Draft:Sayyid Abolhassan Banisadr
| Sayyid Abolhassan Banisadr | |
|---|---|
| File:Bani Sadr.jpg | |
| Name | Sayyid Abolhassan Banisadr |
| Other Names | Banisadr |
| Personal Details | |
| Birth Place | Baghcheh, Kabudarahang, Hamadan |
| Brith Date | 2 Farvardin |
| Death Place | Salpetriere Hospital, Paris |
| Death Date | 17 Mehr |
| Religion | Islam |
| Works | Fundamental Principles and Rules of Islamic Government
|
Sayyid Abolhassan Banisadr was an Iranian politician and economist who is known as the first president of the Islamic Republic of Iran. He was elected to the presidency in free elections in 1358 SH, and was impeached from his position in 1360 SH due to political incompetence.
Biography
Sayyid Abolhassan Banisadr was born in 1312 SH, in the city of Baghcheh, Kabudarahang in Hamadan. His father, Sayyid Nasrallah Banisadr, was one of the influential clerics of this region. After finishing elementary and guidance school in Kabudarahang, Banisadr received his diploma from Shariati High School, Hamadan, and then studied economics and Islamic law at the University of Tehran. He also received a PhD from Sorbonne University, France, and taught at this university. He married Azra Hosseini in 1339 SH, and the result of this marriage was three children (two daughters and one son). Banisadr participated as a representative of the law faculty students in the Congress of the National Front of Iran in 1341 SH, and was responsible for the National Front students organization at the University of Tehran. He was arrested and imprisoned twice due to his political activities. Banisadr was injured during the 15 Khordad event of 1342, and after that left the country and went to Paris to continue his studies.
Views
Closeness to the National Front
At the beginning of his presence in Europe, he was closer to the National Front and wrote for the political publications of this front. In 1348 SH, he translated Frantz Fanon's The Wretched of the Earth into Persian and gradually, along with individuals such as Sadegh Ghotbzadeh, Ebrahim Yazdi, and Hassan Habibi, pursued national Islamic struggles. Following the failure of the National Movement and after the events of Khordad 1342 SH, he sought to formulate new theories for struggle.
Intellectual Influences
Banisadr's education in Paris was in the field of economics and investment. Barry Rubin writes in the famous book The American Experience and Iran that in Paris, he became interested in the book and school of Small is Beautiful. A book that defended small industries, public involvement in the economy, and support for micro-production. The influence of this school on Banisadr is evident in his economic books.
Connection with Imam Khomeini and Governmental Theories
In 1352 SH, Banisadr went to Najaf for his father's funeral ceremony and met with Imam Khomeini there. This meeting laid the groundwork for a long-lasting connection that continued until 1360 SH. The Imam advised him to think about Islamic Government, and the result of Banisadr's thoughts was the writing of the book Fundamental Principles and Rules of Islamic Government. In this eighty-five-page book, he discussed Islamic government and its intellectual foundations, but did not mention Imam Khomeini's Guardianship of the Islamic Jurist.
Theory of Cognition
From around 1351 SH, Banisadr established contact with the Union of Islamic Associations of Europe and the USA, and by proposing strange topics that were actually an amalgam of political Islam, 19th-century evolutionary philosophies, and a type of Third World leftism, he expressed his opinions. In the spring of 1351 SH, Banisadr presented his theory of cognition titled Method of Cognition Based on Monotheism and called this self-made method a 'scientific' method whose 'teacher is the Quran'. Banisadr considered his method a solver of many ambiguous and unsolved historical issues and believed his method would solve global economic problems.
Claim of the Greatest Thought of the Contemporary Era
Banisadr saw himself as a global thinker and intended to present a comprehensive and special method of cognition based on monotheism in competition with Marxism, which possessed a general method of cognition based on class conflict. In Dey 1358, in meetings held for discussions with candidates of the first round of the presidential election at the Secretariat of the Revolutionary Council, he called his thoughts the 'greatest thought of the contemporary era' and his book Contradiction and Monotheism the 'greatest work of the century'. To become more familiar with this 'scientific method', we mention one of the passages from the book Contradiction and Monotheism (i.e., the same greatest work of the century): 'An egg is a set that, with the components of its environment such as heat and ..., forms a set according to the principle of monotheism. Based on the principle of mission, the egg moves and grows. The internal dynamism of the egg and what drives it to move and grow is the principle of Imamate. If the movement and growth of the egg is not according to the principle of justice, the egg rots; and if it is according to this principle, the egg turns into a chick or in other words reaches its own resurrection'.
Influence of Shariati and Monotheistic Economics
The influence of Shariati was also evident in Banisadr's economic views. Banisadr introduces monotheistic economics by justifying Monotheism from an economic perspective. Banisadr's book Monotheistic Economics was the result of this intellectual agitation. There are strange sentences in this book that well indicate his non-systematic and so-called eclectic thinking. Phrases such as 'Imamate distributes the surplus production in the form of tools and information and ... in society in such a way that individual talents seek to compete with higher talents by using more facilities in production. In other words, the heavy task of leadership and Islamic Imamate is to prevent the destruction of economic driving forces' and 'The requirement of the principle of Imamate is that all of us must play the role of Imam as Muslims.' The latter example indicates his Protestant thinking.
Concept of "Imamate and Leadership" in Economic Thoughts
The main pillar of his economic thoughts was the concept of 'Imamate and Leadership', which had great authority and owned the land and labor forces. The stranger point is that Banisadr considered this hodgepodge of different intellectual schools that was cooked in his writings as an intellectual achievement and had said in an interview with Ettela'at newspaper: 'If I am to say who I am myself, I introduce myself to you like this: I am the greatest thought of the contemporary era... I consider this Contradiction and Monotheism the greatest work of the century that is from myself'[1].
Presidency
In 1358 SH, Bani-Sadr was elected as the President of Iran by popular vote. As president, he faced many challenges, including his obstructions during the Iran–Iraq War. Imam Khomeini dismissed him from the command of the armed forces in a message due to these obstructions. Following this dismissal, on 31 Khordad 1360, the Islamic Consultative Assembly impeached Bani-Sadr from the presidency by approving the plan of political incompetence.
After Impeachment
After impeachment, Bani-Sadr joined the terrorist group Monafeqin and engaged in armed struggle against the Islamic Republic. Following the victory of Mohammad-Ali Rajai in the presidential election, he fled the country along with Massoud Rajavi and went to France.
Death
Seyyed Abolhassan Bani-Sadr passed away on 17 Mehr 1400 at the age of 88 in Salpetriere Hospital in Paris[2].
See also
Notes
References
- Biography: Seyyed Abolhassan Bani-Sadr (1312 - 1400), Hamshahri Website, Article insertion date: 17 Mehr 1400, Article access date: 13 Aban 1404 SH.
- بنیصدر که بود و چه عقایدی داشت؟، پایگاه خبری رویداد ۲۴ Who was Abolhassan Bani-Sadr and what beliefs did he have?, Rovdad 24 News Agency, Article insertion date: 23 Dey 1403, Article access date: 14 Aban 1404 SH.