foucault-and-the-iranian-revolution-janet-afary
foucault-and-the-iranian-revolution-janet-afary
foucault-and-the-iranian-revolution-janet-afary
Create successful ePaper yourself
Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.
62 Foucault's Discourse<br />
For Shariati, <strong>the</strong> key point in <strong>the</strong> story of Karbala was Hussein's existential<br />
choice. Hussein could not fight <strong>and</strong> win over <strong>the</strong> more powerful Yazid,<br />
nor could he remain silent. Therefore, he chose a third option, death, which<br />
opened <strong>the</strong> possibility of an au<strong>the</strong>ntic Shi'ite Islam for o<strong>the</strong>rs. Martyrdom,<br />
as defined by Shariati, was a mystiCal experience, full of erotic charge, <strong>and</strong><br />
beyond "science <strong>and</strong> logic." The story of Hussein's martyrdom was "so exciting<br />
that it pulls <strong>the</strong> spirit toward <strong>the</strong> fire. It paralyzes logic. It weakens<br />
speech. It even makes thinking difficult." Martyrdom was <strong>the</strong> combination<br />
of "a refined love <strong>and</strong> a deep, complex wisdom" (Shariati 1970, 154). The<br />
martyr was a "model" <strong>and</strong> an "example" for o<strong>the</strong>r human beings; <strong>the</strong> efficacy<br />
<strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> resonance of martyrdom were "broader, deeper, more continuous<br />
than that of jihad, even one that is victorious" (194, 207). Martyrdom was a<br />
privilege because one invited death at a time of one's own choosing. It was<br />
"a choice, whereby <strong>the</strong> warrior sacrifices himself on <strong>the</strong> threshold of <strong>the</strong> temple<br />
<strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> altar of love <strong>and</strong> is victorious" (193). Despite <strong>the</strong> claim that he<br />
was presenting an "au<strong>the</strong>ntic Islam," Shariati's reading was heavily indebted<br />
to Western thought, including some of <strong>the</strong> most virulent forms of Christian<br />
anti-Semitism. For example, he referred to "money-worshipping Jews" <strong>and</strong> to<br />
"deceitful Christ-killing rabbis" (208). Many leading clerics <strong>and</strong> even some<br />
secular Muslim intellectuals of this period shared such sentiments.<br />
But <strong>the</strong>re was also a stronger philosophical <strong>and</strong> hermeneutical appropriation<br />
of aspects of Western thought in Shariati's work. In Being <strong>and</strong> Time,<br />
Heidegger had reinterpreted <strong>the</strong> crucifixion <strong>and</strong> resurrection ofJesus to arrive<br />
at a new philosophical meaning. When faced with <strong>the</strong> possibility of one's own<br />
death, one adopted an attitude of freedom-toward-death <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong>reby experienced<br />
au<strong>the</strong>ntic living, he had written. Shariati was influenced by this <strong>and</strong><br />
similar hermeneutical readings of Christianity. But his notion of au<strong>the</strong>nticity<br />
was aimed at <strong>the</strong> community ra<strong>the</strong>r than <strong>the</strong> individual. When Shi'ites faced<br />
a formidable enemy of Islam, one who could not be defeated, <strong>the</strong>y had two<br />
options: (1) to remain silent <strong>and</strong> allow <strong>the</strong> oppression to continue, or (2) to<br />
choose death <strong>and</strong> at least create <strong>the</strong> possibility of au<strong>the</strong>ntic (Muslim) living<br />
fo r o<strong>the</strong>rs. In a morbid appeal to <strong>the</strong> youth, both young men <strong>and</strong> women,<br />
Shariati argued that this type of death was as beautiful as a "necklace" around<br />
<strong>the</strong> neck of a young <strong>and</strong> beautiful girl, that such martyrdom was "an adornment<br />
for mankind" (Shariati 1970, 177).<br />
Shariati also parted company with Christian <strong>the</strong>ologians, who had argued<br />
that Jesus "sacrificed himself for humanity" (Shariati 1970, 209). A similar<br />
reading of <strong>the</strong> story of Karbala could have suggested that Yazid's forces had<br />
also acted according to <strong>the</strong> will of God <strong>and</strong> hence deserved some mercy.<br />
But Shariati's vitriolic discourse lacked mercy or forgiveness. The mission