Khordad 15 Uprising, A Turning Point in the Islamic Awakening

By: Sayyid Ali Shahbaz
It was on June 5, 1963 that the detention of the Father of the Islamic Revolution, Imam Khomeini (may God bless his soul) by the US-backed Pahlavi regime following his bold exposure of the evil nature of the Shah and his cohorts, triggered the nationwide uprising of the Iranian people. The regime attacked the people and brutally wounded and martyred many of them. The historical uprising known as \"15th of Khordad\" marked the starting point of the Islamic movement which was to change Iran\'s destiny. Though Imam Khomeini was exiled a year later, the movement culminated in his eventual return home and the triumph of Islamic Revolution.
Without the least doubt the present wave of Islamic Awakening that has brought down dictatorial regimes in West Asia and North Africa is indebted to the Islamic Revolution and the Khordad 15 uprising. It is to be noted that since the start of the 20th century, Iranian people have been campaigning against dictatorship. In 1905, Mozaffar od-Din Shah Qajar was forced to sign the constitutional decree granting the right of election to the masses. Within the less than three years, however, the next ruler, Mohammad Ali Shah Qajar ordered his troops to shell the National Consultative Assembly as part of the regime’s efforts to suppress freedom. This led to uprisings in Tabriz, and Isfahan and Gilan, but due to lack of charismatic leadership and solidarity among people, these uprising were suppressed.
The British in 1925 replaced the Qajarid with the Pahlavi dictator, Reza Khan Pahlavi of the Cossack Brigade. He turned out to be more despotic than the Qajarids. With the outbreak of the Second World War and its end resulted in the emergence of liberation movements in Asia, Africa and Latin America that were shape the destiny of the emerging nations by cutting foreign hegemony. Iran also was affected and March 1951, the movement for nationalization of Iran\'s oil industry was launched with full public support and backed by the ulema. The people were successful, but in August 1953, the British and the US launched a coup to topple the legal government of Prime Minister Dr. Mohammad Mosaddeq and restore the fugitive Shah to power. However, within ten years of the coup, many Iranian cities, especially Tehran and Qom, became the scene of bloody demonstrations in protest to the arrest of Imam Khomeini and thus the Khordad 15 uprising started. The nature of the uprising was Islamic and this was the beginning of a great movement in Iran, the region and the world, and thus could be called the forerunner of the wave of Islamic Awakening. Among the characteristics of the Islamic awakening under the leadership of Imam Khomeini one can refer to strengthening the link between religion and politics, demand for end of despotism, emergence of political Ijtehad, and popular support amongst the people.
A year after the suppression of the Khordad 15 uprising, the despotic Pahlavi regime, exiled Imam Khomeini to Turkey, from where he moved to Iraq and took asylum near the shrine of the Commander of the Faithful, Imam Ali (AS) in holy Najaf. This was a crucial phase in the Islamic Awakening and Imam Khomeini\'s thoughts and statements began to have deep impact on the Iranian society. The campaign of Iranian people against the monarchic system became rooted. Shah\'s prisons became full of political prisoners but failed to break the determination of the people. Finally in February 1979, with the victory of the Islamic revolution in Iran, a new era started in the region and the world. It shattered international equations. The Islamic revolution triumphed under the leadership of the greatest religious leader and source of emulation of his time. Imam Khomeini on the basis of Islamic teachings led and guided the anti-colonialist campaigns. The Islamic Revolution of Iran raised a new plan for liberating campaigns in the world. The Intifadah of the Palestinian people in the late 1980s and the birth of the Islamic resistance in Lebanon against the Zionist entity were influenced by the Islamic Revolution of Iran.
The Islamic Revolution of Iran could thus be called the harbinger of freedom and justice for all oppressed Muslim nations. This great revolution showed that on the basis of Islamic teachings, one can rise against the domestic dictatorship and foreign hegemony. The Islamic Awakening movement in North Africa and West Asia definitely derives inspiration from Iran, the Islamic Revolution and the Khordad 15 uprising. Although the Islamic movement in many Muslim states has deviated from its path due to lack of leadership, foreign intervention and the misplaced trust of some currents in western regimes and reactionary Arab states, sooner or later it is bound to triumph, despite the setbacks it has suffered in Egypt. According to the holy Qur’an righteousness always overcomes falsehood. To sum up, the wave of Islamist Awakening, whose turning point was the Khordad 15 uprising of June 5, 1963, cannot be extinguished. The Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei says: We believe that Islamic Awakening cannot be suppressed by the enemies of Islam. The banner of the dignity of Islam has been hoisted. The feeling of Islamic identity has today become powerful in Muslims in every part of the world and it will become more powerful. In this respect, the Iranian nation has great responsibilities and will shoulder them.