Islam Quote by Pankaj Mishra
““Shaped by political considerations, and then driven by geopolitical urgencies, Khomeinism was always a hybrid: the beneficiary of an ideological account of Islamic tradition, which borrowed from modern idioms and used secular concepts, particularly those of Shariati, and also incorporated a Third Worldist revolutionary discourse. Islamists negating top-down modernizers ended up mirroring, even parodying, their supposed enemy, cancelling their own simple oppositions between Us and Them.””
About This Quote
Source Book: Age of Anger by Pankaj Mishra, 2017
The quote explains that Khomeinism blends religious tradition with modern and revolutionary ideas, creating a hybrid ideology that both adopts and mocks its opponents, blurring simple binaries.
In simple terms: Khomeinism mixes old religious ideas with modern revolutionary ideas, making it a complex hybrid.
Recognize ideological hybrids and avoid simplistic us‑vs‑them thinking.
Themes
Mood
Type
When to use this quote
- Middle‑East politics
- academic analysis
- policy making
- media commentary
Key Concepts
Questions to Reflect On
- How does hybrid ideology affect policy?
- Can we separate religious and political motives?
Simplifies complex motivations to a single political agenda.