Imad-ad-Dean Ahmad's Response to QuestionsAbout the Iranian Revolution  Posed by FarsPress (1/30/08)

1- How do you see the effects of Iran's Islamic Revolution on oppressed people awareness around the world?
 
The Iranian Revolution served as an inspiration to Muslims around the world in at least two respects. In the first place it demonstrated that state power, which had become the object of worship in much of the world for much of of the 20th century, was not irresistible. In the second place, it demonstrated how Islam itself could be instrumental in mounting resistance to oppression. On the other hand, the persistence of corruption after the revolution demonstrates the dangers of power. As Mansoor Farhang said, taking off from a remark by Lord Acton, "Power corrupts--even if you are a religious person." Unless we remain vigilant as to the corrupting influence of power any revolution becomes a 360-degree revolution in which old masters are replaced by new ones.
 
2- What's your Idea about Imam Khomeini's role on Islamic Revolution outbreak?
 
There is no doubt of the importance of Imam Khomeini's role as a political leader to the outbreak of the Iranian Revolution.  His personal charisma, his powerful elocution, his invocation of Islam, his intelligence, his connection with the masses, and his political acumen all played a part.
 
3- What do you think about Imam Khomeini's prediction about the collapse of world superpowers like Soviet?
 
This prediction was made in remarks to Mr. Gorbachev when the cracks in the Soviet empire were already beginning to show. A magazine I edited two decades earlier predicted the demise of the Soviet Union based on its moral and economic bankruptcy. I expect Imam Khomeini was aware that Ibn Khaldun explained why empires collapse when they depart from the sound policies of their founders six centuries ago, and I am certain that he read Allah's words in the Qur'an that great empires bring about their own collapse when they depart from justice and become the instruments of oppression.
 
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