The Reciprocal Services of Islam and Iran

This book is a collection of Ayatollah Motahhari’s sermons about Islam and Iran.

The author
Ayatollah Morteza Motahhari (February 3, 1920 – May 1, 1979) was an Iranian scholar, cleric, University lecturer, and politician. Motahhari is considered among the important influences on the ideologies of the Islamic Republic, and was a co-founder of Hosseiniye Ershad and the Combatant Clergy Association (Jāme'e-ye ####Rowhāniyat-e Mobārez). Motahhari was a disciple of Ayatollah Khomeini during the Shah's reign and formed the Council of Revolution of Iran at Khomeini's request. He was chairman of the council at the time of his assassination. Morteza Motahhari attended the Qom hawza from 1944-1952, and then joined the University of Tehran, where he taught philosophy for 22 years. Between 1965 and 1973 he also gave regular lectures at the Hosseiniye Ershad in Northern Tehran. Morteza Motahhari wrote several books on Islam, Iran, and historical topics. His emphasis was on teaching rather than writing. However, after his death, some of his students worked on writing these lectures and manage them in order to publish them as books. As of mid-2008, the "Sadra Publishings has published more than 60 books of Motahari and about 30 books written about Motahari or quoted from his speeches. Some of them are described below. Morteza Motahhari opposed what he called groups who "depend on other schools, especially materialistic schools" but who present these "foreign ideas with Islamic emblems". In a June 1977 article he wrote to warn "all great Islamic authorities" of the danger of "these external influential ideas under the pretext and banner of Islam." It is thought he was referring to the People's Mujahideen of Iran and the Furqan Group. On May 1, 1979 Morteza Motahhari was assassinated by gunshot by a member of the later group after leaving a late meeting at the house of Yadollah Sahabi. Ordibehesht 12 (1 or 2 May), the Persian date on which Morteza Motahhari was assassinated, is celebrated as "Teachers Day" in Iran. Morteza Motahhari is the father in law of Iran's former secretary of National Security Council Ali Larijani. It was by Motahhari's advice that Larijani switched from Computer Science to western philosophy for graduate school.

Structure of the book
The book includes 3 sections:
1- Islam in the view of Iranians: the relation of Iranians with Islam before and after the war with the Arabs. It is mentioned that “Islam is a religion based on the innate and intellectual human’s demands and there was no force in accepting Islam by Iranians; they embraced Islam, because they loved truth and justice. Today there is a close link between the Islamic culture and that of a Iranian”.
2- The services of Islam to Iran
3- The services of Iran to Islam

In the next chapter, the role of Iranian in proselytized Islam in the world and also their self-sacrifice for Islam, is mentioned.

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