Unit 3: Iran & Islamic Revolution Questions & Definitions

An ayatollah is...

A mujtahid especially renowned for his learning.

The Shah's "White Revolution" was...

A project of modernization & social transformation of Iranian society.

Who succeeded Khomeini as Faqih after his death?

Ali Khamenei

Constitutional developments in which of the following countries was a part of the relevant to Iran's constitution of 1906?

Belgium

The original Iranian constitution of 1906 was based on that of...

Belgium

The idea of velayet-e faqih supposes that Shiite religious scholars...

Could and should exercise legitimate political authority.

Guardian Council

Council of clerics to vet every proposed law to ensure its compatibility with Islam.

By the Iranian constitution of 1979, the most powerful figure was the....

Faqih (religious leader)

Ruhollah Khomeini spent most of his time in exile in which two countries?

France and Iraq

In his lectures Islamic Government (1970), Khomeini argued that Islam...

Had been deformed & distorted by Jews & imperialists.

Ijtihad

In Islam, reasoned interpretation of the sacred law by a qualified scholar.

The country with the largest Muslim population in the world is...

Indonesia

SAVAK

Iranian intelligence service under the Shah.

In which country did Khomeini spend most of his exile after 1964?

Iraq

Iran borders which of the following countries?

Iraq

Which of the following statements about Islam is NOT true?

Islam is an older religion than either Judaism or Christianity.

[T/F?] Is Islam older than Judaism and Christianity?

Islam is the youngest, Judaism is the oldest and Christianity is the middle.

Khomeini's lectures in Najaf were transcribed and published by his students in 1970 as...

Islamic Government

What did the referendum of March 1979 approve as the form of the new revolutionary state in Iran?

Islamic Republic

Mecca and Medina

Islamic holy cities

Black Reaction

Islamists, "conservatives", religious faction, clerics, etc.

What is the name of the holy book of Islam, containing revelations of the Prophet Muhammed?

Koran (Qu'ran)

Safavid Dynasty

Made Shia Islam an official religion. 1501- 1722

The representative assembly in Iran was known as the...

Maijles

The statesmen who sought to nationalize Iranian oil in the early 1950s and was removed in a CIA coup of 1953 was ...

Mohammed Mossadeq

Khomeini...

Opposed the White Revolution as an imposition of the West.

[T/F?] When did Persia and Iran have revolutions?

Persia - 1906 Iran - 1978

"White Revolution"

Policy of reforms enacted by Reza Shah, beginning in 1963, to rapidly modernize and Westernize Iran.

[T/F?] Where is the religious center of Shiite Islam in Iran?

Qom

American embassy hostage crisis

Radical Iranian students attacked the American embassy in Tehran and took the staff there hostage on November 4, 1979.

Mojahedin

Refers to a Socialist Islamic group that advocated the overthrow of the current Iranian government (Shah's regime) to be replaced with a Socialist government.

In referring to the "black reaction," the Shah had in mind...

Religious clerics & "feudal" landlords.

The secret security police of the Shah in Iran, created in 1957, was...

SAVAK

Constitutional developments in which of the following countries was NOT relevant to Iran's constitution of 1906?

South Africa

Islam

Submission to the will of Allah.

H. A. Khamenei

Succeeded Ayatollah Khomeini after his death in 1989 as the Supreme Leader of Iran (Faqih).

Majles

The Iranian parliament, from the Arabic term for "assembly."

The party of leftists that opposed the Shah's regime was...

The Tudeh party

Which of the following foreign countries were deeply involved in Iran's internal affairs?

The United States, Great Britain and Russia/ USSR.

Shah's campaign of modernization and development that was initiated in the early 1960's....

The White Revolution

Mecca

The birthplace of Muhammad and the city all Muslims turn to in prayer.

Ali-Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani

The conservative president of Iran from 1989-1997

Constitutional Revision/ Referendum (1989)

The constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran has been amended.

Koran (Qur'an)

The holy book of the Islam faith as revealed to Mohammed by the angel Gabriel.

The political party of Iranian leftists that was banned in 1949 but continued to enjoy influence was.

Tudeh

On New Year's Eve, 1977 who characterized the Shah's Iran as, "an island of stability in a troubled part of the world"?

US President Jimmy Carter

The Pahlavi dynasty...

Was created in 1925 and included two shahs.

Ulama

- "Those who know" - The theologians and legal experts of Islam. - Best known as the arbiters of sharia law.

Imam

- Descendents of Ali - The person who leads prayers in a mosque.

Mohammed the Prophet

- Prophet of Allah (God) & founder of Islam. - Born in Mecca, died in Medina.

President Jimmy Carter

- While visiting Tehran on New Year's of 1977, famously declared Iran to be "an island of stability in one of the more troubled areas of the world," chalking this up to the Shah's leadership and "the respect, admiration, and love" of the Iranian people for their ruler. - Had peace talks and contributed to a peace treaty between Israel and Egypt, each country received 3 billion dollars of foreign aid

According to Shia Islam, the 12th Imam...

Disappeared in ca. 874 but would appear again.

The capital of Iran is...

Tehran

Red Subversion

Tudeh Party

[T/F?] What does the root of the word Islam mean?

"submission" to God

Reza Shah (1925-1941)

- 1st Pahlavi Shah - Leader of Persia who sought to modernize the country by making public schools, building roads and railroads, extending women's rights, and promoting industrial growth.

Mohammed-Reza Shah

- 2nd & last Pahlavi Shah - Overthrown by the Islamic Revolution in 1979. - Introduced the White Revolution, a series of economic, social, and political reforms with the intention of transforming Iran into a global power and modernizing the nation by nationalizing certain industries and granting women suffrage.

Mujtahid

- A Shi'ite religious-legal scholar. - One who exercises ijtihad.

Ayatollah

- A Shiite religious leader in Iran. - "Sign of God"

Rastakhiz

- Also known as the Resurgence party. - Right-wing - Iran's single legal political party from 1975 to the Iranian Revolution in 1979, founded by the Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi.

Faqih

- An expert in Islamic Law. - Leading Islamic jurist to interpret the meaning of religious documents and sharia. - "Religious Leader"

Mehdi Bazargan

- Appointed to be first Prime Minister of Iran by Khomeini, and had democratic and liberal values which Khomeini would conflict with, such as opposition to Iranian constitution. - One of the Iranian liberals who wasn't silenced.

Revolutionary Guard

- Armed paralegal forces created in May of 1979 to deal with threats to the revolution. - Paramilitary force in Iran charged with defending the regime from domestic and internal enemies.

Autocratic Modernization

- Both Pahlavi shahs were notable as modernizers. - Made extensive efforts to make Iran into a modern nation-state and eventually into a leading regional power in the Middle East. - Build up a modern professional army with mechanized transport and aircraft construction of a Trans-Iranian Railroad, new highways, establish greater centralization of power by breaking the power of Iran's tribes, promoted a strong sense of Iranian nationality at the expense ethnic, regional, and religious identities, (discouraging non-Iranian languages like Kurdish & Turkish), emancipation of women (outlawing full-length covering for women in certain contexts). - Generated opposition among more traditional elements of Iranian society, and especially among some religious clerics. - Reza Shah sought to change the country in fundamental ways, but he did so in an autocratic fashion, without taking much stock of those who had different views; disliked communists and socialists.

Persepolis

- Capital of Persian Empire - The 2,500 year celebration of the Persian Empire, officially known as The 2,500th year of Foundation of Imperial State of Iran

Pahlavi Dynasty

- Family that took over Iran's gov't in 1925. - Was an authoritarian regime. - People didn't like them and it paved the way for the 1979 Revolution.

Assembly of Experts

- Group that nominates and can remove the Supreme Leader in Iran. - The assembly is elected by the general electorate, but almost all its members are clerics. - Produce the final version of the constitution.

Tudeh Party

- Iranian leftists - "The Red Subversion" - The pro-Soviet communist party of Iran between 1941 and 1953. - Party that challenged the shah, gained most support from working class trade unions.

Islamic Revolutionary Council

- Khomeini created a kind of a parallel government which was under the direction of his close clerical followers. - Militia to maintain order within Iran.

Islamic Government

- Khomeini's more remarkable compositions was the set of lectures in Najaf that were recorded and transcribed by students in the early 1970's. - Principal audience consisted of students of the religious sciences, who were likely to occupy important positions in Muslim society later. - Provides a blueprint for what he would do following the revolution.

Black Friday - September 8, 1978

- Massive demonstration in Tehran began despite martial law. - Matters turned violent when protestors began to call for the ouster of the shah and the return of Khomeini. - The shah's troops fired indiscriminately on protestors, thereby creating a kind of Iranian Bloody Sunday.

[T/F?] What kind of religion is Islam? The origin?

- Monotheistic; Abrahamic religion

Medina

- Muhammad was first accepted as the Prophet - Died and buried here.

Sunnis

- Muslims belonging to branch of Islam believing that the community should select its own leadership. - The majority religion in most Islamic countries.

Shias

- One of the 2 main branches of Islam, followed especially in Iran. - Comprising sects believing in Ali and the Imams as the only rightful successors of Muhammad and in the concealment and messianic return of the last recognized Imam.

Constitutional Revolution of Iran

- Persian Constitutional Revolution; 1905 and 1911. - Led to the establishment of a parliament (democracy) in Persia during the Qajar Dynasty. - Opened the way for cataclysmic change in Persia, heralding the modern era. - Iran's first constitution appeared.

National Front

- Political party in Iran following World War II, which opposed the monarchy and favored greater Iranian control over natural resources. - Outlawed after Operation Ajax.

Mohammed Mossadeq

- Prime Minister of Iran during the 1950s, who attempted to nationalize foreign oil firms and was overthrown by the CIA. - American intervention led to simmering resentment among many Iranians.

Qom

- Shia capital; the holiest city in Iran. - A desert city south of Tehran. - Reflects the differences among clerics and scholars in the seminaries. - Policy-making - Where Ruhollah Khomeini was born.

Islamic Constitution

- Sovereignty rooted in both God and people - Article 56: Absolute sovereignty to God. - Article 2: "Fundamental role" of "divine revelation" in making laws. - Article 6: But also referenda and elections. - Article 5 and 113: Clerical or religious review; Faqih, or religious Leader. - Article 72, 91, 94 and 98: Guardian Council - International implications: one global Islamic community - But: revolution also has certain nationalist orientation.

Anglo-Iranian Oil Company

- The British company that owned the concession to excavate, process, and export Iran's oil until 1954. - Payed more to the British government than to the Iranian government, and a source of substantial grievance for the Iranian people.

Velayat-e faqih

- The doctrine of guardianship of the jurisconsult, popularized by Ayatollah Khomeini. - Idea that legitimate political authority (should) be held by meritorious Shiite religious scholars.

Ruhollah Khomeini

- The first Grand Ayatollah and Supreme Leader of Iran, he became the country's leader after the Shah was exiled. - He also approved of the hostage crisis. - Became mujtahid in 1936. - Publishes first criticisms of the regime. - Becomes openly critical of "White revolution". - Khomeini emerges as most uncompromising, incendiary critic. - Khomeini gains dedicated intensely loyal following.

Islamic Republican Party

- The group who fought to take control from secular moderates. - Khomeini took supreme power after the collapse of the Shah. - He and the IRP supported an Islamic system of social justice with a constitution based on the religion. - The IRP was the channel through which Khomeini first exercised his absolute grip on power within the country.

Ali Shariati

- The main ideologue of the Iranian revolution. - Shariati devoted his life to the task of synthesizing modern socialism with traditional Shi'ism, and adapting the revolutionary theories of Marx, Fanon and other great non-Iranian thinkers to his contemporary Iranian environment.

For most Shia Muslims, the Imam who went into hiding ("occultation") and will return at the end of time as a messiah is...

12th

Hidden Imam

12th Imam disappears (874), to return at the end of time as a Messiah.