THE ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF IRAN: SHARIA POLITICS AND THE TRANSFORMATION OF ISLAMIC LAW

Although in many Muslim societies, there is a great deal of popular enthusiasm for strengthening criminal codes by relying on sharia rulings, Iran's Islamic experience of the past three decades has led to very different viewpoints about sharia and its compatibility with the modern legal structures of a Muslim-majority country. Studying the Iranian case shows how difficult it is to implement laws based on sharia. Moreover, the disillusioning experiences of clerical despotism since the Revolution of 1979, corruption, gross mismanagement of Iran's faltering economy, harsh suppression of dissent, and an even harsher stance on criminal justice (codified in the Islamic Penal Code) have provoked increasing alienation and anticlericalism in Iran. This case study explores the establishment of shari'a in Iran, the revised civil and penal codes, and the growing anticlericalism among the Iranian people and the country's intellectuals.