Unlike most twentieth-century social revolutions religion played a central role in both the Iranian and Nicaraguan revolutions. Both Iranians and Nicaraguans re-articulated the meaning of their respective religions in prefigurative free spaces. As the socio-political climate worsened in their respective countries in the late 1970s they employed stories from the Bible and Qur’an to mobilize against their respective governments.
Although class and regional differences exist between religious participants from each country our comparative case study reveals that they shared in common sacred stories centered on prophecy, religious virtue, miracles, and the challenges associated with demanding social justice. Building on the religious discourse approach, centered on literatures that focus on stories and storytelling, we set out to examine the specific ways these sacred stories motivated them to take action and facilitated their transformation as revolutionary actors.