Typology of Religious Groups: MKO after Ideological Schism (1975-1981)

Mojahedin Khalq Organization (MKO) was one of the political and secret organizations established in 1965 with a religious approach in Pahlavi reign. The founding members were from among Muslim youth with an ideal to fight the government. They resorted to armed conflict and rejected any peaceful strategy. The key founders of MKO were Mohammad Hanifnejad, Saeed Mohsen and Abdolreza Nikbin. Upon a shock the Organization of Intelligence and National Security (SAVAK) imposed on the MKO, the chief members were executed in 1971. Upon the membership of Marxists in the leadership team of MKO, they came to the conclusion that Islam is unable to meet the demands of the organization for armed and guerilla operations. They introduced Marxism as a substitute for Islamic ideology. The change in ideology, therefore, from Islam to Marxism was theintellectual schism in their organization. Upon this schism, religious members like Seyed Majid Vaqefi left the Marxist group and expressed their opposition to MKO in various ways and means. After the assassination of Sharif Vaqefi by the Marxists, the religious wing officially branchedoff. Here is the scientific question of this paper: What was the reaction of the religious wing of MKO to the schism in the organization? What were the fractions, their thinking and beliefs, and their role in the Islamic Revolution? Using interviews, library sources and documents, this study intends to provide responses to the above questions with a descriptive-analytical method. Therefore, the paper hypothesizes that following 1975 schism, the religious groups within MKO worked for the victory of Islamic Revolution each with their own thinking and belief. Some of these groups namely Mahdaviun, Faryad-e Khalq (The Call of the Nation), Hastehay-e Mazhabi (Central Religious Bodies), Meysami and Ummat-e Vahedeh (United Umma) inspired by Imam Khomeini and Dr. Ali Shariati’s opinions and thoughts joined the true revolutionary forces under the leadership of Imam Khomeini and some others like Rajavi Group opposed the revolution and considered themselves the real owners of revolution with the idea of leadership contest and the vanguard principle.