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Recent events in the Middle East have many commentators frantically speculating about what the future holds for Egypt, Tunisia, Algeria, Yemen, Iran, Bahrain, Libya, Syria and any other country whose citizens are choosing to rise up in protest. Across the region, people are bravely standing up, with many common demands -- chiefly, social and economic reforms, as well as an end to rampant corruption and human rights abuses. Who could find fault with that? Unfortunately, a whole lot of people.
Among Western nations and their respective media outlets, an intense fear has been perpetuated as a result of these protests: namely, that of an "Islamized" (whatever that means) Middle East. In this case, world leaders and commentators seem to be on the same page. They are terrified that more regimes will go the way of post-revolutionary Iran and become Islamic Republics as well. Stop there.
Is Iran really an Islamic Republic? No. The mullahs and ayatollahs have created a brutal dictatorship that is about as legitimately Islamic in nature as the Ku Klux Klan is Christian. In fact, the protests in Iran (both in 2009 after the fraudulent election of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and more recently this week) have shown the world that even the Iranian people aren't moving in the direction of Iran circa 1979. Far from it.
But does that mean that Iranians are turning away from their Islamic roots? Again, no. In fact, they are turning toward a more Islamic republic, or better put, a true Islamic republic. So too, others across the Middle East (whether they recognize it or not) are turning toward more genuinely Islamic states.
If Western nations understood what a true Islamic republic looked like, I expect that they wouldn't be nearly as jarred or frightened by the recent wave of popular protests spreading across the Middle East. A bona fide Islamic republic is one that respects the rights of ethnic and religious minorities, one that doesn't torture, one that eschews institutionalized sexism and honors human rights. But above all, an authentic Islamic republic is one that is both democratic and secular.
The Holy Quran, the only uncontested source of revelation for all Muslims, explicitly states that there should be "no compulsion in religion" (2:256). Key to all Islamic belief and practice is the concept of niyyat or "intention." And no full, pure and independent intention can be achieved under a theocratic regime, especially (as is the case in Iran) when that regime is trying to force its adulterated interpretation of Islam down its people's throats.
Thus, the phrase "Islamic republic" is an inherently misleading one, for a theocratic state is, by definition, an un-Islamic state -- not merely because it interferes with the establishment of the pure intentions necessary to practice Islam, but also because it assumes the impossible. To become a Muslim, one must make the following proclamation of faith, or shahada: "I bear witness that there is no god but God and that Muhammad is His messenger."
As much as the leaders of the "Islamic" Republic of Iran would like us to believe that the Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Khamenei, is the voice of God on earth, they are sorely mistaken. Why? Becausela ilaha ilallah. Translation: There is no god but God. For Muslims, God speaks through the Holy Quran, which teaches that God is as close to any human being as his or her jugular vein (50:16). As such, Muslims seeking union with the Divine possess no need for an intermediary -- no ayatollahs or mullahs or even imams.
Muslims around the Middle East are demanding their rights today -- not just as granted by their constitutions or the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. They are demanding the rights guaranteed to them by the Holy Quran itself: rights to freedom, democracy, independence and yes, secular rule.
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With Salami to all those who support freedom & democracy for Iran & Iranians of all kinds (except the criminal Dictators of all times in our history). I am glad, you speak your mind out. According to my belief, all those who respect the struggle against the criminal mullahs, would naturally respect those who are giving sacrifices for this STRUGGLE. In my opinion Mojahedin have given the most SACRIFICES for the cause of freedom in our contemporary history and that deserves the most respect from all those who are really for a democratic & free Iran.
AntwortenLöschenOne other factor makes me to realize that their struggles has been the most EFFECTIVE one in this regard. The mullahs & their supporters have been attacking this movement in the whole past 32 years and they keep saying that they have no support and... I mean if that was true, they must have been a "forgotten" movement! Just like many other political GROUPS which mullah khomeini had destroyed. They are still there and they are still showing that the struggle against the mullahs never ends until their DOWNFALL.
So if that makes a supporter of any movement which is in the business of getting rid of the criminal mullahs, then let it be so.
I find your openness for the main issues (the struggle for freedom against the mullahs and all other dictators), is respectable and helpful. That is to say that all of us who do this are the friends of our
our people and deserve our respect as well. I am sure when these criminal mullahs are overthrown, we will see many facts about those who were supporting. I mean, we will be confronted with documents and fresh evidences. At the time of khomeini' coming to the power, he had kept all those documents from being revealed. He brought them in his criminal apparatus, enjoying their "experiences" in torture and brutalities. Namely shah's savakies who were trained by the shah's "supporters! and this time around with a democratic people's choice the history would be written with honesty.
AntwortenLöschenWe may think so but we may also like to put aside this until a better time. Now days they are having a confrontation against the mullahs and this should be supported. This helps the uprising for freedom. They too deserve to be freed from the CLAWS of the criminal mullahs. What they have done in the past is another issue for another time and day.
AntwortenLöschen