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The Machiavellian in Mullahs
Theocrats are more machiavellian than Machiavelli.
The Italian renaissance’s political philosopher is misunderstood mainly because of the Christian clergies caricaturized portrayed of him. However, when god’s men take power, they appear more machiavellian than others.
When the clergies and mullahs take power, they claim to role based on religious ethics and morality of the highest order, which is a machiavellian move hiding their true intention behind the religious dictums. Though they believe they put the state power to serve the religion, they use religion for the good of power, a move that Nicolas Machiavelli will surely approve.
When it comes to instrumentalizing the use of force, the clergymen who rule Afghanistan and Iran are more machiavellian than Machiavelli. Machiavelli never said that the end justified the means, But in Islamic tradition, it does. He only said that if a nasty action generates a desirable result, then the act becomes excusable. The Arabic word Khudaa, hoax (Wikipedia translation), or trickery is justified for promoting the religion. Wikifiqeh, A religious website, confirms that the Muslim prophet endorsed using lies and trickery in fights.
The khudaa has been widely used in Islamic political history. In the Muslim prophet’s third war, he allowed his companions to use lies and deceit. The Iranian theocracy founder Ruhullah Khomeini when he lived in Paris before the Iranian 1979 revolution, explained to the journalists and diplomats that Islam did not have a political regime of its own and that his Islamic republic would be like any other republic where the people would be able to choose their leaders. But after the revolution, he started imposing his wilayat faqih (Guardianship of the Islamic Jurist). He is reputed to have said that he did the Khudaa when pressed on why he did not keep his word. A perfect machiavellian move, as Machiavelli had advised the prince of his time that he was not meant to keep his words at his expense.
When the Americans started talking with the Taliban in 2018 and 2019, the Taliban posed to the US as a changed Taliban (a khudaa), which meant they would respect women's rights according to Islamic tradition, which would be in good accord with the world, but their intention was dubious. The…
