Bazargan, Religion, and State

Following the publication of an article titled "Politics, Religion, and Democracy," various perspectives on this issue have emerged. Radio Farda continues to explore different opinions regarding religion and democracy. Engineer Mehdi Bazargan (1909-1994), a prominent figure in religious intellectualism and a critic of the political regime based on absolute clerical authority, was concerned with the formation of a democratic government. This article seeks to elucidate his views on the relationship between religion and state. The claim of the article is that Bazargan opposed non-democratic governance and the rule of a specific class, as well as the dominance of religious institutions over the state, pursuing the establishment of a democratic government while analyzing the intertwining of religious and governmental institutions. Decades before the establishment of a government that describes itself as religious, Bazargan highlighted the misuse of religious concepts by the class of official interpreters and religious institutions; in his opinion: "It is undeniable that the owners of religious professions benefit from the beliefs and religious interests of people and that colonial and despotic policies exploit the feelings and prejudices of the masses through deception and pretense." According to Bazargan, both the "divine nature of the ruler" and the "custom of the government’s subservience to religious institutions" have shown their flaws under scrutiny and are now rejected. He emphasizes that the proponents of these two ideas "seek a place for themselves in the minds of the public through religious and even superstitious demonstrations." Citing the Quran and the traditions of the Prophet, he insists that the formation of government was not the responsibility of the Prophet or the Imam; he states: "The caliphate and government, from the perspective of the Imam and Islam, do not belong to Yazid or the caliphs, nor to themselves (Imam Hussein), nor to God, but belong to the community, by their own choice." Bazargan also emphasizes that "only Ali became the caliph by the will of the community and the insistence of the people" and adds: "Ali became the caliph of Muslims and the Commander of the Faithful with his reluctance and lack of desire, and in the allegiance he took from the leaders of the tribe, he did not employ the slightest coercion or restriction on rights and privileges." By basing government on the choice of the people, he separates it from the religious beliefs of citizens and adds: "Our entire argument is that if, hypothetically, a religious government is established entirely by sincere believers, what this government and state should not do is interfere with the religion, faith, and morals of the people." He emphasizes that we should not "entrust the authority of government to the custodians and religious institutions—regardless of their quality, understanding, and behavior—and open the door to blind obedience." Analyzing the government in the name of religion, despite Bazargan's belief in the social aspects of religion, he always pointed to the "phenomenon of hypocrisy" in religious governance and focused on its "great destructive role." He believed: "Governments that use and provoke religious emotions—and often religious superstitions—as a means of deceiving the public and strengthening themselves overstep the bounds and interests of religion." In his works, he also analyzed the failures of religious governments and the "numerous abuses, betrayals, and crimes" committed "under the guise of religion," referencing the "inquisitions of popes and Christian monarchs of the Middle Ages." Bazargan considers governance in the name of religion to be a "plague"; he states: "The first issue and calamity that Muslims faced after the Prophet's demise in the Saqifah of Banu Sa'ida—an issue that continues to this day—was over the succession of the Prophet or governance over the community, which soon led both sides of the dispute to invoke religion and God to legitimize their power and impose their views. The Prophet had previously stated: 'Every community has a trial, and the trial of my community is kingship.' Every community has a trial, and the trial of my community is kingship and the dispute over governance and power." He viewed governance as akin to "cooking, tailoring, architecture, and other aspects of life," as well as "mathematics, geology, electronics, and physics," a specialized matter that nonetheless requires the participation of all citizens. Bazargan does not recognize any "special right" in organizing governance; he insists on "government by the people" and believes: "The guardians of governance are God and the people themselves. Those who have created Gestapo-like systems confess their lack of legitimacy, popularity, and humanity." He repeatedly emphasizes the unique and exclusive role of citizens and the people in governance, considering this approach "Islamic" and "Quranic": "In a time when the helm of countries was in the hands of court captains and a few nobles and dignitaries, and all affairs were in the hands of a handful of sheikhs, aristocrats, and clerics, the individuals of the nation or community were not accounted for... The Quran has lifted the veil... seeking the fate of every nation in the hearts of the people and the conditions of individuals, summarizing the roots of democracy in a verse before the apparent governance of the people falls into the hands of the people, stating: 'Indeed, God does not change what is in a people until they change what is within themselves.'" In his view: "The system and governmental structure and economy are also entrusted to the people by God and the Quran, with only the limits and boundaries that guide humans toward God and the afterlife and close the paths of oppression and corruption within individuals being defined... Governance and politics are about managing and organizing the national and international lives of humans in this world, not securing this world, nor primarily the mission of prophets and the execution and dissemination of religion." Bazargan does not grant any class, institution, or group a "special right": "The Quran and Islam do not recognize absolute sovereignty for any being or position, whether real or legal, that seeks to deprive humans of freedom and divine rights, as stated: 'And do not take one another as lords besides God'; neither directly for someone who sits on the throne of divinity nor for those who act under the guise and pretexts of Islam and religion." He clarifies that "the owner of governance and the chooser of the ruler are the people themselves." He emphasizes elsewhere: "Governance should belong to humans, not to priests, churches, Christ, or God. Humans themselves are the rulers of themselves and the writers of laws and regulations, not just one human, but the collective of humans and the nation." The characteristic of a democratic government, in his view, is that an "Islamic government" should not only be democratic but also based on "freedom," particularly possessing the freedom of opponents, as "silencing opponents has always been the method of the ignorant and the oppressors and despots." The democratic government he envisions is also characterized by "tolerance and moderation" and is endowed with "consultation"; he believes: "In Islam, consultation is not one-sided and at the discretion of the ruler; the appointment and dismissal of the Imam or the overall ruler must also be done with the consultation and choice of the people." He explicitly addresses the "independence of civil and political institutions from religious institutions" and describes it as a type of "division and allocation." His fundamental perspective is that "God's hand is with the community and in society." Although Bazargan believed that "society cannot be without belief and purpose or without doctrine and religion," he considered it a necessity that is "individual and internal," and freely, not through external coercion and obligation: "The prerequisite for progress and achieving social goals is the existence of belief and interest of each individual and the presence of internal police." This general approach, which recognizes the social aspects of religion—beyond its individual and ethical functions—while simultaneously emphasizing the necessity of separating the institutions responsible for religion from the state and addressing the analysis of the failures of religious governments and the abuses committed in connection with the state, can be traced in his various works over several decades. As a religious intellectual, he warned against the transformation of "monotheism into polytheism": "In our own Islamic Republic, we also saw that the slogan 'religion and the world' in the form of the integration of religion and politics and 'politics subordinate to the clergy' led to the point where it was said that governance and the survival of the system (or in other words, power and sovereignty) took precedence and authenticity, and if the interests of the state and the preservation of the community necessitated it, the principles and laws of Sharia could be sacrificed for sovereignty, leading to the 'suspension of monotheism.'" In addition to warning against the "transformation of monotheism into polytheism," he pointed to the adverse results and bitter experiences that arise from the capture of religion and state by the leaders of the Sharia, emphasizing that Islam, which advances with the backing of power and coercive methods, is more a product of Satan than the religion of God. By basing governance on the choice of the people, he separates it from the religious beliefs of the rulers and adds: "If, hypothetically, a religious government is established entirely by sincere believers, what this government and state should not do is interfere with the religion, faith, and morals of the people." He believed that although Ayatollah Khomeini spoke of "the sovereignty of religion," he manifested this in the form of the sovereignty of the clergy, labeling it "the sovereignty of God" and pursued his ideological goals by sidelining the nation and legality. Critiquing the religious government based on absolute clerical authority, Bazargan boldly criticized the government at a time when Ayatollah Khomeini held a quasi-sacred position as the leader of the Islamic Republic. In an analytical pamphlet, this political group declared: "From a social and political perspective, absolute clerical authority is nothing but tyranny and religious and governmental despotism, leading to the obliteration of freedom, personality, and independence." The pamphlet explicitly states that "the acquisition or claim of absolute authority over the people and representation from the Creator or deities is part of the programs of despotic, personal, tribal, or usurping governments and caliphates." In this document, published in April 1988, it is also stated that "prophethood and governance, from the perspective of the Quran, are two independent matters... Religion and Sharia should not be subordinate to politics and governance; wherever the matter of religion falls into the hands of the state (or governance and politics), worship of God turns into worship of individuals or ideologies and leads to polytheism and the enslavement of humanity." With such radical and explicit positions, Engineer Mehdi Bazargan, who became the Prime Minister of the provisional government after the political change following the 1979 Revolution by the decree of Ayatollah Khomeini, withdrew from power. Until the end of his life (January 19, 1995), he lived under restrictions and pressure, becoming an opposition figure concerned with the realization of democracy and the observance of human rights in a regime that governed in the name of religion.