At The Crossroads Of Fate: Persia, And Overcoming "The Great Addiction"by Arman Al-Faresi

In the Name of Khoda – the Higher Self, the “Aumakua” of shamanic thought, that which gives rise to the Nafs Az-Zakiyyah of the Qur’an, that which holds the reigns of what Jesus referred to as “The Kingdom of Heaven Within”, the “Inner Buddha” spoken of by the one whom the Qur’an refers to as Dhul Kifl (Gautama Siddhartha) – The One who is ever present, in a constant flux of communication with the heart.

In the name of the Highest aspect inherent within each of us, which holds the Divine Spark tat wrought us into Being; which provides infallible guidance and, should we care to sit down and “listen” to It, the promise of a salvation that is uniquely catered to each of us, in accordance with the distance we’ve covered on our personal paths back to It; of fulfilled desires aligned with our highest purpose and evolution, the like of which no external “savior” – benevolent or otherwise – could comprehend nor offer, save through lies and unfulfilled promises.

“The year is 1961”

The hero, Yale University psychologist Stanley Milgram. In what was to become a topic of discussion in his 1974 book: “Authority: An Experimental View” – a series of controversial social experiments that later became known as the “Milgram experiments” – a shocking aspect of human behavior was unfolded.

It revealed how otherwise law-abiding citizens can be made to perform immoral acts or inflict pain on one another if the order to do so came from a figure of higher authority. The most well-known among these experiments went something like this, in the words of Milgram’s 1974 article issued in Harper’s Magazine:

“In order to perform a psychological experiment effectively, the “Subject” of such experiments often cannot know they are being studied. If they did, it would render the results invalid as the subject would change his behavior if he knew he was being watched. To do this “confederates” are often employed to dupe the test subject. The confederate is an actor who pretends he is someone he is not and goes along with the lie to deceive the Subject and render the desired experimental effect.”

Every experiment involved three main players. In one room was the “Learner”, an actor well trained in expressing pain through convincingly screaming and banging on the wall, and whose other task beside this was to answer a series of questions by pressing the right button (and mostly intentionally wrong buttons) while being supposedly tied to an electrocuting contraption.

In a separate room adjacent to the one occupied by the actor, was the “Subject” of the experiment (who, being designated the title of “Teacher”, was oblivious to the fact that his/her behavior was being studied). Next to the subject was an “authority figure” in a white coat, actually a grad student posing as a doctor, whose task was to advise the “Teacher” on the particulars of what needed to be done.

The experiments began with the “Teacher” reading a series of word pairs to the “Learner”. The latter’s task was to memorize what was being read out to him.

Next, the “Teacher” would read the first word of the pair, and then read out four possible words that would complete the pair (with one of them being the right word). If the answer supplied was incorrect, the “Teacher” was told to administer an electric shock to the “Learner”, and as the wrong answers continued, the power of the shocks increased to the potentially lethal maximum of 450 volts.

Of course, there was no real electric shock being delivered, but the experiment was designed such that the “Teacher” (who could not see the “Learner” but was nonetheless able hear him scream and bang on the wall begging to get out) believed that it was.

If - in response to this - the “Teacher” asked the “doctor” standing next to him to halt the experiment, he was given the following responses in series: (1) “Please continue”, escalating to (2) “The experiment requires you to continue”, then to (3) “It is absolutely essential that you continue”, and finally: (4) “You have no other choice, you must go on!”

In the event that the subject still wished for this exercise to end following these four commands, the experiment would end. Otherwise, the experiment ended following three (supposed) shocks of the 450 volts.

“I set up a simple experiment at Yale University to test how much pain an ordinary citizen would inflict on another person simply because he was ordered to by an experimental scientist. Stark authority was pitted against the subjects’ (participants’) strongest moral imperatives against hurting others, and, with the subjects’ (participants’) ears ringing with the screams of the victims, authority won more often than not. The extreme willingness of adults to go to almost any lengths on the command of an authority constitutes the chief finding of the study and the fact most urgently demanding explanation.”

– Stanley Milgram, The Perils of Obedience, Harper’s Magazine (1974)

“Like unto sheep. Nay, even further astray!”

Two theories on social dynamics were proposed to explain what was being observed.

First was the Agentic State Theory, which states that generally, individuals have a tendency to shift responsibility of their actions to a higher authority, considering themselves merely instruments in the work of the other, or by shifting the blame to those on the repercussive end of the demands of said authorities (such as, in this case, blaming the victim who was shocked for not answering the questions properly).

Second was the Theory of Conformism, which states that humans have a tendency to defer decision-making to a group or larger institution, even if capitulation to this pack-like mentality required that they abandon their own views and moral fabric while trying to “fit in” with the collective.

Now, for the part that really demands our attention, and inextricably ties with the events in Iran over the last 30 years in particular:

In the first round of testing, it was found that 65% of subjects administered the (fatal) 450 volt shock. The remaining subjects continued with the experiment up until the (often paralysis and burn inducing) 300 volt range. In the second wave of experiments, a similar number (between 61% and 66%) administered the fatal 450 volt shock.

This was perhaps the most troubling observation made from these experiments: that the capability of inflicting pain on others through deferring one’s decision-making powers to a “higher authority” isn’t just true in the case of one or two individuals, but that it is true for a good majority of the population we encounter on a daily basis, walking in the streets; people one would normally consider law-abiding citizens!

Reading about that experiment, I couldn’t help but recall this verse…

“Deemest thou that most of them hear or understand (Truth)? They are but as the cattle - nay, even farther astray!” - Al-Qur’an, “The Criterion”: 25:44

… and the events that have been unfolding in contemporary Iran.

“Mind Control 101”

My dear brothers and sisters of Persia, you sons and daughters of Cyrus The Great, heirs to one of the most progressive and enlightened legacies ever left by an ancient Monarch, this is an invitation to face certain realities that are going to be hard to swallow at first. Nonetheless, the voice within that calls for the recreation of New Persia demands that they must be.

In the hopes that you are prepared, I hereby present to you one such reality in the form of a question: If it is this easy to give away our power to someone we do not know on a personal level – however “authoritative” that person might be in garb and title – even to the point of compromising our personal values and moral fortitude, then how much easier would it be to fall in the same pit if said authority figure is someone who – through years and years of being invited into our very homes via the media of the radio, the television, the newspapers (and now, the internet) – managed to soften our mental defenses and critical thinking and to hypnotize us with a carefully projected public image?

How easier would it be to carelessly fall under the spell of this person’s charisma and influence when our deepest emotions are evoked, and some of our most deeply-seated prejudices and preconceived beliefs are selectively and skillfully appealed to in a gradual, systematic fashion (even if – as is often the case – it is done to the exclusion of the bigger picture)?

This is all the more pertinent a reality to face when we are confronted by emotionally charged events; especially unexpected situations that so entrance us by the intensity of the upheavals they cause that they effectively suppress our ability to think as individuals and form our own decisions to the exclusion of the emotionally fickle and steerable masses.

It is these unchecked “entrances” into our homes, into our minds, into our very lives that the authorities we so lazily defer personal responsibility to use to lead us to utter and complete disaster. Here’s is a “case study” I’ve prepared for your edification, one that occurred (and continues to occur) a little closer home.

“The Attempt At Ceasefire”

One of the most prominent orators ever to emerge in Iran in recent years, a man who holds increasing sway on the minds of Iranians still sympathetic to the current regime, is a religious figure by the name of Sheikh Mehdi Daneshmand of Esfahan.

Rumor has it that he has been attempting to secure higher positions along Iran’s religious hierarchy, but his efforts have been continually thwarted due to the “power play” so prevalent in the ranks of Mullacracy. Nonetheless, an uncommonly skillful oratory mixed with informal, humor-laced “straight talk”, great personal charm and a finger set on a deep pulse of the concerns occupying the minds of Iranian youth (including those not sympathetic to the regime) meant his popularity was destined to be on the rise from the beginning.

For our case-study, I have provided the subtitles for two of his speeches and clipped them back to back at the following YouTube address:

Sadly, the subtitles won’t be very clear in some places, thanks to the limitations of free software (mine even manages to crash every two minutes).

In the first talk, Mr. Daneshmand laments the excesses routinely committed during Ashura by those who mourn for the dead of Karbala, and the dire ramifications of said excesses in so far as Shi`a persecution at the hands of the Sunnites go. The transcript of this particular sermon is provided below (and I urge the readers to give it their full attention).

“If we attempt to understand religion on our own, we will fail in this endeavor, unless we take the step of becoming apprentices of the Ahlul Bait (the family of The Prophet), and actually start reading.

One of the misfortunes that is afflicting our mourning panels (Azadari groups formed for morning the dead of Karbala) is in this area (i.e. lack of reading).

And if you observed the level of activity of the enemies of Islam, on the Internet, on the Anti-Shi`a websites, Anti-Shi`a forums, including that of the “progressive types” – listen to what they are saying:

They say that a bunch of directionless illiterates are sitting in groups, lamenting Hussain’s death!

“A bunch of illiterates, who are incapable of reading.”

Of course, one can’t help but get up and go through these gatherings, and I have done this sometimes. And when I do, I tell them: “Alright, so you are all young and number a hundred… forming a mourning panel… reciting Hussain’s name… praying for him… hitting your chests for him; all this is excellent, Barak Allah.

“ Now, what’s the number of those among you with bachelor degrees?

“How many of you are physicians? Engineers? Students of Law? How many of you have at least tried and failed out? How many of you are chronic fail-outs? What’s your level of education?”

You see? A 22 year old youth, an avowed lover of Hussain, yet he couldn’t even finished Grade 5 of his elementary education!

And what’s amazing is whenever you step forward and ask: “Why?” He says: “Well, sir, my priority right now is my love (for the Ahlul Bait).” – In other words, he says his lack of education is the fault of… whom? Imam Hussain? See, this is what we oppose. This is what we fight here.

Or take examples of the panels they set up for mourning Hazrat Zaynab – Look, I purposefully leave last-night lectures for these “difficult” matters, to make sure all my friends are present, and I hold nothing back.

He said: “Hassan, scores one point.” Okay. “Hussain, scores three points. Fatimah scores one point. Zaynab scores FIVE POINTS!!!” And everyone starts screaming: “Waaaaa!!!!” and I told him “Choke on snake venum. “Zaynab scores five points” to say what, you moron? What the Hell are you trying to say?

“And why are YOU responding by crying and commotions? Why do you automatically scream everytime this nonsense is rehearsed to you? Don’t you have a brain? Have they closed your mind for you? Can’t you hear the nonsense that is being spewed?’Zaynab scores five points – WAAAA???” –

“Zaynab…” I have no idea how you can bring yourselves to laugh! This is a tragedy by God! As the CDs, the film footages of these gatherings are assembled, the Sunnites propagate them to the world on the Internet and say “THIS is it! This is the Shi`a level of understanding!”

What the Hell does “There is no god except Hussain” mean?

What do you mean by “All praise be to my rab Al-Hussain”?

What do you mean by “Our Lord grant us in this Dunya Zaynab?” What kufr is this you are uttering? What shirk is this you are uttering? What sort of Rozah was this that you recited? So there is nothing else to it? There is not a modicum of logic here?

It is the Shi`as reputation that is being sullied here! Yet he says “This work is a work of love (for the Ahlul Bait).” To the grave with this sort of “love”, that completely defies sanity!

Apologies, I am not feeling too well. We will continue this tomorrow night. God knows, anyone among you young ones, anyone who puts an hour’s time and researches on the Internet, and goes to the anti-Shi`a sites, for even just an hour, and revises them, he will turn into a ball of fire more fiery than even myself.

Listen, they have assembled all the CDs. All the “expose” programs. One by one they have compiled all the blasphemous quotes – all the “there is no god except Zahra”-quotes – and they quote them fifty times, captioning them with: “This is Shi`a logic! That is why Shi`as are kaffir. That is why Shi`as are mushrik!”

And then all these get published in places like Pakistan, and slaughtering Shi`as becomes a means by which one gets closer to God!”

I have a confession to make. When I first heard the above sermon, I was amazed to the point of wanting to track Mr. Daneshmand’s email down (apparently he has a Facebook) to offer my full support. It’s not that I personally have a taste for even “moderate/non-excessive Azadari”, but this was a breath of fresh air and, I felt, an important step in the right direction, hopefully one culminating in a “ceasefire” between Sunnites and Shiites.

That is, until I came another sermon by the same man. Please contrast the above, with the easily foreseen ramifications of what you are about to read below:

“This one past uttering of mine was enough for him to grab my collar, reprimanding me for saying “All Sunnites are bastards.”

“Bastard” and “illegitimate offspring” are two different things, dear. The latter means one’s mother went “wrong” somewhere. But “bastard” means this, in according with the Shi`a Fiqh.

One of the things than render a man’s marriage to his wife null and void, is the neglect to perform and to pray the two rak`as of Tawaful Nisaa at Mecca, according to the Hadeeth of the Prophet and the Amirul Mu’menin, and I am prepared to show you the daleel from the Traditions.

Mr. `Umar… what, you’re anticipating that I will say it alone? How about you don’t forget to invoke God’s curse on him either? My late dad used to say “Whoever hears their names invoked, and does not curse them, may he not deserve of `Ali whatever he avails.”

`Umar the Bastard – and by the way, he was both THAT and illegitimate. This you already know, and I have the sanad to prove it. Because his father Khattab sired a daughter from a black woman, and once she herself became of age, he copulated with her too, and `Umar was the result, and I can place the sanad before you.

Yet despite this truth, the man sends me a letter yesterday, from the first line to the last, insulting me over why I am “insulting Sunnites”! Just like that.

I’ll say it again: `Umar – may Allaah’s curse be upon him – saw that Abu Bakr – may Allah’s curse be upon him – was depressed. So he said: “Mr. Abu Bakr, what in your grave’s name is wrong with you? I see you in great mal-function, what’s retarding you thus?”

He replied: “I want to increase `Ali’s enemies, but don’t know how!”

Umar: “Bastard, you should listen to another one of your kind, like me!”

Abu Bakr: “Okay, Mr. Bastard, what should we do?”

Umar: “Remember how once we heard the Prophet on the pulpit, declaring to Ali, ‘Dear Ali, you are the criterion by which are identified legitimacy and bastardry, and so, whoever has love for you in their hearts is legitimate, and who has resentment towards you in their heart is a bastard’? Remember?”

Abu Bakr: “Yes.”

Umar: “So then, bear this in mind, that whoever becomes a bastard automatically has issues with `Ali without even trying. Got it?”

Abu Bakr: “Yes.”

Umar: “Right, so now the questions becomes: what do we do to increase the number of bastards?”

Abu Bakr: “I don’t know.”

Umar: “How stupid are you? A bastard and a moron rolled into one! Don’t you know that according to the Prophet of God, whoever goes to Mecca and doesn’t perform the Tawaful Nisaa, and didn’t pray its prescribed rak`as, his wife would be forbidden to him?” (Correct or no, you audience? Go ahead and ask!)

Abu Bakr: “But what has this got to do with Ali?”

Umar: “Ah, we must forbid this practice of prayer and Tawaful Nisaa, so that our followers won’t perform them in compliance, and this way, their wives will be forbidden onto them and any progeny they subsequently sire will become bastards and become hostile towards `Ali.”

So, what are you going to say now? For this you write me a letter telling me: “Get out of our Yazd you Israeli traitor”? I have become an Israeli now?

He further wrote: “Those sitting at your pulpit are know-nothing idiots.” Regardless of the number of doctors sitting here. Or college students. This is nothing short of the sort of bastardry we are talking about. Nothing short of suckling on illegitimate milk and impure parenting.

You have the audacity to direct these insults to a Shi`a akhund? All because my words agitate the Sunnite – everyone one of whom may their father and mother be cursed?

If the Imam (Khomeini) supposedly spoke of “Unity” 20 years ago… first of all, it wasn’t the Imam that said it, it was someone else. The Imam withdrew his position on the matter. The initiator of “Unity” between the Shi’ites and the Sunnites was not the Imam; don’t stain his good name like that. Neither him, nor the current leader of the Revolution, but someone else who, praise be to God, received Fatimah Al-Zahraa’s slap and disappeared.

Secondly, “Unity” between the Shi’ite and the Sunnite means silencing us? It means not being able to talk? It means neglecting to inform the Shi`a of the truth? So that a bunch of teachers could go to our schools and tell our children than `Umar was a “servant”? That it was he who turned Iranians into Muslims? We have no right to insult `Umar? It means this?

No, as long as I am alive, I will continue to say `Umar was a bastard. And I will continue to declare every Sunnite a bastard. Because they do not pray or perform the Tawaful Nisaa. Therefore their wives are forbidden to them. According to Shi`a Fiqh. According to Islam! According to Prophethood!”