543 - Religion and Politics in Contemporary Iran

Religion and Politics in Contemporary Iran
By Shahrough Akhavi
Albany, State University of New York, 1980. 255 pp. $9.95.

This book focuses on the conflicts between the Muslim clerics and the government of the Pahlavi dynasty from approximately 1925 through 1979. Issues include government nationalization of Islamic endowments and Islamic schools; the degree of modernization under government auspices; the degree of reliance upon Western nations for technology; military and social matters; and the "authority-power" status of the clerics in formulating and transmitting Islamic values and institutions within Iranian society.

Of particular interest is the description of the "give and take" between the Shah and various Ayatullahs in the 1960s and '70s, as well as the internal conflict among the Ayatullahs themselves. The backgrounds of such contemporary Iranian figures including Ayatullah Khumayni, Ayatullah Shariatmadari, and former Prime Minister Mihdi Bazargan are presented in developing the conflicts which ensued in the revolution of 1978-79, causing the downfall of the Shah and the elevation of Ayatullah Khumayni.

George W. Braswell, Jr.
Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary
Wake Forest, N.C.