ian towns and cities, including the capital Tehran. At the same time a stream of visitors from Iran, including many clerics, are received by the ayatollah in his mud-brick home in downtown Najaf each day. Ayatollah Sistani’s Persian-language Web site is attracting more than three millions visitors each month from Iran.
“Today, Sistani is probably the most influential Shi’ite [religious] leader in the world,” says Sabah Zangeneh, who was Tehran’s ambassador to the Organization of Islamic Conference until last year. “Many Iranians see in him a revival of the mainstream Shi’ite theology.”
Many clerics agree. “It is now clear to most Shi’ites that Khomeinism is a political ideology and a deviation [from the faith],” says Ayatollah Mahmoud Qomi-Tabatabi. “Those who represent authentic Shi’ism cannot speak out in Iran. This is why the Najaf clergy, especially Sistani, are emerging as a pole of attraction for Iranians.”
Another Iranian cleric, Hadi Qabel, says that Khomeinism should be regarded as “a political ideology” while Shi’ism, as a religious faith, is represented by “theologians like Sistani who do not seek power.” […]
Khomeinism, however, is a totalitarian ideology in which the clergy have a monopoly on power. They name one of their own as “Faqih al-Wali” (“theological guide”) who is given absolute power for life. Designated as “The Supreme Guide,” he could even order a suspension of the basic rules of Islam.
Khomeinism describes the people as “mustazafeen” (the feeble ones) who are incapable of discerning good from evil for themselves. Although Khomeinism uses part of the Shiite mythology, religious vocabulary and iconography, it must be treated as a distinct doctrine. The key slogans of Khomeinism make this clear. Everywhere in Iran one sees giant slogans reading: God, Quran, Khomeini!
Mainstream Shiites, as well as other Muslims, see these slogans as forms of “kufr” (impiety) because they associate a mortal, in this case Khomeini, with God while making no mention of Muhammad, the Prophet of Islam. Inspired by North Korean and Maoist models, images of Khomeini have been carved in mountains or grown as mini-forests, visible even from the skies — a cult of personality bordering on idolatry.
Khomeinism is a cocktail in which Shi’ism is an almost accidental ingredient. Its basic ingredient is a hatred of the West, especially the United States. It is also influenced by Marxism, with such ideas as thought control, single-party rule and the command of the economy by the state.
Leave a Reply