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For example, to read about a minister official spending time and effort to ousmart the author with cunningness, wit, and endless hospitality, does not make Iranian society smarter, better, but it does give the book self defeating arguments why the Iranian peope's destiny is not in how others understand them, but in how themselves understand their own culture and if there is anything they want to change about it. That perception impermeates the book and was the main reason why I stopped reading it half way through.
The book is well written and easy to follow. The theme centers on how intelligent, competent, but misunderstood by others, the Iranian society is.
I bought this book after I heard about it on NPR. There seems to be an expectation, a constant need by the Iranian people for recognition of their superior abilities which the rest of the world seems to ignore to their detriment.
The book goes on to list daily examples on how the Iranians outsmart other nations from street savyness to diplomatic superiority. The reader soon begins to wonder about this great nation that is so capable and so misunderstood by everyone else.
I agree that Iranian society is truly a capable and intelligent social group, but their success or failure lays - not in the perception of the rest of the world - but in how they shape their own society.
In this book, he tries to explain Iranian culture to Westerners, mostly through a series of stories about his own recent (post 2001) visits to Iran, along with little bits of history. The Ayatollah Begs to Differ provides a brief and easy to read introduction to modern Iran. The author clearly has no particular agenda. The author, Hooman Majd, grew up mainly in the West, but his family resides in Iran. He feels equally at home in both worlds. He simply relates his experiences. If (like me) you don't know much about Iran, this book makes a simple and relatively interesting introduction.
Shia Islamists including current President Ahmadinejad have long believed that a twelfth Imam or spiritual leader/prophet from the distant past (circa 974 C.E). These men are high ranking clerics known for their scholarship in Islamic studies, philosophy, logic, ethics, and their interpretation of a just life according to the words of Allah. Accurate election results may never be known. The driver readily boasts that if any country invades Iran, everyone will fight the invaders including himself. It is a daily religion whereby the vast Iranian population attempts to emulate the lives and thinking of their Ayatollahs. For sure Ahmadinejad despises all things American because our nation boasts the "right" way a democracy should operate and attempts to proselytize it--maybe conquer and enforce it might seem more accurate.
In spite of Ahmadinejad's election where Iranians took to the streets in protest, it would appear that a relative calm is in place. Author Hooman Majd tells a story that clearly delivers his message that Iranians want to be respected as a nation.1) They want to govern their own country-----without interference. But what would irk Iranians more than the troubled election would be "meddlers" from any country especially the United States or even worse, Iranians educated in the United States who, tainted by our ideas of democracy, would attempt to tamper or influence the religious/political course of modern Iran. Prayer plays an important role in every-day Iranian life. Or maybe it was a special TV broadcast by the President of the United States calling Iran part of "the axis of evil."After reading The Ayatollah Begs to Differ: The Paradox of Modern Iran, I must confess to author Hooman Majd and the Iranian people that I was misled about Iran. I enjoyed his comparison of Iran's Supreme Leader with the pope, both claiming infallibility. Some pilgrims believe he mixes with them anonymously in human form.Since his first election win in 2005 President Ahmadinejad has donated millions from government funds to the Mosque at this site, and according to The Ayatollah Begs to Differ, he refers to hidden Messiah Iman Mahdi in every speech hoping he will arrive soon, in body, to right the injustices of the world.Iranians love to talk politics. If change is to come, come it will but from within Iran and at the right time.
Today, Iran's democracy moves on. Why is it so easy to criticize or even damn what I don't understand. Modern Iran (formerly Persia) is a composite of many complicated elements which I knew little or nothing about.According to The Ayatollah Begs to Differ, the all encompassing influence affecting the seventy million Iranian people is their firm belief in their Muslim religion. Majd tells of riding in a cab with a friend while talking politics with an older cab driver.
They believe those days are finished. At Jamkaran, a pilgrimage site about ninety-six miles southwest of Tehran in the city of Qom, each Tuesday visitors drop prayer petitions in a well. will appear at the end of days beside Jesus Christ who will follow him. Quite often, his response included the word "repent." Majd wrote "Digital confession.
This Imam is thought to be a Messiah: Imam Mahdi. I was swayed by the news media; but what really bothers me is, I did nothing to learn accurate facts about the people of Iran. that the only way to cheat by eleven million votes was to never count them in the first place." True to their religion under Allah, perhaps Iranians may feel that world events are irrelevant under His holy Will. Maybe it was a news article in the paper or maybe it was a commentary I heard by a "reputable" anchor person on TV. The Ayatollah Begs to Differ states they Iranians are not seeking another revolution like 1979. They believe that the spirit of Imam Mahdi might favor their requests.
The Vatican should get in on this."I would hope that politicians, governmental bureaucrats, President Obama and his staff would read The Ayatollah Begs to Differ. At present, Iran is problematic for the United States mainly because of misinformed politicians and a general lack of education on the part of Americans. I would like to think the cause is that I've been misled by someone other than my self. This book is excellent reading material for anyone who, like me, was ignorant of what Iranians have achieved for themselves since their revolution 30 years ago (1979) and what they hope to have in future years. What they want is recognition of their democratic rights to bring about the freedom to enrich and manage their own prosperity in the future. This truth came about when Iranians realized it was logically impossible for him to beat other candidates including Mir Hossein Mousavi by an eleven million vote margin factoring in voter turnout.Author Hooman Majd claims that The Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, alluded to these votes in a sermon, "but failed to concede.
Why.Accepting another nation and all the apparent contradictions within its complicated system of democracy, would be a giant step toward bargaining for world peace. The protests of thousands seen on TV after Iranians heard the election results were caused, not so much because citizens disliked Ahmadinejad, although they may now, but because he usurped their democratic right to vote. It is not a Sunday only faith. He also talks of a website which posts questions for an Ayatollah to answer. 2) They wish to solve their own problems-----without interference. If I remember correctly, the driver was sixty-eight years old.In spite of what has happened during recent elections where Ahmadinejad stands accused of reporting false ballot counts, Iranians still consider their country to be a democracy--not one fashioned after the United States, but a decent theo/democratic country nonetheless.
Hooman Majd writes with accuracy, fluency, and humor. Other interesting books:Iran: Persia: Ancient and Modern, Third Edition (Odyssey Illustrated Guides)Islam and Feminisms: An Iranian Case-Study (Women's Studies at York)Guardians of the Revolution: Iran and the World in the Age of the Ayatollahs
The people we meet have colorful characters, although in many cases a not so colorful life. A third complained that now he has to go personally to the customs office because he can't finish the clearance over the phone, which is illegal, as he used to, again because Ahmadinejad wants to fight corruption. The moment I picked up this book I couldn't put it down. For example, he tells us that Hashemi Rafsanjani is a reformer, although the man is nothing but a clever manipulator. He was someone that belonged and didn't belong at the same time. We read about a Jew that defends the Islamic Republic, about an Ayatollah that begs to differ, a cleric that has no problem in smoking some opium from time to time in what is supposedly the theological center of Iran, a young lady covered from head to toe in a black chador but that nonetheless the author found to be sexy, about rich Iranian's that are so busy drinking alcohol and dancing at parties that they don't understand what is going on outside the walls of their homes, and finally about former president Khatami who promised more than he can deliver. Another reformer complained that Ahmadinejad has made it difficult to register illegally shipped Mercedes cars because he wanted to fight corruption.
I say that the author wasn't aware of this because he clearly viewed the reformers in Iran positively, and in many areas he voiced his dislike for many conservative figures. Written like a diary, this book takes us on a journey through the country, the cities, the homes and the personalities of the people there. I don't think that the author was aware that at many points the reformers came out as an arrogant bunch that think they should be elevated to some place above the common man. There are many things that I don't agree with the author about. I found it interesting how on one occasion the author quotes a reformer saying "We shouldn't have elections because stupid people vote for stupid men (in a reference to Ahmadinejad)". The highlight of the book was the author's character. The book is beautifully written and provides a valuable insight on the Iranian culture, religion and, to a lesser degree, politics.
The modern media cycle and political punditry encourage us to see issues as black or white, with us or against us issues. What Majd's book so skillfully reveals is that even within those regimes that are seen as monolithic, there are always opposing viewpoints ebbing and flowing, vying for influence and supremacy. Many in US government and military circles insist on seeing Iran as a unified entity, single-minded in purpose. Yet even going back to the days of the revolution, this was not the case.What Majd illustrates through his interviews and interactions is that Iran has many faces, many times self-contradictory, often mutually opposing, but never as simple as black and white.
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