Creating an Islamic State

Khomeini and the Making of a New Iran

Vanessa Martin

• Publisher: I.B. Tauris
• Year: 2003
• Print ISBN: 9781860649004
• eBook ISBN: 9780857711700
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: International Relations

How did the Ayatollah Khomeini create his Islamic state? What were the ideas which drove him and his movement? What organization and methods helped bring him to power? This book analyses the ideaological roots of an Islamic state as conceived by the Ayatollah Khomeini. Surprisingly, the author finds much of the inspiration behind Khomeini's political thinking being influenced by Western sources - his writing on the supreme Islamic Jurist being affected by Plato's notions of the philosopher-king and his views of state power and centralism being closely linked to his understanding of Marxist/Leninist totalitarianism. Vanessa Martin considers the dynamics of the Iranian Revolution and the Islamist revival in a book which is especially relevant in the context of the debate arising out of Iran's elections.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Contents
• Acknowledgements
• Introduction
• Chapter I: The Historical Background – Religion and State
• Chapter II: Early Years and the Influence of 'Irfan
• Chapter III: Restructuring, Organization and the Emergence of the Nahzat
• Chapter IV: Mutahhari – Towards an Islamic Ideology and the Battle for Control of Political Islam
• Chapter VI: Visions of the Islamic State II – Other Islamist Movements
• Chapter VII: The Establishment of the Islamic State
• Chapter VIII: The Western Media and the Iranian Revolution
• Conclusion
• Notes
• Glossary
• Bibliography
• Index