Much is being made these days about the fact that the Iranian Assembly of Experts chose Mojtaba Khamenei to succeed his father as the Supreme Leader. In spite of the fact that the founder of the revolution Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini wrote that hereditary succession was a practice that was “sinister,” “evil” and “invalid,” and has “no place in Islam,” the “experts” overruled him. Khomeini’s opposition to hereditary succession is of course a bit disingenuous since the origins of Shi’a Islam, as the Ayatollahs and Iranians observe it, is precisely about the issue of succession and the importance of its being hereditary. Shi’a Muslims maintain that Muhammad, the founder and first prophet of the faith, explicitly designated his cousin and son-in-law, Ali ibn Abi Talib, as his rightful successor. They believe leadership must remain within the Prophet’s bloodline. In contrast, those who followed the Prophet’s closest companion and chief disciple or student (Abu Bakr) became known as Sunni (the followers of the Prophet’s example – Sunnah). The latter remain the majority among Islam today.

This sort of controversy between a disciple or a blood relative is at the heart of the problem of succession in all groups that eschew democracy. In my research and writing on transitions in Hasidic leadership, I have explained just how this happens.  It is a process that can help shed light on why and how the ascension of the younger Khamenei to his father’s position as supreme leader was predictable and inevitable.

In the insular world of Hasidism, the man they call in Yiddish Der Heiliger Zaddik – the Holy Rebbe, has stood above all others, almost like royalty. To his followers, he speaks directly to God, and the Hasidim believe that if they’re attached to him, he will persuade the Almighty to bless and answer their prayers and petitions. Sociologist Max Weber defined charisma as the quality by virtue of which someone is set apart from ordinary people and treated as endowed with supernatural, superhuman, exceptional powers or abilities. For their hasidim, Rebbes were clearly charismatic. This is of course no less true for those who believe in the leadership of the Ayatollahs – a confidence that in the Islamic Republic of Iran has also become attached to political power, at least since the early days of the mullahs’ assumption of political control over the state. While........

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