"The Ayatollah Begs to Differ": An Inside Look at Modern Iran

by Hooman Majd
(New York: Doubleday, 2008)
Hardcover, 273 Pages, Nonfiction
ISBN: 9780385523349, US$24.95

"Yeki-bood; yeki-nabood"
"There was a person (once upon a time); but on the other hand, no, there was no one."
-Traditional opening in Persian oral stories

From the Cover: The grandson of an eminent ayatollah and the son of an Iranian diplomat, now an American citizen, Hooman Majd is, in a way, both 100 percent Iranian and 100 percent American, combining an insider's knowledge of how Iran works with a remarkable ability to explain its history and its quirks to Western readers. In The Ayatollah Begs to Differ, he paints a portrait of a country that is fiercely proud of its Persian heritage, mystified by its outsider status, and scornful of the idea that the United States can dictate how it should interact with the community of nations. With wit, style, and an unusual ability to get past the typical sound bite on Iran, Majd reveals the paradoxes inherent in the Iranian character which have baffled Americans for more than thirty years. Meeting with sartorially challenged government officials in the presidential palace; smoking opium with an addicted cleric, his family, and friends; drinking fine whiskey at parties in fashionable North Tehran; and gingerly self-flagellating in a celebration of Ashura, Majd takes readers on a rare tour of Iran and shares insights shaped by his complex heritage. He considers Iran as a Muslim country, as a Shiite country, and, perhaps above all, as a Persian one. Majd shows that as Shi'ites marked by an inferiority complex, and Persians marked by a superiority complex, Iranians are fiercely devoted to protecting their rights, a factor that has contributed to their intransigence over their nuclear programs. He points to the importance of the Persian view of privacy, arguing that the stability of the current regime owes much to the freedom Iranians have to behave as they wish behind "Persian walls." And with wry affection, Majd describes the Persian concept of ta'arouf, an exaggerated form of polite self-deprecation that may explain some of Iranian President Ahmadinejad's more bizarre public moments. With unforgettable portraits of Iranians, from government figures to women cab drivers to reform-minded Ayatollahs, Majd brings to life a country that is deeply religious yet highly cosmopolitan, authoritarian yet with democratic and reformist traditions-an Iran that is a more nuanced nemesis to the United States than it is typically portrayed to be.

My Review: Yet another book that jumped off the NEW BOOK display at my local library and into my bag. It was even timelier, given the recent election and ensuing riots in Iran following Ahmadinejad's re-election. I decided that I didn't know enough about Iran, its history, its people, its culture and its government, and so I dug in.

Needless to say, The Ayatollah Begs to Differ paints a fascinating picture of Iran. Hooman Majd is uniquely connected to the Iranian government, as well as both the upper-, middle- and lower-classes of Iran and so is able to talk across socio-economic spectrums and present a fuller picture of Iran than the 24-hour news channels have presented lately. His insight into the Persian mind and way of thought is enlightening to say the least. With concepts of ta'arouf and the Persian belief in haq (or "rights") Majd shows that the modern/average Persian is more concerned about obtaining a job and whether or not the government can fix the economy (Iran has one of the highest unemployment rates in the world) and not whether or not the Holocaust really occurred, whether or not women should be forced to wear hijabs or chadors, or if nuclear weapons are necessary for their national defense (though they do see the Iranian nuclear power program as haq).

Majd's portrayal of Iran as a country of contradictions is very much at odds with the one that the American public has been fed through the media and the Bush Administration in the years following the terrorist attacks of September 11^th. It is a portrait of a country that is at once modern and backwards, religious and secular, conservative and liberal. It is not, no matter what the Rumsfelds and Cheneys of the world would have us believe, a country of terrorist jihadists that want the death of the American way of life.

However, this is not to say that Majd's point of view is valid and without fault. Being himself related to the Former President of Iran Mohammad Khatami, he falls a little too far into the camp of hero worship of the Former President (who, according to Majd defied the Ayatollahs and instituted many liberal reforms that Ahmadinejad's administration rolled back) to be a fully "reliable" source of information, however, it is interesting to consider many of his points and the claims he makes, especially regarding Iranian cultural habits (such as ta'arouf and haq) and how they relate to the odd behavior and claims of Ahmadinejad.

Regardless of whether or not Majd is right in his assessment of Iran, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and the Persian people, Iran is a country that we, as Americans, need to understand better as it is becoming a greater and greater power in the new world order. Majd's book is a fascinating look at Iran from all sides, secular and religious, conservative and liberal, modern and historic.

You can watch Majd discuss his book with Jon Stewart on The Daily Show HERE.

This review can also be found at Bryan's Book Blog.