The Last Mufti of Iranian Kurdistan

Ali Ezzatyar is a lawyer and US diplomat. Prior to joining the Foreign Service and the US Agency for International Development, he practiced law at a number of prominent international firms and served as Executive Director of the Center for Entrepreneurship and Development in the Middle East at the University of California, Berkeley, USA. His articles on the Middle East have been featured in publications such as the Los Angeles Times and Christian Science Monitor; he has appeared as an analyst on broadcasts such as BBC World, Al Jazeera, and NPR, among others. Opinions expressed in this book are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of the United States Government.

Chapter One- Introduction.- Chapter Two- Sunni, Shia, Kurd: A Brief History of Islamism in Kurdistan.- Chapter Three- The Muftis of Iranian Kurdistan and the Dawning of an Activist.- Chapter Four- Prison under the Pahlavi Regime, and the Lead-Up to Revolution.- Chapter Five- Revolution, Kurdistan, and the Maktab Quran Movement.- Chapter Six- Letters from Prison: The Legacy of a Progressive Islam of Nonviolence.- Chapter Seven- Ethnic and Religious Implications in the Greater Middle East.