Which factors shaped the Islamic Revolution?

The Islamic Revolution is a big thing in Iran's contemporary history and like any phenomenon, some causes were effective in its genesis, reasons which return to elements of Islamic Revolution. In fact, reasons of Islamic Revolution are elements that in a form of series of objective realities, have had a significant impact in its emergence or continuation and winning.
Analysis of different perspectives about the causes of Islamic Revolution depicts that most of presented interpretations and reveals especially by Western authors is done based on limited insight at a certain time and regardless of the complex ideological grounds and historical roots.
It is clear that important social and political phenomena, without having broad and complex ideological grounds, as a school and historic interconnected and long roots as a deep-rooted culture and civilization, cannot happened to an incident in the biggest political phenomenon of contemporary times in the huge Islamic revolution’s form.
So it seems that it is very difficult to classify the causes of Islamic Revolution that derives from close relationships between political, social, cultural, economic factors, because any economic or religious factor, ultimately creating a political phenomenon, finally in the formation of a political phenomenon, changes to a political factor and all factors of political phenomena in any form or by any character, at last will be counted as a political one.
It is important to mention that mainly Western political analysts, in the context of profound changes in Iran have spoken mostly of the fall of the Shah and its causes and have focused less on its positive phenomena which is mainly the Islamic Revolution. According to what was said in this article, based on the views of the Supreme Leader of Revolution, the main factors of the Islamic Revolution can be categorized and described in three areas. These three areas are:
1. Causes and factors of the formation of revolution (that had a role in creation and development of Islamic Revolution of Iran.)
2. The causes of the victory of revolution (that have played the main role in the victory over system and the fall of the regime.)
3. Reasons and factors of survival and continuity (that have caused the survival and continuity in post-revolution.)
Causes and factors of the formation of Islamic Revolution
1. Islam
From the perspective of the Supreme Leader of Revolution, the main cause of the formation of the Revolution, which we can link it to all other causes and factors of development of the revolution and count it as its subsidiaries, is Islam and its teachings. In other words, he recognizes Islam and Islamic motives of the people as the main infrastructure and basis for the formation of the Islamic Revolution and believes the success of Imam Khomeini in the Islamic Revolution was supporting his movement by people that he mentioned the slogan of Islam in a clear, straightforward way and with courage and boldness and announced it to the public.
He explained this issue: "Imam said Islam’s teachings to the people, and said the meaning of government, said the meaning of the man, and described for the people what was happening to them and how it should be. The facts that people did not dare to say, he explicitly (not like whispering, not in the form of letters, not as groups and parties explain them to party cadres and Party cells in a closed way); he said them in a smooth, easy way for the public. It was then that people respond. "
Supreme Leader of the Revolution recognizes disregard and lack of respect of the Pahlavi regime for the faith of the people and knows anti-Islamic activities of the Shah's regime as the main factor of public discontent with the former regime and believes that although people were dissatisfied from the political, economic and social situations in the former regime and used to sense it, what people were suffering from the most was the ignorance of the regime and insulting Islamic values and beliefs, traditions and customs of Islam.
"... Our revolution was for Islam. Do not say that the people of the country during the reign of the Shah were unhappy and did not want to change it. People were unhappy from all of the things of the regime. When people during the reign of the tyrant (whether in the despotic regime of Pahlavi and in most states before it) had opened their eyes and had seen the truth and could feel badness and humiliation and the destruction of their character, off course it was natural that they wanted these miseries to be changed in their lives and livelihoods, but the basis of all of them was hardly one thing:
It was that no one respected people and their opinions and thoughts and faith and values. People wanted Islam and Islamic traditions, but hands of the power and the government promoted anti-Islamic."
2. Religious leadership
One of the main factors of shaping Islamic Revolution in the views of the Supreme Leader of Revolution is religious leadership of revolution that was expressed in a great and unique character after the prophet and Imams, Imam Khomeini's (RA).
Given that this issue has been explained in the pillars of the Islamic Revolution, due to avoiding prolongation of this reading, we prevent to explain this issue in this section and ask our respected readers to go and see the pillars of the Islamic Revolution section.
3. Corruption of ruling class
Wise leader of the Revolution knows the corruption of Pahlavi regime as the main reason for the formation of the Islamic Revolution and says in describing this corruption and its dimensions: "The government was firstly corrupted, they had financial corruption, had moral corruption, and had official corruption. In their financial corruption it was enough that the king and his family were interfering in the country's macroeconomic deals. He and his brothers and sisters were among the ones who had the most personal enrichment. They were morally corrupted as well. Criminal gangs of trafficking transactions were under his brothers and sisters’ supervision. In terms of sexual and moral issues, there are things to stating and hearing them bring shame sweat on the forehead of the man ... in terms of ministerial corruption, they were also deteriorated. They did not comply authority in managements, their dependencies and commands of foreign intelligence and security services were to be counted and those were brought to work. "
4. Dependency and unpopularity of the government
We should search one of the causes of the formation of the Islamic Revolution in regime being dependent and unpopular. In describing this character of the regime, which led to the revolution of the people against them, Supreme Leader of Revolution says: "They were dependent. Their dependence was because were completely cut from the people. To maintain their own government inevitably thought that they needed to rely on foreigners. Reza Khan came to work by England men, which is as a clear and obvious part of history. The British also established Mohammad Reza. After the doctor Mossadegh’s government, the Americans staged the coup and of course kidnapped it from the British and they dominated. They were depended in most of the country’s issues. "
Dependence of Pahlavi regime led to cultural and political and economic and military domination of foreign powers, especially America over the country and total and severe dependence of regime to the West and America, which had a profound and undeniable effect in the development of revolution and society’s rebel against the system and the established order. Revolution Leader of Revolution said in explaining how these factors affected formation of Revolution:
"When a nation is under the cultural and political and economic and military domination of a foreign power, does not have any opportunity to grow and move in the direction of their dreams. Any living creature wants to grow. If you want to stop the growth of a plant, you will break its vessel around it, and that tears up the stone to grow. A human and a nation are the same way. A way that powerful officials have set for to destroy this motivating and feeling in a nation is numbing, stupefying nations and making them just sit down. The corrupted Pahlavi regime using all possible means at their disposal carried out the same act: numbing, , making people unaware, steeping in illusions and sometimes showing ceremonial appearances with glamor in front of their eyes. Iranian nation defeated the barriers and took off those covers which were put in front of them in order not to understand the truth. "
5. Incompetence of the regime
Pahlavi regime's incompetence and inefficiency was one of other features that made the regime to lose its placement and acceptance among the Iranian nation, so that its tolerance for people of society and different social classes was not possible. The same issue led to the situation that generated a revolution in Iran. Supreme Leader of the Revolution says in explaining it:
"... They were incompetent. You can see the current situation in the country. There is no doubt that everyone in this country knows (especially the youth) that in the fields of science and technology and industry and scientific developments and research, we are among the countries that have to struggle for years to get ourselves to the point that we deserve. This backwardness is the result of fifty years of incompetent regime who failed to use the great capacity in the country and the nation's talents ... After the war, one of our biggest jobs was reforming the devastation of war. We saw what the war brought upon this nation is much less than what the government of Pahlavi dynasty had brought for people for many years! "
6. Ignoring the independence and identity of Iranian nation
In supreme leader of Revolution, another factor shaping Iranian people's revolution was ignoring and trampling the Iranian nation's independence and identity by the Shah's regime. Supreme Leader of Revolution states about how these factors affected the development of the revolution:
"One of the most important component parts of the identity of this revolution was independence and identity of the Iranian nation; something that was completely crushed during the fifty years of Pahlavi regime and about fifty years before that, in the Qajar era. A country this big, a nation this talented, this huge wealth was once in the hands of foreign policy; a day in the competition of England and Russia, one day In the hands of British independently, finally in the hands of a powerful theft namely America. Iran’s nation (whether his sage men who suffered of the situation with knowledge or the majority of people who were in torture and oppression due to this the situation) one of their biggest goals was to retrieve their captured identity,
Take back their independence in their hands and do not be function of the politics of this country or that country."
7. God centeredness, task oriented and rebellion for God
Among the causes and factors of shaping Revolution in the sight of Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution, which he calls it as the "spirit and gypsophila in all factors" of Islamic Revolution is God centeredness, task oriented and rebellion to God. In explaining it he says:
"The revolution has had many varied factors which identification of those factors is a scientific and detailed lengthy discussion, but what humans can introduce as the spirit and gypsophila of all these factors and referred to is paying attention to God, assignment of divine must (arising for God). It is true that there might have been various incentives in the minds of some people (probably fighting against the dictatorship of the Shah's regime and fighting against corruption), all of these are true. These incentives were in everyone's mind and ere one of the active component of this revolution as well, but the cause of efficiency of these factors was that these factors were accompanied by the religious spirit and was accompanied by a sense of duty. "
He states in explanation of the interdependent relationship between the three main elements: "If anyone depends on God, but does not move, it is useless. If someone moves and rises, but does not depend on God, does not get to goal. Revolt and rebellion to God and reliance on God is the factor of victory and success."
In connection with the causes of the formation of the Islamic Revolution in the vision of Supreme Leader of Revolution, in one summery we can say by relying on his remarks: "The Iranian nation was frustrated from dictatorship pressure of puppet regime on the one hand, and the pressure of life on the one hand, the pressure of imposing corruption culture on the one hand, and foreign domination and typically American elements on the one hand. This public outrage and public motivation was of watered fully by the religious faith of Iranian nation. This public outrage was not a blind anger, was not motivated undefined, people understood what they wanted and what they wanted to do, and this was the result of Islamic teachings. The young students and scholars following great leadership of Imam over many years created the consciousness of the Iranian people that this situation is the shame for a nation and a country, and this situation is changeable, and it may change only by the people themselves. These people were properly understood."