The MEK was founded on 5 September 1965 by leftist Iranian students affiliated with the Freedom Movement of Iran to oppose the Shah Pahlavi. The MEK was the first Iranian organization to systematically develop a modern revolutionary interpretation of Islam. Its members mainly belonged to the Iranian intelligentsia, particularly the salaried middle class, college students, teachers, civil servants, and other professionals. According to Ervand Abrahamian, the MEK's "modernist interpretation of Islam appealed to the educated youth, who, while still culturally attached to Islam, rejected its old-fashioned clerical interpretations". Unlike the clergy, it accepted Western concepts (specially in social sciences). The organization engaged in armed conflict with the Pahlavi dynasty in the 1970s and played an active role in the downfall of Shah in 1979. The MEK is considered to be Iran's "largest and most active Iranian exile organization". The MEK mainly appealed to young Iranian women and people from an urban social background. Their publications are commonly circulated within the Iranian diaspora.