India after the destruction of the Temple by the Romans in 70 C.E. and have remained a part of the Indian religious scene since then, some even returning to Israel after it was founded in 1948. Islam arrived in Kerala as soon as it was founded and one of the earliest mosques in the history of Islam is found in India. Islam differs from the previously mentioned religions inasmuch as it went on to gain political hegemony over parts of the country for considerable periods of time, which meant that its impact on the religious life of the subcontinent has been greater compared to the other religions. It has also meant that Islam has existed in a religiously plural environment in India for a longer period than elsewhere in the world so that not only has Islam left a mark on India, India has also left its mark on it. Indeed all the three religions covered in this volume share this dual feature, that they have profoundly influenced Indian religious life and have also in turn been profoundly influenced by their presence in India.

An Introduction to Ancient Iranian Religion

An Introduction to Ancient Iranian Religion PDF Author: William W. Malandra
Publisher: U of Minnesota Press
ISBN: 0816611149
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 210

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Book Description


Too Many to Jail

Too Many to Jail PDF Author: Mark Bradley
Publisher: Monarch Books
ISBN: 0857215973
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 304

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Book Description
In 1979, there were fewer than 500 known Christians from a Muslim background in Iran. Today there are at least 100,000 believers . Church leaders believe that millions can be added to the church in the next few years ' such is the spiritual hunger that exists. The religious violence that accompanied the reign of President Ahmadinejad drained its perpetrators of political and religious legitimacy, and has opened the door to other faiths. This book sets the rapid church growth in Iran in the context of the deteriorating relationship between Iranians and their national religion. There is a major focus on the Ahmadinejad years, but the author also covers the history of the church before 1979, picking up on the central idea that the spark may have become buried in the ashes but has never been extinguished. The book is careful, proportionate, well-informed and accurate. Throughout the text there will be boxes with stories of faith, persecution, and encouragement.

The Iranian Metaphysicals

The Iranian Metaphysicals PDF Author: Alireza Doostdar
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 0691163782
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 312

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Book Description
What do the occult sciences, séances with the souls of the dead, and appeals to saintly powers have to do with rationality? Since the late nineteenth century, modernizing intellectuals, religious leaders, and statesmen in Iran have attempted to curtail many such practices as "superstitious," instead encouraging the development of rational religious sensibilities and dispositions. However, far from diminishing the diverse methods through which Iranians engage with the immaterial realm, these rationalizing processes have multiplied the possibilities for metaphysical experimentation. The Iranian Metaphysicals examines these experiments and their transformations over the past century. Drawing on years of ethnographic and archival research, Alireza Doostdar shows that metaphysical experimentation lies at the center of some of the most influential intellectual and religious movements in modern Iran. These forms of exploration have not only produced a plurality of rational orientations toward metaphysical phenomena but have also fundamentally shaped what is understood as orthodox Shi‘i Islam, including the forms of Islamic rationality at the heart of projects for building and sustaining an Islamic Republic. Delving into frequently neglected aspects of Iranian spirituality, politics, and intellectual inquiry, The Iranian Metaphysicals challenges widely held assumptions about Islam, rationality, and the relationship between science and religion.

Limu Shirin

Limu Shirin PDF Author: Arya Parsipur
Publisher: Notion Press
ISBN: 1948321742
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 269

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Book Description
After the notorious Islamic Revolution of Iran in 1979, many Iranians sought asylum abroad and resided in the free world. But what happened to those who stayed? How did they live under the turmoil of the new regime and the horrific war that followed? How was life in a land where children were trained as spies and youth were executed? Born and raised in Iran during those hard years, the author chronicles stories of her life through sad and sweet memories and tells us what it means to love your country, yet feel imprisoned within its borders.

Say What Your Longing Heart Desires

Say What Your Longing Heart Desires PDF Author: Niloofar Haeri
Publisher: Stanford University Press
ISBN: 1503614255
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 245

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Book Description
Following the 1979 revolution, the Iranian government set out to Islamize society. Muslim piety had to be visible, in personal appearance and in action. Iranians were told to pray, fast, and attend mosques to be true Muslims. The revolution turned questions of what it means to be a true Muslim into a matter of public debate, taken up widely outside the exclusive realm of male clerics and intellectuals. Say What Your Longing Heart Desires offers an elegant ethnography of these debates among a group of educated, middle-class women whose voices are often muted in studies of Islam. Niloofar Haeri follows them in their daily lives as they engage with the classical poetry of Rumi, Hafez, and Saadi, illuminating a long-standing mutual inspiration between prayer and poetry. She recounts how different forms of prayer may transform into dialogues with God, and, in turn, Haeri illuminates the ways in which believers draw on prayer and ritual acts as the emotional and intellectual material through which they think, deliberate, and debate.