This work is a critically informative study of religious modernism in Iran from 1953 to 2000in the context of Islam versus democracy. It examines the thoughts and works of seven religiousintellectuals who either shaped or influenced the religious-political developments of contemporaryIran. According to Jahanbakhsh, although Iranians have failed in understanding the meaning ofdemocracy, the yearning for democracy was the most enticing goal in both the 1906 and 1979Iranian revolutions.