Murder in the Name of Allah — Page 106
Murder in the Name of Allah of time Iranians became aware that the police state was fully and unequivocally supported by the government of the USA. The Shah played the part of a mere puppet whose strings were tied to the subtle, manipulating fingers of USA. This, as has been mentioned above, led to a situation ripe for revolution motivated by a consuming fire of hatred. . The situation was capitalised upon by Ayatollah Khomeini. The ideology which he propounded to give colour and complexion to his revolution was Shia Islam. But was it really a love of Shia Islam which generated hatred against the USA, or was the name of Islam a mere facade to hide the underlying motives? Had Khomeini not raised the banner of. Islam, would there not have been a revolution in some other name? Is it not a fact that had Khomeini not exploited the situation and given it an. Islamic colour and complexion, the same situation of hatred could have been equally well exploited by a non-religious philosophy such as nationalism or scientific socialism?. In fact Khomeini outpaced forces which were coming fast at his heels and which, given time, might have overtaken him and all he stood for. . That is why the situation in Iran became extremely complicated and confused. The basic urge of the revolution was not against communism or any leftist philosophy but was aimed at the Shah and his mentors. But because there was a real likelihood of leftist leadership taking over the reins of revolution from Khomeini, he had to fight on three fronts simultaneously. After toppling the Shah, he not only undertook to eradicate and exterminate all supporters of the former Shah, but also to root out American influcence wherever it was suspected to be. That in itself could have lent support to the leftist ideology which, if permitted to flourish unchecked, might have succeeded in snatching the power from Khomeini's hands and replacing the Islamic ideology with Marxism-Leninism. . Fortunately for Ayatollah Khomeini, he was shrewd and powerful enough to wield the double-edged sword of Islamic ideology not only against American rightism but as effectively against Russian leftism. . But when all is said and done, it is clear that, whatever else it was, it certainly was not Islam which guided and instructed the Iranian revolution. At best, you can, if you wish, call what happened and is happening in Iran Khomeinism. The real forces at work are not truly and essentially religious in character. Political powers have exploited the reaction of the. Iranians against the Shah to achieve purely political ends. 106