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.