December 26, 2009

Is Shi'ism the Iranian Regime's Achilles' Heel?

By Andrew G. Bostom
The death of Iran's Grand Ayatollah Hussein Ali Montazeri at age 87 on December 20, 2009 has been followed by decidedly hagiographic post-mortems. But perhaps the most curious of these assessments, by Michael Rubin, includes a contention that "the real Achilles Heel to the Iranian regime is Shi'ism." This odd viewpoint is merely the extension of a profoundly flawed, ahistorical mindset which denies the living legacy of Shi'ite Islamic doctrine and its authentic, oppressive application in Iran, particularly since the advent of the Safavid theocratic state at the very beginning of the 16th century.The great Orientalist Ignaz Goldziher -- a renowned Islamophile -- believed that Shi'ism manifested greater doctrinal intolerance toward non-Muslims, compared to Sunni Islam. Goldziher observed,On examining the legal documents, we find that the Shi'i legal position toward other faiths is much harsher and stiffer than that taken by Sunni Muslims. Their law reveals a heightened...(Read Full Article)