Grand Ayatollah Hossein-Ali Montazeri

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Ayatollah Montazeri

Ayatollah Hossein-Ali Montazeri (Persian: حسین علی منتظری), styled His Honourable Eminence, born in 1922, was one of the leaders of the Islamic Revolution in Iran and is a Grand Ayatollah (a Shi'a marja) and as such is considered one of the highest ranking authorities in Shi'a Islam today. He currently lives in the holy city of Qom and retains a large following amongst religious Shi'a Muslims in Iran.

After the revolution, Montazeri was the deputy to Ayatollah Khomeini, the Supreme Leader of Iran, who once called Montazeri "the fruit of my life." Following a decision illegally made by the Assembly of Experts (Majles-e-Khobregan), Montazeri was designated to be Khomeini's successor as supreme leader, while there was no successorship in the constitution. This did not come to pass due to Montazeri's objection to Khomeini. He was outspoken regarding issues concerning human rights abuses, undemocratic political decisions and economic programs. As a result, Khomeini denounced him in a letter in 1988. ^[1]

In October 1997, Ayatollah Montazeri was placed under house arrest, started with the excuse of protecting him from hardliners, after openly criticizing the authority of the Iranian Supreme leader Ayatollah Khamenei. This condition ended in 2003 ^[2] ^[3]. Montazeri still believes in the theory of velayat-e-faqih (Guardianship of the Clergy) but not as it is currently instituted in Iran today. ^[4]

[edit] Quotes

"Either officials change their methods and give freedom to the people, and stop interfering in elections, or the people will rise up with another revolution ... There is no freedom, repression is carried out in the name of Islam, and that turns people off ... All these court summonses, newspaper closings and prosecutions of dissidents are wrong. These are the same things that were done under the Shah and are now being repeated. And now they are done in the name of Islam and therefore alienate people." ^[5]

"Men in general (no'-e mard ha), all things considered, are productively more active -- both intellectual activities and practical activities. If one man is a drug addict, that does not change the situation. Law must follow the practice of the majority of people. All things considered, the intellectual and practical activities of men are more than women. You should not take the example of one drug-addict as measure. Yes, it is also possible that a woman might become a professor, and might be much more capable of many men, but in general, we have to consider the overall situation." ^[6]

[edit] References

Montazeri,Hossein-Ali (2000). “8”, "Khaterat", 471-480.
Dorri Najaf Abadi, Ghorban-Ali (2005). “8”, Nazari, Heydar: "Khaterat e Hojat-ol-eslam val-moslemin Dorri Najaf Abadi", 1st, Tehran: IDRC (Iran Revolution Document Center), 232-233.