Although Islamism could be traced back to the seventh century when prophet Mohamad
died and conflict between Shia and Sunni started, the recent growth of Islamism and
emerging of new phenomena such as establishing Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt in 1920s,
Iranian Islamic revolution in 1979, and some other Islamists groups like Hezbollah, and
Al-Qaida highlighted the importance of Islamism. Moreover, forming the new Islamists in
Syria, Iraq, and Yemen after the Arab uprising in 2010 which intensified the conflict
between Shia and Sunni increased the concerns over increase in sectarianism in the
Middle East. Considering the significance of Shia groups in recent movements, it is
important to have a deep and comprehensive understanding of the nature and function
of Shia Political Islam.
Despite internal and external concerns, Shia Political Islam has emerged and continued
to have control over power in Iran for more than four decades. The post-revolutionary
Islamic government has been able to keep its power through reviving the Shia Movement
since the 1979 Islamic revolution. Therefore, this thesis asks ‘how has Shia political Islam
managed to survive in Iran over the past four decades? The answer to this question relies
specifically on understanding the nature of Shia ideology and how the Shia control
entities’ access to petrodollars. The study aims to clarify the concept of Shiism and explain
the mechanism of the survival and continuation of the Shia movement in Iran through the
lens of Social Movement Theory.
This thesis argues that the essential mobilisers of the Shia Movement like the IRGC, the
Basij and mosques have succeeded in sustaining the survival of the Shia Political Islam.
The durability of this political approach lies in actively reviving the origins of the Shia
movement, utilising Shia values, religious symbols and holy events such as Ashura, and
financially rewarding the Movement with petrodollars. The mobilisers, especially the
IRGC, use these values as a steering fuel to run the Shia Movement and suppress any
security threat to its survival. For instance, after the 2009 presidential elections, the Green
Movement was a serious security threat to the Islamic Republic and the political approach
Shia political Islam. However, the IRGC and the Basij employed Shia symbols to mobilise
their social base in a counter-movement in 2019 to overcome the threat of the Green
Movement. The thesis concludes that if the Shia mobiliser organisations keep supporting the Shia Movement by utilising Shia values, religious symbols, and available economic
resources such as petrodollars, Shia political Islam will stay resilient and survive.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:BRADFORD/oai:bradscholars.brad.ac.uk:10454/19288 |
| Date | January 2019 |
| Creators | Mehrabinejad, Hossein |
| Contributors | Shahi, Afshin, Batonyi, Gabor |
| Publisher | University of Bradford, Faculty of Management. Law & Social Sciences |
| Source Sets | Bradford Scholars |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis, doctoral, PhD |
| Rights | <a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/"><img alt="Creative Commons License" style="border-width:0" src="http://i.creativecommons.org/l/by-nc-nd/3.0/88x31.png" /></a><br />The University of Bradford theses are licenced under a <a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/">Creative Commons Licence</a>. |
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