When war was raging with Iraq, how did the Islamic Republic mobilize and motivate its people to endure and make sacrifices? Not surprisingly, Gieling of the Catholic University of Nijmegen shows, by sacralizing the conflict in the name of Islam. Drawing on speeches and sermons by leaders, plus other bits and pieces (slogans on billboards, names of military units and operations), she convincingly establishes in an elegant study how central Islam was to justifying the war effort and galvanizing Iranians to support it.
This meant insisting that the war was a jihad (Islamically-sanctioned fighting), not an easy task given that jihad is normally against non-Muslims (and Iraqis are 95 percent Muslims). To get around this obstacle, the government drew an analogy with the war fought by `Ali, the Prophet Muhammad's son-in-law, with his Muslim opponents. Indeed, the image of `Ali as warrior "was an important factor in the efforts to mobilize the Iranian population." Comparisons with early Muslims also had the neat effect of permitting an aggressive war against Saddam Husayn: the war with Iraq "was not based only on the fact that Iran had been attacked and was defending itself. It was also based on the fact that war is ordained by God." And when time came in 1988 to accept a ceasefire, that too was explained in Islamic terms.
The Iranian authorities emphasized not just the broad strokes of Islam, but also the details. For example, they sought to strengthen their own legitimacy by imitating the caliphs of old: if those delivered sermons while leaning on a sword, these latter held a Kalashnikov gun. In all, the campaign seemed to work, as the Iranian populace put up, at great cost to themselves, with six years of offensive war.
