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Continuity In Iranian Leadership Legitimization: Farr-I Izadi, Shi’Ism, And Vilayet-I Faqih, Tamara C. Mackenthun

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

The ancient Iranian belief in a mythological force that God bestows on kings in the form of a mystical light that validates their rule, the farr-ī īzadī, has persisted in Iran for millennia, and continues to influence Iranian concepts of leadership legitimization. The Islamic conquerors who overthrew Iran’s Sassanian Empire in the seventh century adapted this myth of Iranian sacral kingship to Islamic political culture, and used it to build a distinct Iranian Islamic political identity that persisted through centuries of regime changes. Iran’s Shi’i Muslims drew upon the concept of farr-i izadi in both of Iran’s twentieth century revolutions, …