Answering only to God

by Geneive Abdo

"In 1979, Islamic revolutionaries set out to create a new kind of state from the ashes of the Shah's U.S.-backed monarchy - one that was both religious and democratic. But the result was the modern world's first theocracy, an authoritarian state run by conservative clerics.". "Hope emerged for a republic accountable to Iran's 62 million people with the landslide election of President Mohammad Khatami in 1997. Like Islamic reformers throughout history, Khatami argued that the needs of modern Muslims could be met if reason and rationality were introduced into the practice of the faith. His ideas energized other parts of the Muslim world yearning for free expression, the rule of law, religious and political tolerance, and increased participation among women and minorities. The promised land of the modern Islamic movement, the founding of a true Islamic republic, suddenly appeared within reach.". "Geneive Abdo and Jonathan Lyons, experienced Middle East correspondents, felt the same tug, a