Islam in World Cultures: Comparative Perspectives - Islamic Books ...

Shi’ite Islam in Contemporary Iran 9 5ers in the government. He also reinterpreted dominant religious ideology—saying that “civil society,” “democracy,” “basic human rights,” and “right of law”are all Islamic notions—and allowed reformist presses to be opened. At thesame time, he increased government funding of artistic endeavors and curbedthe state’s control of people’s behavior (see Khatami 1997, 1998). As a result,women do not veil as strictly as in the earlier years of the Islamic Republic, andunrelated men and women can walk together without fear of being jailed. Peoplewould like to see further changes and reforms to the government, such as amore balanced view of Islamic law and a lessening of the powers of the officeof supreme leader and the Guardian Council. As for economic reform, peoplewould like to see a restructuring of government policy on how wealth is spentso as to make it transparent to public scrutiny. Finally, a more open journalism,less state oppression and control, and an acceptance of certain aspects of We s t-ern culture would be welcomed. Many of Khatami’s initial supporters feel he isnot reforming the government quickly enough. The conservative forces withinthe government have put up obstacles to these reforms by closing downdozens of the presses, imprisoning antigovernment writers and reformist studentswho have staged public protests. Most recently, Supreme LeaderKhamenei is trying to have the judiciary branch of the government make it illegalto promote reconciliation with the United States.Under Khatami’s administration, moderate thinkers have begun to appear,challenging the government by reinterpreting Islam once again. For example,one recently jailed cleric, Mohsen Kadivar, has published and given talks onv a rying interpretations of the central justification of the conservative branchof the government, velayat-e faqih. He has argued publicly what many other Iraniansthink privately, that the doctrine of velayat-e faqih does not necessarily entaildirect governmental power for clergy. Rather, such a position should be supe rv i s o ry, not executive, within a government. Because of the outspokennature of this interpretation, which threatens the religious legitimacy of thecurrent regime, Kadivar has been imprisoned. While Khatami implicitly agreeswith Kadivar, Khamenei does not (Milani 2001, 48).Since the late 1980s, Abdol Karim Soroush, a popular lay thinker, has beengiving public talks and publishing writings radically reinterpreting the meaningof Islam in light of modern philosophical notions of rationalism and postmodernthought (Dahlen 2002). He argues that Islam is innately compatiblewith tolerance, pluralism, and democracy, and so his ideas have appealed tomany who would like to see such political reform couched in Islamic terminology(Vakili 2001, 173–176). Soroush is conversant in and highly influenced byEuropean philosophers, especially Immanuel Kant, and by traditional modesof m a d r a s a knowledge, which includes Islamic law, philosophy, theology, andthe spiritual teachings of the famous medieval Persian poet Jalal ad-Din Rumi.In 1997, Soroush left his teaching post because of threats of violence.