The genie is out of the bottle. Pandora’s box is opened. Iran’s Islamic government is defied–by Iranian Islamic teachers. The “supreme leader” is no longer supreme. Hopefully, Islam will never be the same. Hopefully, the Islamic world will change for the better, following the example of the people Iran.

Islamic leaders in Iran, “clerics” they are called, themselves have united against the no longer supreme ruler Ayahtollah Ali Khamenei. The Association of Researchers and Teachers of Qum (a prestigious group of religious academics) has declared the present government “illegitimate.” This is a remarkable event in modern Iranian history, and in modern Islamic history.

Clerics in the streets of Tehran, June 23, 2009

In fact, clerics have been standing with the people from the beginning. Soon after the election they were in the streets, marching with the people. There is something authentic about this. They have no stake in national political power. They are protesting out of principle. They are nationalists, really. This is outside Islam, apparently. They want a government that is a “republic,” not a dictatorship.

The protesting clerics and the people in the streets are proclaiming to the world that Islam has been abused. Islam, as national government, is an intolerable tyranny. It is cruel, merciless, and inefficient, crippling the country and stifling the spirit of the people. “Religion is out! Democracy is in!” Iranians shout at the rallies in Oklahoma City. This is what they mean. Islam should not be the government. Theocracy is not appropriate. The people are rejecting it.

I and my Iranian friend Fred Alavi, at my older
brother’s funeral in 2000. My older brother was
“Fred,” also. Fred Alavi is his replacement for me.

Clerics have been jailed before, simply for protesting the moral and civil errors of the Islamic government. Abdullah Nouri was jailed in 1999. Mr Nouri, a close ally of moderate President Mohammad Khatami, was sentenced to five years in Tehran’s notorious Evin prison for political and religious dissent. His outspoken and popular newspaper Khordad was also closed down. Over 400 clerics united in protest against Ayatollah Montazeri’s house arrest the year before (1998). Western media seems to have been short on the news of Islamic clerics protesting Islamic government. Yet, it is definitely part of the story.

In the meantime, the people of Iran continue to seethe with hope and determination. The world surely hopes with them.

If the people of Iran are successful in changing their government from an oppressive theocracy, surely the rest of the Islamic world will be affected positively. While Chinese Muslims riot violently against Communism, Iranian Muslims peacefully protest against Islam!

“I am a recovering Muslim,” said Fred Alavi, here in Oklahoma City. It was a perfect way to express the sentiments of millions now. Mr. Alavi spoke to the most conservative political group in Oklahoma city, and the most powerful group in the state, Oklahoma Conservative Action Committee. Charlie Meadows, president, was pleased to have Mr. Alavi speak to the club on Wednesday, July 1, (2009). House representatives and senators were there to hear Mr. Alavi talk about the situation ‘on the ground’ in Tehran. Mr. Alavi is a board member of the Iranian American Cultural Society of Oklahoma City, and represents Iranians in the Asian Society of Oklahoma. Mr. Alavi is vice-president of the ASO.

Mr. Alavi explained that the problem in Iran is the nature of the government. The people have no say. The government privately selects who is allowed to run for president. The government swiftly punishes people who disagree with anything, especially religious rules.

Iranian people are not against religion. These descendants of Persian emperors love religion. They are deeply respectful of religious sentiment. They are spiritually-minded. They have a deep sense of the sacred, and they show a very elegant reverence. As such, by nature, they are eternally patient with religion, even with the rigorous formalities of Islam. What has evolved in Iran is more and more the original, intense Arab form of Islam which, essentially, is misfitting for Iran. It is cruel, crippling, and foreign. The people have finally declared it so, and Islam will never be the same in Iran.

If there is any love, joy, and peace in the religion of Islam, the Iranians will bring it out. If not, they will doff the robes altogether. That is my guess. They will put religion in its proper place, or shelve it. I also expect that they will, in time, try other religions. The Persians are magically objective, when left to their own freedom. They can see what’s valuable and precious in many different systems of thought, government, and religion. I expect great thing, therefore, from Iran! It is a people of profound creative genius. They’ve simply been cramped a long time by that tight-fitting turban.

And the women are simply too beautiful to be hidden forever. In a way, this is the revolution of beauty. What we are seeing is women who are too talented, too smart, and much too beautiful to be hidden away forever. They demand to be seen! And heard! So be it. Like it or not, here they come!