Indefatigable optimist Thomas Friedman offers his opinions on the potential for Islamic reform in Iran, using a recent speech by Dr. Hashem Aghajari as his parade example. Following this speech, in which he calls for an "Islamic Protestantism," Dr. Aghajari was arrested, and then sentenced to death early last month. The sentence has yet to be carried out, and is currently being appealed by Dr. Aghajari's lawyer against his wishes.
On the face of it, it seems as though what we have here is a reformer, who is calling for "a progressive religion, rather than a traditional religion that tramples the people," being oppressed by the anti-modernist authorities of a theocratic regime.
There is indeed much to respect in Dr. Aghajari's speech, an annotated transcript of which is available here. He advocates a distinction orginally proposed by Ali Shariati almost 30 years ago: that there is a "core Islam," which is the "religion of peace" espoused by Muslim apologists, onto which a "traditional Islam" has accreted. Dr. Aghajari maintains that this "traditional" Islam, which encompasses the current supremacy of the clergy and the tyrannical oppression of women in general and dissent in particular, is a recent addition to the faith. Like pre-Reformation Christianity, Islam suffers from a lack of individual interpretive freedom, so that the relationship between the cleric and the lay Muslim has become corrupted, and the true nature of Islam has become shrouded by cruelty and oppression.
As I said earlier, on the face of it, it seems as though what we have here is a reformer, being oppressed by the anti-modernist authorities of a theocratic regime. That what Dr. Aghajari is advocating for Islam is a necessity is, I think, beyond doubt. But, reading to the bottom of the transcript, we find that it is perhaps not just the Mullahs who disagree with him. Dr. Aghajari points out that any cleric can perform Ijtehad (a process of independent thinking and interpretation of Quranic principles) and issue a fatwa. Why, he asks, is a fatwa declaring that 'Women have as many rights as men and men and women have equal rights' declared less Islamic by the ruling clergy? Why is one more Islam than the other? The rest of the transcript dscribes what happens next:
"Voices from the Audience:
Someone shouts: "Because one fatwa is the word of the Koran and the other is not." Someone else protests, calling "Aghajari namard" (you are not a man, therefore you are a scoundrel), and repeats, "You are a liar," "namard," and "You accuse God and the prophets of lying." At this point, Aghajari leaves the meeting."
Perhaps they were the Mullahs' ringers, planted to harass Dr. Aghajari. But the other very real possibility--glossed over by Friedman--is that there is a substantial portion of the Iranian populace that, for whatever reason, opposes him.
As always, the truth of the situation is not so clearly seen. There is hope, yes. But, perhaps, not as much as Friedman would have us believe.
