Russian Islam

Rooz Online

One of ayatollah Khomeini’s popular notions in the 1980s was “Pure Mohammadian Islam” to counter “American Islam.” He believed that an interpretation of Islam which advanced the interests of the United States was in fact American Islam and deserves to be rejected completely.

A quarter century after the death of Khomeini if we use that standard to look at the policies of the Islamic republic of Iran we will see an Islam that is in the interests of Russia, and which fulfills that country’s goals. The difference between the Russian and American Islam of course is that if during the last two decades the West saw its interests to be the spread of democracy, Russia continued to pursue the Stalinist totalitarian legacy.

We have derived the concept of “Russian Islam” from ayatollah Khomeini’s discourse in which if he defined an interpretation of Islam that promoted Washington’s goals it to be labeled American Islam, then why should an Islam that promotes Moscow’s interests not be called Russian Islam?

To demonstrate this situation one only needs to observe that the Islamic republic of Iran, especially in the last decade, succeeded to switch its animosity to the West – which today is completely different from the West of ayatollah Khomeini’s days - to buying Russia’s support (while being completely humiliated by Moscow in its cooperation to build Iran’s first nuclear power plant) without acquiring a position through which it could make effective objections against its northern neighbor’s behavior and policies.

The “Ideology of Love” from Kerbala to Damascus

The Islamic republic’s alignment of its regional and international policies with the Russians and the similarity in the way Iranian rulers run the country with Stalinist methods, as demonstrated during the 2009 post presidential election protests, has advanced the alliance between Tehran and Moscow to the point where the successors of the Red army are now standing shoulder to shoulder with the Revolutionary Guards of the Islamic republic. Both now protect the “Zeinab Mausoleums” in Damascus! Seyed Hassan Nasrollah, the head of Lebanese Hizbullah, confirmed this just three weeks ago when he said, “They went into Syria (with support from Russia and Iran) because the Zeinab Mausoleum was threatened by terrorists.” Zeinab was the grand-daughter of Mohammad and is a revered personality in Shite history.

The power of history had of course been tried before. When politicians saw the power of Kerbala’s message and ideal during the eight-year war between Iran and Iraq, they turned that story into a caricature and brought a Russian version into the market so that they could extend the “ideology of love” from Kerbala to Damascus and then use Zeinab’s mausoleum and story to defend Bashar Assad’s 14-year dictatorship and his interests.

Russian Figh - Islamic Jurisprudence

Refraining from criticizing authority is probably a feature of Russian figh, by which nobody has the right to publicly criticize this regime. Mr. Khamenei issued a fatwa on this titled “banning public criticism of regime authorities” in the Persian month of Mordad (July 23 – August 20). The text reads, “There is no problem in reporting oppressive measures committed by authorities to responsible individuals and offices in order to stop them, after investigation and certainly, and if these are among the (Islamic) principle of rejecting evil (nahi az monker) is necessary. But expressing these in public has no justification and is banned (haram) if it results in sedition, corruption and the weakening of the Islamic regime” (See Ajob al Masael, Tahasos va Khabarchini va Efsha Asrar, no 1391).

The text of another related fatwa reads, “It is clear that any act that results in discredit of the image of the Islamic Republic which is confronting world arrogance, is not in the interest of Islam or Muslims. Therefore, such remarks are not permissible if they weaken the Islamic republic regime” (same source).

Depressed Muslims and Distressed Leaders

Recently, ayatollah Javadi Amoli, who holds the most important chair of interpreting Islam in the Ghom Theological Center, criticized the non-Islamic aspects of the country when he said, “We have only understood five percent of Islam while 95 percent of it is eating dust.”

The former commander of the Revolutionary Guards also recently revealed Mr. Khamenei’s anxiety over the need to “Islamisize the Guards” and said that this goal was more important that the other responsibilities of the Guards. Another hardline ultra-conservative cleric echoed this concern in recent months when he said. Ayatollah Mohammad-Taghi Mesbah Yazdi (the leader of the Principlists group) complained that the necessary will to Islamize the social sciences was absent and unfortunately after the passage of 35 years since the Islamic revolution we still do not have clear policies.”

While these are just a few of the more recent direct references to the belief that Islamic is either in danger or that it is withering away. At the practical level too, the special moral police is busy in the cities, the eyes of the censors scan every book and movie and the hands of the state reaches out into the private lives of people as ways to prevent something undesirable happening to Islam.

Many of the hands that were key in the formation of the Islamic republic have over time been eliminated through imprisonment, exile or death on charges of engaging in propaganda against the Islamic regime. The Islam that has emerged, part American which then turned Russian, got busy detaining, imprisoning and murdering Muslims and non-Muslims and as a consequence took away joy and happiness from the face of Iran which has produced Hafez, Saadi, Molana and many other philosophers. Now, after 35 years, its own leaders have realized that they have no clear policies, that 95 percent of their Islam is eating dust or that they must Islamisize the largest military force that they created to protect their version of Islam.

The Final Stop

Islam in Iran has now arrived at the Russian stop. The faith (with a security dimension) that was supposed to save life and the world from confusion and bewilderment has produced just the opposite. In this experiment, not only is society depressed but the recent statements indicate that its leaders are distressed as well!

But there is not next stop! Before it is too late, faith should be left to the people. History has shown that faith is dearer in a democratic government and society and that whenever there were no “guardians of the faith” people found heaven much easier and faster.