Iran's regime of religion.

• Author: Khalaji, Mehdi
• Position: Inside the Authoritarian State - Report

Since the Iranian Revolution in 1979, the Islamic Republic has modernized and bureaucratized the clerical establishment, redefined religion and created institutions to enforce this new definition. The effect has been a transformation of religion into a symbolic form of capital. By monopolizing religious affairs, the political system has become a regime of religion in which the state plays the role of central banker for symbolic religious capital. Consequently, the expansion and monopolization of the religious market have helped the Islamic Republic increase the ranks of its supporters and beneficiaries significantly, even among critics of the government. This article demonstrates how the accumulation of religious capital in the hands of the government mutually influences the nature of the state and the clerical establishment and will continue to do so in Iran's uncertain future.

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"The problem is not one of constructing definitions of religion.... It is a matter of discovering just what sorts of beliefs and practices support what sorts of faith under what sorts of conditions. Our problem, and it grows worse by the day, is not to define religion but to find it."

Clifford Geertz (1)

The political orientation of the Shiite clergy did not originate with the Iranian Revolution in 1979. Shiism had political value in Iran long before the founding of the Islamic Republic. Five centuries ago, the Safavid dynasty established Shiism as the government's official ideology. This was a historical turning point for the Shiite clerical establishment, which benefited from new political, social and economic privileges. For about five centuries, Iranian politics has been made in coordination with the clergy. Even the Pahlavi dynasty--known for its authoritarian and secular agenda--needed to give the impression that it was safeguarding Shiism as the government's official religion in order to gain legitimacy.

The overthrow of the Pahlavi dynasty and emergence of an Islamic Republic in 1979 was an exceptional development in the history of the Shiite clerical establishment. Prior to the revolution, the clergy's role had been officially limited to the realm of sacred affairs, but the post-revolution era fundamentally changed the relationship between state and religion in Iran by thrusting clerics into unprecedented positions of political power and laying the groundwork for the development of Iran's unique strand of religious authoritarianism. However, over the past three decades the Islamic Republic has consolidated power and is now imposing its will on the clerical establishment that produced it, particularly the seminaries in the holy city of Qom, as well as on society more broadly. Thus, in order to better understand religious politics in Iran, we must also examine the politics of religion or, more precisely, Iran's political economy of religion. (2)

Iran's regime of religion has transformed religiosity into a form of social and symbolic capital that can be bought, sold and traded in a new marketplace. Religious capital, as I define it, encompasses social status, network and class, along with educational credentials and popular perceptions of public displays of piety. These factors legitimize the outwardly religious, provide them privileges and imbue them with a unique authority in Iranian society. The government has used the following three mechanisms to confiscate religious capital: monopolizing the management of the seminaries in the hands of the state, regulating and supervising religious rituals and creating parallel institutions to implement functions traditionally monopolized by the clerical establishment. This article explores the ways in which individuals, including clerics, use socioreligious capital to improve their economic or political positions within the government-defined parameters of this new marketplace. It then explores the implications of this phenomenon for the perpetuation of authoritarianism, religious or otherwise, in Iran.

THE SHIITE CLERICAL ESTABLISHMENT: ORIGINS AND EVOLUTION

The Shiite clergy traditionally operated within an oral culture in which rules and norms were not written but rather were transmitted verbally from generation to generation. There was no bureaucracy or administration in the seminaries. One could freely enter the seminary, attend any course of his choosing and, based on his personal relationship with his teacher, receive a salary from a mujtahid. One did not need permission from any authority to wear the clerical turban and mantle. Even a certificate of ijtihad--which is issued by a prominent seminary professor and serves as a testament to one's dedication to the study of jurisprudence (fiqh)--was not considered a bureaucratic credential or prerequisite. (3) The certificate was more symbolic than practical and had little lasting impact on one's everyday livelihood. For example, someone could be recognized as a mujtahid without having the certificate, as was the case with Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the founder of the Islamic Republic, or one could obtain the certificate but choose not to undertake the tasks normally performed by a mujtahid. (4)

The establishment began to modernize during the Pahlavi dynasty (1925 to 1979) under a modernization project that was fundamentally paradoxical. On the one hand, the monarchy's legitimacy still stemmed from Shiism, and the Pahlavi shahs had to work within a constitutional framework that not only defined the government as Shiite, but also gave clerics exclusive authority to supervise the legislative process and ensure that all bills conformed to the sharia (Islamic law). On the other hand, Reza Shah imitated Mustard Kemal Ataturk's authoritarian model for secularizing society, and his son, Mohammad Reza Shah, tried to implement economic development programs without acknowledging freedom of expression and human rights. This made for a complex and problematic relationship between state and clergy throughout the Pahlavi dynasty. For example, in 1928 the Iranian parliament passed a bill mandating that people wear European-style clothes and hats instead of traditional Iranian ones. The law banned all Iranians from wearing religious dress except for certain state-defined categories of clerics, including mujtahids with certificates of ijtihad recognized by a marja, clerics in rural areas who had passed the necessary exams, Sunni clerics with permission to issue fatwas, mosque leaders, seminarians with a clerical certificate issued by the Ministry of Culture, seminary teachers, clergymen of other religions and those with permission from a mujtahid to transmit or teach the hadith (sayings of the Prophet Muhammad and the twelve Shiite imams). (5) The bill was an early example of the state's potential to influence and regulate the seminary because it introduced the notion of exams for clerics and formalized clerical permissions and certificates, which lent them unprecedented social value. (6)

The 1979 revolution, which is often misperceived as an antimodern, radical development, revolutionized the clerical establishment, perhaps more than any other social institution. Since coming to power in 1989, Ayatollah All Khamenei--the current supreme leader, or ruling jurist, of the Islamic Republic--has bureaucratized the seminaries and created a vast administration to handle every aspect of clerical life, including health insurance, student housing, curricula, clerical credentials and more. The establishment now has very strict rules regulating admissions, the issuance of credentials and granting permission to wear clerical clothing. In 2010, a law further restricting clerical dress was passed. In some seminaries, students must even swipe a magnetic card to check into their classes.

In addition to the educational and moral requirements outlined above, the new law introduced a political element and requires clerics to have a practical commitment to the principle of guardianship of the jurist (velayat-efaqih), i.e., Iran's system of clerical rule in which absolute authority is vested in the supreme leader. Any cleric failing to demonstrate this ideological commitment is subject to punishment or is prevented from wearing the Shiite clergy's signature turban for a set period of time or even permanently. (7) Furthermore, ijtihad certificates and other seminary credentials, which in the past were largely symbolic, are now considered equivalent to academic credentials when evaluating candidates for positions in universities or government bureaus. Most political positions require candidates to have attained the status of mujtahid, including six of the twelve members of the Guardian Council, who must pass an exam and provide their certificate of ijtihad. These six ayatollahs are appointed directly by Supreme Leader Khamenei and oversee the legislature to ensure that bills do not contradict Islamic law or the Iranian constitution. The Guardian Council also vets all candidates for public office, monitors elections and certifies their results.

GUARDIANSHIP OF THE JURIST: A NEW SOLUTION FOR AN OLD PROBLEM

According to Shiite theology and classic jurisprudence, only one of the infallible imams, the Twelfth Imam, can establish a religiously legitimate government. But in his absence, a Muslim sultan, whether he is just or unjust, should be obeyed because he protects the interests of the Muslim community. (8) The Safavid period from 1501 to 1722 was a turning point in the evolution of Shiite theology because the Safavids established Shiism as the state religion and consequently created the first religiously legitimate government since the occultation of the Twelfth Imam.

From the Safavid era onward, religious authorities cooperated closely with the political system but were never absorbed into it...