Answering Only to God: Faith and Freedom in Twenty-First-Century Iran [Hardcover]

Geneive Abdo (Author), Jonathan Lyons (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0805072993 | ISBN-13: 978-0805072990 | Publication Date: March 5, 2003 | Edition: First Edition

The story of the internal clash of Islam versus Islam in today's Iran

Two seasoned scholar/journalists of the Islamic world focus on Iran-the modern age's first theocracy-to challenge the prevailing Western belief that the Islamic world is an undifferentiated mass of disaffected and dangerous fanatics. Instead, Geneive Abdo and Jonathan Lyons explore the controversial view that Iranians have a legitimate quarrel with the United States and the West stemming from decades of exploitive foreign policies against Iran and its people.
Taking the reader inside the country's key institutions, the authors, whose research includes an astounding three years of intensive meetings with leading theologians, argue that the 1979 Iranian revolution, long viewed in the West as the pursuit of an imagined medieval Utopia, was, in fact, a political movement designed to modernize Islam. A power struggle between conservative and reform elements has provoked a clash that is destabilizing the country and limiting Iran's ability to integrate with the world community. Since 2000, when the authors were forced to flee Iran, free expression has been stifled and the democratically elected president, Mohammad Khatami, has been stripped of power, as have other mullahs who advocate flexibility in the application of Islamic law. The uninformed U.S. response to this struggle has strengthened the hand of the conservatives. The authors demonstrate Iran's critical influence on the world's 1.4 billion Muslims and Islamists and its chances for democracy in the years ahead.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

From 1998 to 2001, when they were kicked out of Iran, Abdo (No God but God) and Lyons were the first American citizens to be allowed to work as journalists in the country since the 1979 Islamic revolution. This unprecedented access allowed the husband-and wife team to conduct the daily observations and hundreds of interviews that form the basis of this engrossing book of reportage. Focusing mainly on the society's elite-they were apparently unable to gain access to more people in the lower classes-the two are still able to develop a complex, nuanced view of Iran. They show how, even before the fall of the shah, those who called for democracy were outmaneuvered by the Ayatollah Khomeini, who merged hatred of the shah with a skillful understanding of Iran's Islamic tradition. The authors offer historical background on Khomeini and his rise to power, the electoral success of the current president, Mohammad Khatami, and other clerics and dissidents. They also shed light on the more recent challenges to the regime, most notably from the press and from students. For the past few years, many Western observers have seen Iran as a society torn between hard-line clerics and moderate reformers, pinning their hopes on Khatami. But as Abdo and Lyons show, Khatami himself has betrayed true reform, among other ways by making speeches critical of student protests. As a result, Abdo and Lyons conclude, it is unlikely Iran will move toward democracy any time soon.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

While the media of the West focuses on the Israeli-Palestinian violence and the looming war against Iraq, the turmoil in Iran has generally been relegated to the back burner. Yet, as the authors illustrate, that turmoil, while presently at low boil, could easily explode and flame out of control. Abdo and Lyons are husband-and-wife journalists who were based in Iran from 1998 to 2001 until they were pressured to leave by the government. They provide a riveting, firsthand view of the ongoing struggle between reformers and hard-line Islamic clerics. Many of the reformers are also clerics, and a few were close associates of Ayatollah Khomeini, the founder of the Islamic Republic. In the end, however, the future destiny of Iran is at issue; the reformers want a true democratic republic, albeit within an Islamic framework; the hard-line conservatives hope to maintain the power of a religious vanguard that can suppress "un-Islamic" writings and ideas while overruling an elected legislature. This is an unsettling but informative and important book. Jay Freeman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: Henry Holt and Co.; First Edition edition (March 5, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0805072993
• ISBN-13: 978-0805072990
• Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 6.6 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #752,763 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding work of contemporary journalism, March 18, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Answering Only to God: Faith and Freedom in Twenty-First-Century Iran (Hardcover)

Abdo and Lyons have done a masterful job of reporting in this well-timed book. Their efforts provide the reader with a nuanced perspective on a charter member of the so-called "Axis of Evil" and show how the laws of unintended consequences apply to U.S. foreign policy. Lyons, a veteran Reuters correspondent, and Abdo, a well-known journalist and commentator, provide compelling arguments about the genesis of 21st century Iran that should lead to deep discussions and thoughtful debates as the United States prepares to reprise its earlier war against Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating and informative, March 20, 2003

By 

"dscrang" (Bethesda, MD United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Answering Only to God: Faith and Freedom in Twenty-First-Century Iran (Hardcover)

A cogent and well-written look at the inner workings of Iran after the Islamic revolution, filled with insights into how religion feeds into every aspect of politics and society. A great read.

5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars We need to read this book, January 29, 2004

By 

DAVID-LEONARD WILLIS (Thessaloniki Greece) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Answering Only to God: Faith and Freedom in Twenty-First-Century Iran (Hardcover)

In the late 1990s, the Islamic Republic adopted a policy of cautious outreach to the world and Khatami's landslide victory in 1997 raised hopes of a more moderate regime in Iran, with democracy, a free press, the free flow of information, political and religious tolerance, and participation by women and minorities. However, this revolution in thinking brought Khatami's government into conflict with the ruling clerics with their own vision of an Islamic society. Based on interviews conducted during their residence from 1998 to 2001, Abdo and Lyons concluded that the clerical establishment is still very powerful and is able to block any move not to their liking. As a consequence little if any of the hoped for changes have taken place. All politics in Iran stem ultimately from theological conflict and the deep doctrinal, philosophical and political differences separating the Sunnis who dominate the broader Islamic world and the Shi'ites who recognize only the authority of Mohammed's direct heirs. Both sides believe in preserving the Islamic system, but it is the degree of flexibility and independence within the system that forms the basis of their disagreement. Currently there are two issues which are being fought behind the scenes - will it be the democratically elected or the clerics who rule Iran and will it be the Sunnis or the Shi'ites who will win the battle for the minds of the young people.

According to Shi'ite texts the first eleven heirs to the Prophet Mohammed were killed by agents of the rival Sunni Caliphs and the twelfth Imam went into hiding, announcing in 941 that he was severing his earthly ties to return at the end of time to usher in a reign of perfect peace and justice. The Sunni clerical class assumed the rights and privileges once reserved for the Imams, including the collection of obligatory religious taxes, convening Friday prayers and defensive war against the infidel. Weakened by World War II, Britain ceded its influence in Iran and in the Middle East to the US which played a central role in the 1953 overthrow of Mosadeq who intended to nationalize the British-owned oil industry. The CIA assisted the Shah's intelligence service; US businessmen became more influential; American servicemen and their families appeared in large numbers; and western culture ran rampant through a traditional society. It was the political mullahs led by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, aided by Islamic activists, secular nationalists, militant students, clerics and the leftist militia who brought down the Shah allowing Khomeini to create a Sunni-based theocratic system. The desert city of Qom and the northeastern city of Mashhad make up the intellectual center of contemporary Shi'ism where many interviews took place. Below the surface Qom is seething with discontent over the clerics' 20 year experiment with direct political power during which universities were purified of un-Islamic influences by firing professors, expelling students and burning books; the secondary school system was reorganized; the penal codes were rewritten; western businesses were nationalized and the Shah's assets seized. Ten centuries after the disappearance of the 12th Imam, many Shi'ite clerics believe that the Sunnis have neither the authority nor the right to involve themselves directly in politics, which by definition has been corrupt and illegitimate since the Greater Occultation.

Following 9/11 a consensus emerged overnight that Islam had declared war on the West. But bin Laden's primary grievance concerns the shortcomings of the Arab rulers and not the values or lifestyle of the decadent west. Moderate Muslims are trying to find ways to adapt Islam to the demands of the modern world, which puts them at odds with extremists like bin Laden. Even so, it is only when the West intervenes in the Muslims' pursuit of Islamic purity and religious salvation - either by supporting repressive rulers perceived to be illegitimate in religious terms or interfering directly in domestic politics in the Muslim world - that it too becomes the enemy. One passage in particular caught my eye: "The battle for the hearts and minds of seminarians is critical to the struggle among the clerics, for these students represent not only the future of the clerical class but they also act as aides, researchers, and even propagandists and recruiters for the senior ulama who head the religious schools and institutes." Huntington in 'The Clash of Civilizations' warns us that the Muslim population is likely grow from 18% of world population in 1980 to 30% in 2025, that the Protestant Reformation was one of the outstanding youth movements in history and that the youth of Islam are already making their mark in the Islamic resurgence. Peter Bergen in 'Holy War, Inc' tells us that one of bin Laden's goals is to topple the Saudi regime and replace it with rule aligned to 7th century teachings of the Prophet Muhammad. What happens in Muslim countries will have an increasing impact on our lives in the west and such issues as who rules Iran and who will win the battle of the minds for the young people will set the trends for decades to come. For anyone who wishes to have an understanding of the big issues of our time this book is required reading.