Conclusion
In a tumultuous, chaotic, bipolar society in which
social groups constitute one of the poles and the political system another, a
revolution will achieve victory only when the three pillars of the revolution,
that is, people, leadership and ideology, act in concordance for a suitable
objective. The more widespread the presence of the social groups, the more the
power of the ideology to justify and elaborate the ideal values of the society
and the more the acceptability and legitimacy of the movement; likewise the
more the capability of the leader in winning the support of the masses through
the use of the ideology and adoption of appropriate strategies, the more the
possibility of the success of the revolution with lesser damages and losses.[31]
During the course of the Islamic revolution, the said three factors
played crucial roles. In other words, if the movement and uprising of the
people, which was based on the experiences and elements that had their roots in
the history of the Iranian nation, did not exist; if the wakeful, veracious,
courageous leader, who had been raised on the basis of the righteous school of
thought, were not there; the revolution had never succeeded. Hence the victory
of the Islamic Revolution was the result of the spiritual, inherent
transformation of the Iranian society that was directed towards independence,
freedom in the light of belief in religion and spread of Islamic commandments
under the leadership of Imam Khomeini against the backdrop of the social,
political conditions of the Pahlavi era. The Islamic Revolution was a unique
one, for it put forth the notion of holding fast to the religious commandments
for individual and social salvation in a deeply materialistic world. It was an
unknown, politically isolated revolution that gradually broke the cocoon of
isolation and ever since its victory, it has become better known and accepted
in the world.