Ahmad Ghabel ( fa, احمد قابل) was an Iranian Hojjatoleslam

Shia Shīʿa Islam or Shīʿīsm is the second-largest Islamic schools and branches, branch of Islam. It holds that the Prophets and messengers in Islam, Islamic prophet Muhammad in Islam, Muhammad designated Ali, ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib as his S ...

Muslim cleric, theologian, seminary lecturer, researcher, and author. He was a follower of the dissident cleric

Ayatollah Ayatollah ( ; fa, آیت‌الله, āyatollāh) is an Title of honor, honorific title for high-ranking Twelver Shia clergy in Iran and Iraq that came into widespread usage in the 20th century. Etymology The title is originally derived from ...

Hossein Ali Montazeri Grand Ayatollah Hussein-Ali Montazeri ( fa, حسینعلی منتظری‎ ; 24 September 1922 – 19 December 2009) was an Iranian Shia Islamic theologian, Islamic democracy advocate, writer and human rights activist. He was one of the leade ...

and was detained several times by the Iranian government. He died on 22 October 2012 while on hospital arrest.

Biography

While working as a journalist for ''Hayat-é-No'' he was arrested on 31 December 2001, upon orders of the

Special Court for the Clergy Special Clerical Court, or Special Court for Clerics ( fa, دادگاه ویژه روحانیت) is a special Iranian court system for prosecuting Islamic clergymen and scholars accused of improper activity and conduct unbecoming of a cleric. The ...

. This earned the protest of the international press watchdog group

Reporters Without Borders Reporters Without Borders (RWB; french: Reporters sans frontières; RSF) is an international non-profit and non-governmental organization with the stated aim of safeguarding the right to freedom of information. It describes its advocacy as found ...

After his release he went into exile in

Tajikistan Tajikistan (, ; tg, Тоҷикистон, Tojikiston; russian: Таджикистан, Tadzhikistan), officially the Republic of Tajikistan ( tg, Ҷумҳурии Тоҷикистон, Jumhurii Tojikiston), is a landlocked country in Centr ...

. Ghabel has issued a

fatwa A fatwā ( ; ar, فتوى; plural ''fatāwā'' ) is a legal ruling on a point of Islamic law (''sharia'') given by a qualified '' Faqih'' (Islamic jurist) in response to a question posed by a private individual, judge or government. A jurist i ...

about

hijab In modern usage, hijab ( ar, حجاب, translit=ḥijāb, ) generally refers to headcoverings worn by Muslim women. Many Muslims believe it is obligatory for every female Muslim who has reached the age of puberty to wear a head covering. While ...

or head and neck covering for Muslim women. He argues that only covering the body of Muslim women is

obligatory An obligation is a course of action that someone is required to take, whether legal or moral. Obligations are constraints; they limit freedom. People who are under obligations may choose to freely act under obligations. Obligation exists when ther ...

, and covering other parts of the body like hair and neck are recommended. In December 2009, he was arrested on his way to Qom to attend the funeral of

Grand Ayatollah Marji ( ar, مرجع, transliteration: ''marjiʿ''; plural: ''marājiʿ''), literally meaning "source to follow" or "religious reference", is a title given to the highest level of Twelver Shia authority, a Grand Ayatollah with the authority giv ...

. Before this, he was working on a project entitled "Wisdom and Religion". According to kaleme, a reformist website, he was freed on bail after 170 days in jail but was then re-arrested in the summer of 2010 for exposing "secret mass executions at Vakilabad Prison in

Mashhad Mashhad ( fa, مشهد, Mašhad ), also spelled Mashad, is the List of Iranian cities by population, second-most-populous city in Iran, located in the relatively remote north-east of the country about from Tehran. It serves as the capital of R ...

and his criticism of the Supreme Leader,".Iran reformer sentenced to jail, exile and fine
By ALI AKBAR DAREINI, The Associated Press, December 15, 2010; On December 14, 2010, he was convicted of working against the ruling system and insulting the country's supreme leader, and was sentenced to 20 months in jail, and was given 20 days to appeal. He started serving his sentence in July 2011 but was transferred to a hospital that summer in order to do surgery on a

brain tumor A brain tumor occurs when abnormal cells form within the brain. There are two main types of tumors: malignant tumors and benign (non-cancerous) tumors. These can be further classified as primary tumors, which start within the brain, and seconda ...

. He died on 22 October 2012 while on hospital arrest, after a six-day coma.

References

External links

*

(His weblog) *
Ahmad Qabel's letter to Supreme leader of Iran, BBC

20th-century Muslim theologians Iranian scholars Human rights abuses in Iran 1954 births 2012 deaths 21st-century Muslim theologians Deaths from brain cancer in Iran Iranian Shia clerics sentenced to deposition by the Special Clerical Court {{Shia-bio-stub

Biography

See also

References

External links