Rule by Rigor Mortis

摘要

The seminal event shaping the mind-set of today's Iran may have come more than l,3OO years ago.That's when the Imam Hossein-the grandson of the Prophet and,in the view of Shia Islam,his rightful heir-was murdered by the forerunners of today's Sunnis,who now constitute a majority of the world's Muslims.In Iran,though,most people are Shiite.An obsession with this history,theorizes Christopher de Bellaigue,has helped produce an Iranian culture that places an unhealthy emphasis on death and martyrdom and defiance of outsiders."