A secular left critique of Shirin Ebadi
Following are links to two open letters written to Shirin Ebadi by a secular human rights activist Rostam Pourazi. While I do not agree with everything in these letters, I do think he raises some very important points with regards to the so-called Iran “reform” movement. Frankly, it appears that what Ebadi et al. have to offer are more appealing to folks who are outside of Iran, than within the country that they are out to “reform.” Like their “reform Islam” counterparts, they have little or no mass appeal… and speak an elite language.
The key to any change that one might want to see anywhere is service, living in close contact with the “masses” – and a love for one’s community, warts and all – otherwise, this is all futile talk that might appeal to a few… As Imam Ali (AS) said:
None are more disgusted by equity, more importunate in demands, less grateful upon bestowal, slower to pardon withholding (favor) and more deficient in patience at the misfortunes of time than the favorites. Whereas the support of religion, the solidarity of Muslims and preparedness in the face of the enemy lie only with the common people of the community, so let your inclination and affection be toward them.
“Dear Ms. Shirin Ebadi:
The appeal you and Mohammad Sahimi addressed to “Western democracies” in the International Herald Tribune on January 19 disappointed this former admirer of yours. Your invitation to the current and previous imperial powers to intervene for human rights in Iran fails precisely on grounds of the noble principles you invoked to construct your argument.
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You are used to being adored as a fearless champion who speaks truth to power in Iran. But when it comes to democracy and equality beyond Iran’s borders — the big picture — you stand with the anti-democratic powerful. Therefore, your advocacy for the rule of law, pluralism, and human rights in the International Herald Tribune ends up contradicting these very ideals.
Ordinary Iranians need not be historians to know that advance of the so-called free-market “democracy” is, on the contrary, accomplished by systematic uprooting and brutality in the name of law. They experienced it during the rule of the deposed Shah and they have seen it in Indochina, Indonesia, South Africa, Chile, Nicaragua, Colombia, Yugoslavia, Palestine, Iraq, and dozens of other blood-soaked places. That awareness explains the reluctance of the vast majority of Iranians to join you in decisive action against the current government in Iran.
In 1978-79, Iranians overpowered one of the mightiest police states the world has known with bare hands, against the wishes of global powers. I challenge you to explain why you believe our people could not do the same today, if they wished to, without the foreign help that you advocate.
Iranian reformists focus exclusively on government wrongdoing, conveniently neglecting that today’s world is equally misruled by multinational corporations which lack transparency. You have asked Western investors and their partner, the World Bank, to help correct human rights abuses in Iran. I hate to burst your bubble, Ms. Ebadi, but you are in effect asking unelected entities to teach democracy to an elected government! That is hardly a healthy way to promote transparency, because now the whole world knows that the private sector has corrupted the US government to the bone.”
See also another secular left blog, Yoshie’s Critical Montages Again, I don’t agree with everything – but it is good to see some thoughtful comments that are not the usual left/liberal knee jerk anti-religion/Islam. And, instead, show a nuanced understanding of the complexity of Iran, and Islam as a whole.
Iraq was already reduced to a shadow of its former self by genocidal UN sanctions, incapable of trying to become a contender for regional leadership (which was the specter posed by its invasion of Kuwait, prompting the Gulf War) again. Not so with Iran. Iran is modern, its populace well educated, its revolutionary philosophy — the heritage of Ali Shariati now personified by Mahmoud Ahmadinejad — appealing to not just Shiites but other Muslims elsewhere groaning under the oppression of pro-American regimes
Western leftists ought to do what we can to help Ahmadinejad survive this siege. That’s not just our moral duty to the Iranian masse who voted to cast their lot with him.
Wealth in Islam
“Wealth in Islam is divided into two categories:
First the public wealth that is not owned by individuals, but rather they are the property of the entire nation. Such wealth includes oil, minerals, water depth etc. Islam has instituted a detailed program of running these resources by the legitimate religious ruler or his deputies, who would carry on their task without any wronging on injustice.
The second kind is the wealth owned by individuals or groups, as a result of their work or inheritance. This kind of wealth is also governed by a detailed program. For although Islam did not take a negative stand regarding personal property, it hindered its accumulation in the hands of few people. It was concerned through its tax system and inheritance to ensure that the wealth is distributed among the biggest number of people, Imam Ali says in this respect: “No poor man is hungry except by what the wealthy man enjoys. He also says: “I have never seen an accumulated wealth, that there is not a usurped right beside it.” (Ayatullah Fadlullah)
earth lessons…
(Ponder upon) the dark night and the heavens full of constellations, and swelling seas and the gleaming stars and the rains and the vegetation and the fathers and the mothers, and those who go and those who come, and the light and the darkness and the good and the evil, and the clothes and attire and that which you ride, eat and drink! Surely, there is a heavenly news in the sky, and no doubt there are lessons to draw from (the events on) the earth. (The Prophet Muhammad – peace and blessings on him and his family)
The Revolution Will Not Be Televised
Here in Venezuela and rest of Latin America, we are being taken over by the savage project of neo-liberalism, with its claim that there’s a hidden hand which regulates the market. It is a lie, It is a lie, a lie a thousand times over… (President Hugo Chavez)
Click here to view a video on the Bolivarian Revolution of Venezuela.
