174. Karen Armstrongand Chinese revolutions both owed their inspiration to the
nineteenth-century vision of Karl Marx). Khomeini had
evolved a radically new interpretation of Shiism: in the ab-
sence of the Hidden Imam, only the mystically inspired ju-
rist, who knew the sacred law, could validly govern the nation.
For centuries, Twelver Shiis had prohibited clerics from par-
ticipating in government, but the revolutionaries (if not many
of the ulama) were willing to subscribe to this theory of Ve-
layat-i Faqih (the Mandate of the Jurist).' Throughout the
revolution, the symbolism of Kerbala was predominant. Tra-
ditional religious ceremonies to mourn the dead and the
Ashura celebrations in honour of Husain became demonstra-
tions against the regime. The Kerbala myth inspired ordinary
Shiis to brave the shah's guns and die in their thousands, some
donning the white shroud of martyrdom. Religion was proved
to be so powerful a force that it brought down the Pahlavi
state, which had seemed the most stable and powerful in the
Middle East.
But, like all fundamentalists, Khomeini's vision was also
distorting. The taking of the American hostages in Teheran
(and, later, by Shii radicals in Lebanon, who were inspired by
the Iranian example) violates clear Quranic commands about
the treatment of prisoners, who must be handled with dignity
and respect, and freed as soon as possible. The captor is even
obliged to contribute to the ransom from his own resources.
Indeed, the Quran expressly forbids the taking of prisoners
except during a conventional war, which obviously rules out
hostage-taking when hostilities are not in progress.^2 After the
revolution, Khomeini insisted on what he called "unity of ex-
pression," suppressing any dissentient voice. Not only had the
demand for free speech been one of the chief concerns of the
revolution, but Islam had never insisted on ideological con-
formity, only upon a uniformity of practice. Coercion in reli-
gious matters is forbidden in the Quran, and was abhorred by