Erfan Fard
In the annals of Islamic caliphates, spanning a history of 1400 years, a recurring theme emerges — the pursuit of power and wealth at any cost, with scant regard for ethics, spirituality, or justice. It is a tale of relentless ambition, where power is both acquired and maintained through any means, often leveraged for personal gain. Moreover, Islamic leaders, audaciously but fraudulently, have claimed themselves as the successors to the Prophet and representatives of God on Earth, further muddying the waters of religious sanctity.
This “pure Mohammedan Islam” has largely served as a tool for power struggles and profiteering, devoid of genuine religious sanctity. The pages of Islamic history tell a story of an unending quest for power, with little room for spiritual enlightenment.
When the Ottoman Islamic Caliphate drew to a close in 1924, there was a prevailing sentiment that such entities would not resurface. However, the year 1979 brought a bitter chapter in Iran’s history. The Marxist-Islamic alliance that propelled Ayatollah Khomeini’s revolt unleashed a destructive force, plunging Iran and the region into misery and chaos while presenting the world with the looming threat of Islamic terrorism.
The history of Islamic caliphs, including the Rashidun (the first four), the Umayyad Caliphate (14 caliphs), the Abbasid of Baghdad (37 caliphs), the Abbasid of Cairo (22 caliphs), the Umayyad of al-Andalus (16 caliphs), the Fatimid of Africa (17 caliphs), and the Ottoman Empire (34 caliphs) amounts to a total of 144 Emirs or ‘Commanders of the Faithful.’ History reveals these rulers as often corrupt, degenerate, charlatans, and bloodthirsty. Yet, the title of Amir al-Mu’minin, meaning ‘Commander of the Faithful’ or ‘Prince of the Believers,’ signifies the supreme leader of an Islamic community.
Contrast this with the Christian world, which has seen 263 Popes over 2000 years, each claiming to be Jesus’ successors. The issue of representing God and succeeding Muhammad in Islam takes a distinctive and often tumultuous path. Astonishingly, not one caliph in this tumultuous history met his end at the hands of non-Muslims.
Throughout these centuries, the sword remained firmly gripped in the hands of Muslim caliphs, with mosques serving as their centers of influence. They employed every means imaginable for sinister propaganda, often disguised as charitable endeavors, economic centers, healthcare facilities, educational institutions, and even lobbying efforts, all aimed at furthering their interests.
Among these ‘Amirs,’ some engaged in patricide, fratricide, infanticide, and even matricide. These so-called ‘men of God’ were corrupt, deceitful, conspiratorial, criminal, and morally bankrupt. The internal conflicts and massacres in the Muslim world frequently descended into savage brutality.
In 1979, against the backdrop of the Cold War’s waning days and the eventual fall of communism and apartheid, the then-Senator Joe Biden played a role in toppling communism and apartheid but remained relatively passive in countering “Islamic terrorism” linked to the nascent Islamic Caliphate in Iran. Prior to him, President Barack Obama considered penning letters to the Iranian leadership, including the Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Khamenei, but it remained an empty gesture. The Iranian populace also cast doubt on the religious sanctity of their leaders.
Before the eyes of the United States Congress, Senate, CIA, and White House, the Islamic caliphate transformed into a religious octopus, with Tehran extending its tentacles to nourish various terrorist groups across the Middle East. This fact remains incontrovertible.
Throughout the history of Islamic caliphates, peculiar examples have recurred over 1400 years. Take the case of Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan, the fifteenth Umayyad Caliph who assumed power in 685 AD. Upon ascension, he declared from the pulpit: “People, know that during my caliphate, no one has the right to question my actions, and whoever does so will bear the responsibility for his bloodshed.” Despite his pretenses of religiosity and Quranic readings, he soon closed the holy book and declared, “Our next meeting will be at Judgment Day.” His reign bore witness to one of the darkest periods in Islamic history. He even hosted and killed his cousin, a rival, in his own home, offering prayers for him in the mosque, and brazenly asked, “Shall I respond to questions with my sword?” Remarkably, he was the first Muslim caliph to embrace the doctrine of ‘Enjoining good and forbidding wrong.’
Were these actions any different from those of Khomeini and Khamenei? No, as both these mullahs similarly dubbed themselves champions of Islam, harboring ambitions to rule an Islamic empire. During the heyday of ISIS, its leader aspired to establish an Islamic world.
The Abbasid era holds the dubious distinction of being the longest and bloodiest among Islamic caliphates. During its 508-year rule in Baghdad and 260 years in Cairo, 38 and 18 Islamic Emirs, respectively, presided over periods marked by bloodshed, oppression, corruption, hypocrisy, and crime. However, when compared to Khomeini and Khamenei, these historical figures appear as mere drops in the ocean. The saga of bloodshed and death underpins the reign of these barbaric Islamic Emirs and Supreme Leaders. If an Umayyad or Abbasid caliph displayed cunning, deceit, ruthlessness, theft, and controversy, such traits reappeared in the Shiite Islamic caliphate of Iran after 1979.
Throughout Islamic history, numerous struggles against Islamic caliphates have arisen, often originating within Iran. Unfortunately, 1979 marked a tragic turning point. Two fanatical mullahs plunged Iran, once a beacon of civilization, into a cycle of decline and ruin.
In the 45 years since, Khomeini and Khamenei have ruled Iran as heartless, ruthless, criminal, and bloodthirsty leaders. Despite their claims to sanctity and spirituality, Iran today stands engulfed in chaos.
In conclusion, it is deeply regrettable how long the world took to awaken to this reality. In the winter of 1969, when Ayatollah Khomeini authored ‘Velayat-e Faqih’ and published it in Beirut, perhaps Israel’s Mossad acquired a copy. Regrettably, the CIA’s analysis fell short, even leading to a visit to Khomeini in France. Unlike the Mossad, the CIA failed to predict the 1979 revolution accurately. The world’s most significant intelligence agency appeared unaware of Khomeini’s religious extremism, violent ideology, and destructive tendencies. The CIA remained uninformed about Khomeini’s writings, instead relying on spurious information from Khomeini’s entourage, who baselessly portrayed him as mild and moderate.
The so-called “Islamic Revolution” amounted to nothing more than a tasteless and naive ruse — a carefully planned psychological warfare and
brainwashing campaign. Behind closed doors, power transitioned with the support of Mohammed Mosaddeq’s followers. In 1979, the Islamic card was played, even as the Kremlin appeared content with Khomeini’s ascent and the training of terrorists in Palestinian camps. Today, a former KGB colonel rejoices in the ‘success of Islam,’ with the Islamic Republic of Iran and North Korea as his puppets, along with the support of China.
The Carter administration displayed indifference toward the fall of the late Shah, a loyal ally of America and the civilized free world. Carter’s government overlooked Khomeini’s propaganda and groundwork. The Muslim Brotherhood rallied behind Khomeini and Khamenei, while around 200,000 mullahs in 25,000 mosques and prayer halls propagated Islamic terrorism. Thus began a dark era.
Historically, it remains an undeniable fact that Carter bears a significant responsibility for the 1979 disaster. Carter, the pastor in the White House, hailed Khomeini as a holy man, turning a blind eye to Khomeini’s antics and the spread of Islamic terrorism in Lebanon, Syria, and Iraq. Carter closed his eyes and ears to the evil propagated by the mullahs. On camera, he prayed and said ‘amen’ in the face of Khomeini’s malevolence.
In November 1984, Ronald Reagan declared on American television that a disgrace had befallen American history. Alexander Haig, too, acknowledged America’s role in the fall of the Shah and the subsequent descent of Iran into the annals of history. The victory of criminal mullahs, while perhaps unnecessary and avoidable, seemed to signify hostility toward the Shah, a loyal friend and ally of America and Europe. It appears that even the Arabs desired a hypocritical and aimless government in Tehran, sacrificing regional security and stability in the process.
During Carter’s tenure, a timid and indecisive Islamic government faltered in the face of Khomeini’s rise, while Carter, with his miscalculations, dreamy politics, and myopic vision, sought friendship and alliance with Khomeini, ignoring his savagery. As the late Shah observed in an interview with The Washington Post, ‘a murderous terrorist and criminal became the leader of a civilized country’ (June 22, 1980), and Carter remained deaf to the Shah’s warning. Carter’s successors, Obama and Biden, pursued a similar approach.
The plan to overthrow the Shah, perhaps, continues to haunt their consciences. The U.S. State Department, unknowingly and unwittingly, favored the Islamic left (reformists). History will record that the Democrats endeavored to sanctify a wild, uncivilized mullah. However, Carter was not alone in this endeavor; Andrew Young, the U.S. representative to the United Nations, praised Khomeini in front of reporters, hailing him as a saint. The White House was left stunned by this sanctification (The New York Times, June 4, 1989).
Carter’s warm welcome to Khomeini sounded the alarm for the century — a mullah who called himself the embodiment of Islam. Today, Khamenei also considers himself the paragon of Islam. Over 144 self-proclaimed Commanders of the Faithful have come and gone in Islamic history.
Khomeini, with his troubled and warmongering mindset, wrote in his book ‘Velayat-e Faqih’: ‘Essentially, one of the characteristics of a believer is that they show no emotion in implementing justice.’ (Page 58) In his view, the world needed to descend into crisis for the export of the Islamic revolution, driven by the destructive ideology of Khomeinism. Thus, the world became Khomeini’s unwitting hostage.
Khamenei, in his unyielding extremism, has consistently fueled tensions in Iran and the Middle East. Even today, Iran and the region remain ensnared by Khamenei’s grip — a monstrous manifestation of a transnational network of Islamic terrorism, unimaginable in the 20th and 21st centuries. A regime that flouts the rule of law, disdains humanity, and oppresses its own people continues to hold sway. Iran’s erstwhile greatness has been eclipsed, and the world watches as the nation inches toward gradual decay and destruction. Unless a miracle intervenes, Iran’s path remains one of impending doom, with the Islamic caliphate structure of Velayat-e Faqih dragging the region closer to the precipice.
With such a backdrop, the success of the 1979 revolution underscored the establishment of God’s government on Earth, signaling a wake-up call for America and the West. Here, the late Shah’s foresight was vindicated, casting a long shadow over humanity. However, the world’s silence in the face of this unfolding crisis remains an astounding and lamentable fact.
For Khomeini, war and genocide were divine gifts. When Khamenei proposed the plan of Islamic Jihad (Islamic terrorism) and the plan of Islamic government, the world remained silent. This closed circle and vicious cycle persist, as the Shiite mullah steers Iran toward absolute destruction. Today, the 1979 disaster has given rise to the genocidal sect of Islamic Nazism in the Middle East. The question remains: does America and the civilized Western world have the resolve to undertake this major transformation? Like communism and apartheid, can Islamic terrorism also be relegated to the annals of history?
Erfan Fard is a counter-terrorism analyst and Middle East Studies researcher based in Washington, DC. He is in Middle Eastern regional security affairs with a particular focus on Iran, counter terrorism, IRGC, MOIS and ethnic conflicts in MENA. He graduated in International Security Studies (London M. University, UK), and in International Relations (CSU-LA). Erfan is a Jewish Kurd of Iran, and he is fluent in Persian, Kurdish, Arabic and English. / Follow him from this twitter account @EQFARD / The newly published book of Erfan Fard is: “The Black Shabbat” (Israel, the target of terrorist), which has been published in the USA.