The Islamic Revolution

Or, The Iranian Revolution of 1979

Terms• Islam is a religion.• Muslim is a person practicing Islam.• Not all Arabic countries are Islamic.• Not all Islamic Countries are Arabic.• Not all Muslims wear a veil (hijab.)• Hijab or ḥijāb (حجاب, IPA: [ħi.ˈdʒæːb]) is the

Arabic word for "curtain / cover" (noun), based on the root حجب meaning "to cover, to veil, to shelter". In popular use, hijab means "head cover and modest dress for women" among Muslims, which most Islamic legal systems define as covering everything except the face, feet and hands in public.[

World Arab League Countries

• The Arab League comprises of 22 members. The members are Jordan, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Tunisia, Algeria, Djibouti, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria, Somalia, Iraq, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Comoros, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, Egypt, Morocco, Mauritiana and Yemen.

• http://www.mapsofworld.com/thematic-maps/world-arab-league-countries-map.htm

Arab/Muslim ?

• Nearly one in five people in the world today claims the faith of Islam.

• A diverse community of believers spans the globe.

• Over FIFTY countries have Muslim Majority populations, while other groups of believers are clustered in minority communities on nearly every continent.

• Although Islam is often associated with the Arab world and the Middle East, fewer than 15% of Muslims are Arab.

Muslim Populations

• Africa 308,660,000 27.4%• Asia 778,362,000 69.1%• Europe 32,032,000 2.8%• Latin America 1,356,000 0.1%• North America 5,530,000 0.5% • Oceania 385,000 0.0%• World 1,126,325,000

100%

Top 30 Countries with Muslim populations over 10%.

Indonesia 182.2 m

Pakistan 136.9 m

Bangladesh 115.0 m

India 108.6 m

Iran 63.9 m

Turkey 61.0 m

Egypt 51.6 m

Nigeria 40.2 m

Algeria 29.1 m

China 29.1 m

Morocco 29.1 m

Iraq 21.4

Sudan 20.4

Ethiopia 18.3 m

Afghanistan 18.0 m

Yemen 16.1 m

Saudia Arabia 16.0 m

Uzbekistan 15.9 m

Malaysia 10.5 m

Mali 9.4 m

Tunesia 9.0 m

Somalia 8.5 m

Senegal 7.7 m

Niger 7.5 m

Kzakhstan 6.9 m

Guinea 6.5 m

Azerbaijan 6.1 m

Cote d’Ivoire 5.9 m

Libya 5.2 m

Tajikstan 5.2 m

Map of Islamic Countries

HISTORY: Mohammad Reza Shah• Replaced his father as king of Iran in 1941 at the

age of 21.• Mohammad Reza Shah's rule oversaw the

nationalization of the Iranian oil industry under the prime ministership of Mohammad Mossadeq. He continued the reform policies of his father, but quickly a contest for the control of government erupted between Shah and Mohammad Mossadeq.

• During WWII The US and Britain were concerned with Iran’s friendly relationship with Germany.

• They invaded, occupied large areas of Iran, and forced Reza Shah to resign from the throne.

• In need for a new leader, they permitted Mohammad Reza Shah to take the throne, but he began his reign amidst political disarray, economic problems, and food shortages.

• While a Muslim himself, the Shah gradually lost support from the Shi'a clergy of Iran, particularly due to his strong policy of modernization, secularization and conflict with the traditional class of merchants known as bazaari, and recognition of Israel. Clashes with the religious right increased communist activity and a 1953 period of political disagreements with Mohammad Mossadeq, eventually leading to Mossadeq's ousting, caused an increasingly autocratic rule.

• Shah vowed to act as a monarch who deferred to the parliament, but he continued to increase his involvement in political affairs and oppose strong prime ministers.

• He focused on reviving the army and making sure the army was under royal control.

• In 1949 there was an assassination attempt on Shah by the pro-Soviet Tudeh party, resulting in the banning of that party and expansion of the Shah’s power.

• Mohammad Reza established himself as a strong Western Ally amidst the Cold War, and at home he focused on reform policies such as extension of voting rights to women and the elimination of illiteracy.

• In 1967 he crowned himself King of Kings (Emperor of Iran) and his wife empress, causing discontent among many levels of society.

• The increasing arbitrariness of the Shah's rule provoked both religious leaders who feared losing their traditional authority and students and intellectuals seeking democratic reforms.

• These opponents criticized the Shah for violation of the constitution, which placed limits on royal power and provided for a representative government, and for subservience to the United States.

• The Shah saw himself as heir to the kings of ancient Iran, and in 1971 he held an extravagant celebration of 2,500 years of Persian monarchy. In 1976 he replaced the Islamic calendar with an "imperial" calendar, which began with the foundation of the Persian empire more than 25 centuries earlier.

• These actions were viewed as anti-Islamic and resulted in religious opposition.

• By the mid-1970s the Shah reigned amidst widespread socioeconomic changes that benefited some classes at the expense of others, and the increasing gap between the ruling elite and the disaffected populace.

• Islamic leaders, particularly the exiled cleric Ayatollah Khomeini, were able to focus this discontent with a populist ideology tied to Islamic principles and calls for the overthrow of the shah.

• Amnesty International reported that Iran had as many as 2,200 political prisoners in 1978.

• Amnesty International reported that Iran had as many as 2,200 political prisoners in 1978.

• The Shah's government collapsed following widespread uprisings in 1978 -1979 and consequently an Islamic Republic succeeded his regime.

• With advanced cancer, he left Iran in January 1979 to begin a life in exile. He lived in Egypt, Morocco, the Bahamas, and Mexico before going to the US for treatment of lymphatic cancer.

• His arrival in New York City led to the Iranian takeover of the American Embassy in Tehran by "Students of Imam's Line" and the taking hostage of more than 50 Americans for 444 days.

• The Shah died in Cairo, Egypt, on July 27, 1980.

Timeline of US / Iran Involvement

• 1953 US AND BRITISH INTELLIGENCE SERVICES ENGINEER A COUP IN WHICH IRANIAN MILITARY OFFICERS DEPOSE PRIME MINISTER MUHAMMAD MUSSADEQ, A LEADING EXPONENT OF NATIONALISING THE OIL INDUSTRY.

• 1979 16 JANUARY - US-BACKED SHAH OF IRAN FORCED TO LEAVE THE COUNTRY AFTER WIDESPREAD DEMONSTRATIONS AND STRIKES.

• 1979 1 FEBRUARY - ISLAMIC RELIGIOUS LEADER AYATOLLAH KHOMEINI RETURNS FROM EXILE AND TAKES EFFECTIVE POWER.

• 1979 4 NOVEMBER - IRANIAN STUDENTS SEIZE 63 HOSTAGES AT US EMBASSY IN TEHRAN, PROMPTING DRAWN-OUT CRISIS LEADING TO SEVERING OF DIPLOMATIC TIES AND SWEEPING US SANCTIONS AGAINST IRAN. THEIR INITIAL DEMAND IS THAT THE SHAH RETURN FROM THE US TO IRAN TO FACE TRIAL. LATER IRAN ALSO DEMANDS THE US UNDERTAKE NOT TO INTERFERE IN ITS AFFAIRS.

ISLAM

• The literal meaning of Islam is peace; surrender of one’s will i.e. losing oneself for the sake of God and surrendering one’s own pleasure for the pleasure of God. The message of Islam was revealed to the Holy Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings on him) 1, 400 years ago. It was revealed through angel Gabriel (on whom be peace) and was thus preserved in the Holy Quran. The Holy Quran carries a Divine guarantee of safeguard from interpolation and it claims that it combines the best features of the earlier scriptures. (taken directly from Islam.com)

Islam, Continued

• A Muslim has five main duties to perform, namely; bearing witness to the Unity of God and Muhammad (peace and blessings on him) as His Messenger, observing the prescribed prayer, payment of Zakat, keeping the fasts of Ramadhan and performing the pilgrimage to Mecca.

• Islam believes that each person is born pure.

The Origins of Islam

• Islam arose, like Christianity and Judaism, on the Arabian Peninsula amongst the Semitic people. Islam's founder, the prophet Muhammad, was born almost 600 years after Jesus of Nazareth in the Arabian city of Mecca. At the time, Mecca was an important commercial center.   

• Muhammad was to enter into a successful career as a trader, and made several business trips to Persia and other lands. Nicknamed "the Reliable" (al-Amin), Muhammad was a reflective man who greatly valued dignity and respect in his dealings with family and friends.

• Arabia in Muhammad's day was home to a great variety of religious practices; people there worshipped a number of divinities, and called upon each for inspiration or assistance as the occasion demanded. Challenging these beliefs, perhaps, were Jewish communities that had established themselves in the northern half of the peninsula and the Sheban dynasty, in the far south, which had converted to Judaism.

• Christianity, also, was not unknown to the Arabic population- from time to time, missionaries who spoke of the teachings of Jesus appeared in Mecca, and won some converts. Muhammad's encounters with these dominant belief systems, and with other more minor religions he had come across in his travels, led him to ponder their meanings, and to undertake to discern the "true faith."

• As he grew older, this pursuit came to occupy more and more of his time. He often retreated to a cave above Mecca (caves being sources of power, according to ancient Arabic belief) to meditate on religious matters.

• According to Islamic history, it was there that Muhammad, at age 42, was visited by the angel Gabriel, a well-established figure from the Jewish and Christian lore.

• Gabriel informed Muhammad that he was to be the definitive prophet of "Allah," the true God, and that he would be responsible for transmitting to the world the true and complete will of the Creator. This will was then revealed to Muhammad by Gabriel in the form of the 114 surahs (chapters) which would comprise the Koran.

• Gabriel also spoke of other, lesser prophets who had come before Muhammad and through their actions furthered Allah's work amongst the inhabitants of His creation. These prophets included some recognized as such by Islam's sister religions, such as Jesus, Abraham, and Moses.

• The Islamic view is that these holy men, through their good deeds and their primitive insight into Allah's will, helped prepare the world for the revelation of the Koran.

• The major books of the Christian and Jewish traditions (the Torah and the Gospels) are thus accepted by Islam as being divinely inspired.

• But while Islam from its inception had adopted the teachings and the luminaries of its antecedents, it differed sharply with them on certain matters. Principal among these, of course, was the fact that Christians and Jews refused to recognize Muhammad as the final prophet of the one true God.

• There were also differences over fundamental matters of doctrine. Islam denounced the Christian concept of the Trinity as blasphemous, as it put Jesus on the same level as God. The more humble Islamic view holds that Allah's messengers, including Muhammad, are never more than men, however developed their divine insight may be.

Islam v. Christianity

• Islam denounced the Christian concept of the Trinity as blasphemous, as it put Jesus on the same level as God.

• The more humble Islamic view holds that Allah's messengers, including Muhammad, are never more than men, however developed their divine insight may be.

• These differences, which some might consider slight (in face of the religions' commonalities) ended up pitting the two traditions against one another, and resentment between the camps quickly grew.

• As each claimed to be the "one true faith," their simultaneous existence (and growth) undermined the other's claims to universal truth. This row over matters of faith was translated into political hostility and armed conflict.

• For centuries, a succession of Christian and Islamic empires waged war upon one another, with the justification being that the souls of the conquered would be saved in the conquest.

• Likewise, the more latent competition between Islam and Judaism has come around to a desperate struggle between the nation of Israel and its Arab-Islamic neighbors. It is interesting to reflect upon how much of this mutual resentment is based on events that took place up to fourteen centuries ago.

FYI

• Nowhere in Muslim law is violence permitted or advocated as a religious act.

• There are Muslim Extremists just as well as Jewish and Christian Extremists. I’ve never heard of a Buddhist Extremist, but they’re probably out there.

• The information on this PowerPoint is designed as a guide to help you through Persepolis.

I am not, nor do I claim to be, an EXPERT on this

topic.

Lovingly yours,

Mrs. Korczyk