With the recent landslide election victory of the reformist President Khatami in Iran, the relationship between religion and politics in Islam is likely to change dramatically. This book is a milestone in our understanding of the ideology and practice of an Islamic state. Asghar Schirazi chronicles and analyzes political life in Iran since the revolution, showing the gradual transformation of the state from intended theocracy and republic to a hierocracy in which Islam and the shari'a play a subordinate role. He thus provides the context for the dramatic debate between reformists and...