Ayatollah
Ayatollah ( ; fa, آیتالله, āyatollāh) is an 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 Arabic word ...
Taqi Mesbah ( fa, تقی مصباح; born Taqi Givechi,
fa, تقی گیوهچی), commonly known as Mohammad-Taqi Mesbah-Yazdi ( fa, محمدتقی مصباح یزدی, 31 January 1935 – 1 January 2021) was an Iranian
Shi'i cleric, philosopher and
conservative
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...
political theorist who served as the spiritual leader of the
Front of Islamic Revolution Stability
Front of Islamic Revolution Stability ( fa, جبههٔ پایداری انقلاب اسلامی, Jebha-ye pāydārī-e enqelāb-e eslāmī, also translated Persevering Front, Endurance Front and Steadfast Front) is an Iranian principlist politica ...
.
He was a member of the
Assembly of Experts
The Assembly of Experts ( fa, مجلس خبرگان رهبری, majles-e khobregân-e rahbari), also translated as the Assembly of Experts of the Leadership or as the Council of Experts, is the deliberative body empowered to appoint the Supreme ...
,
the body responsible for choosing the
Supreme Leader, where he headed a minority faction.
He had been called 'the most conservative' and the most 'powerful' clerical oligarch in Iran's leading center of religious learning, the city of
Qom
Qom (also spelled as "Ghom", "Ghum", or "Qum") ( fa, قم ) is the seventh largest metropolis and also the seventh largest city in Iran. Qom is the capital of Qom Province. It is located to the south of Tehran. At the 2016 census, its pop ...
.
[Nasr, Vali ''The Shia Revival'', Norton, (2006), p. 216]
From 1952 to 1960, in the holy city of
Qom
Qom (also spelled as "Ghom", "Ghum", or "Qum") ( fa, قم ) is the seventh largest metropolis and also the seventh largest city in Iran. Qom is the capital of Qom Province. It is located to the south of Tehran. At the 2016 census, its pop ...
, he participated in the courses taught by
Ruhollah Khomeini
Ruhollah Khomeini, Ayatollah Khomeini, Imam Khomeini ( , ; ; 17 May 1900 – 3 June 1989) was an Iranian political and religious leader who served as the first supreme leader of Iran from 1979 until his death in 1989. He was the founder of ...
and
Muhammad Husayn Tabataba'i
Muhammad Husayn Tabataba'i or Sayyid Mohammad Hossein Tabataba'i (16 March 1903 – 15 November 1981) was an Iranian scholar, theorist, philosopher and one of the most prominent thinkers of modern Shia Islam. He is perhaps best known for his ''T ...
; and, for approximately fifteen years, he was a student of
Mohammad-Taqi Bahjat Foumani
Grand Ayatollah Mohammad-Taqi Bahjat Foumani ( fa, محمدتقی بهجت فومنی) (24 August 1916 – 17 May 2009) was an Iranian Twelver Shia Marja'.
Biography
Mohammad-Taqi was born on 24 August 1916 in the Fouman, Gilan province in ...
.
Mesbah Yazdi advocated
Islamic philosophy
Islamic philosophy is philosophy that emerges from the Islamic tradition. Two terms traditionally used in the Islamic world are sometimes translated as philosophy—falsafa (literally: "philosophy"), which refers to philosophy as well as logic, ...
and in particular
Mulla Sadra's ''transcendent school of philosophy'' (Hikmat-e Muta`aliya). He believed that Iranians were moving away from religion and the values of
Islamic revolution
The Iranian Revolution ( fa, انقلاب ایران, Enqelâb-e Irân, ), also known as the Islamic Revolution ( fa, انقلاب اسلامی, Enqelâb-e Eslâmī), was a series of events that culminated in the overthrow of the Pahlavi dyna ...
; and opposed western-style freedom and democratic governance,
promoted by the
Iranian reform movement.
Early life and education
Mesbah Yazdi's actual last name was ''Givechi'', an occupational surname indicating his ancestors produced a type of traditional footwear called
Giveh.
After he completed his
primary education
Primary education or elementary education is typically the first stage of formal education, coming after preschool/ kindergarten and before secondary school. Primary education takes place in '' primary schools'', ''elementary schools'', or ...
in the town of
Yazd
Yazd ( fa, یزد ), formerly also known as Yezd, is the capital of Yazd Province, Iran. The city is located southeast of Isfahan. At the 2016 census, the population was 1,138,533. Since 2017, the historical city of Yazd is recognized as a Wor ...
at the age of 13, he entered Khān School, a
seminary
A seminary, school of theology, theological seminary, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called ''seminarians'') in scripture, theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as clergy ...
in his hometown. He also attended the Shāfīʿiya School, another seminary in the city before moving to
Najaf
Najaf ( ar, ٱلنَّجَف) or An-Najaf al-Ashraf ( ar, ٱلنَّجَف ٱلْأَشْرَف), also known as Baniqia ( ar, بَانِيقِيَا), is a city in central Iraq about 160 km (100 mi) south of Baghdad. Its estimated popula ...
's Hindi School in Iraq in 1950. Yazdi's study in Iraq lasted 7 months.
He then moved to
Qom
Qom (also spelled as "Ghom", "Ghum", or "Qum") ( fa, قم ) is the seventh largest metropolis and also the seventh largest city in Iran. Qom is the capital of Qom Province. It is located to the south of Tehran. At the 2016 census, its pop ...
to study in
Qom Seminary
The Qom Seminary () is the largest Islamic seminary ('' hawza'') in Iran, established in 1922 by Grand Ayatollah Abdul-Karim Haeri Yazdi in Qom. It trains Usuli scholars.
History
Although big Shi'a academies existed in Qom dating back as e ...
, where he continued his education in ''
fiqh
''Fiqh'' (; ar, فقه ) is Islamic jurisprudence. Muhammad-> Companions-> Followers-> Fiqh.
The commands and prohibitions chosen by God were revealed through the agency of the Prophet in both the Quran and the Sunnah (words, deeds, and e ...
'' (Islamic Jurisprudence). He studied works of
Avicenna
Ibn Sina ( fa, ابن سینا; 980 – June 1037 CE), commonly known in the West as Avicenna (), was a Persian polymath who is regarded as one of the most significant physicians, astronomers, philosophers, and writers of the Islamic ...
and
Mulla Sadra. His teachers included prominent figures such as Ayatollah
Seyyed Hossein Borujerdi
Grand Ayatollah Sayyid Hossein Ali Tababataei Borujerdi ( Luri/ fa, آیت الله العظمی سید حسین طباطبایی بروجردی; 23 March 1875 – 30 March 1961) was a leading Iranian Shia Marja' in Iran from approximately 1947 ...
, Ayatollah
Ruhollah Khomeini
Ruhollah Khomeini, Ayatollah Khomeini, Imam Khomeini ( , ; ; 17 May 1900 – 3 June 1989) was an Iranian political and religious leader who served as the first supreme leader of Iran from 1979 until his death in 1989. He was the founder of ...
and Ayatollah
Mohammad Taghi Bahjat Foumani. He was also among the students of Ayatollah
Allameh Tabatabaei
Muhammad Husayn Tabataba'i or Sayyid Mohammad Hossein Tabataba'i (16 March 1903 – 15 November 1981) was an Iranian scholar, theorist, philosopher and one of the most prominent thinkers of modern Shia Islam. He is perhaps best known for his '' ...
, the author of ''
Tafsir al-Mizan
''Al-Mizan fi Tafsir al-Qur'an'' ( ar, الميزان في تفسير القرآن, "The balance in Interpretation of Quran"), more commonly known as ''Tafsir al-Mizan'' () or simply ''Al-Mizan'' (), is a tafsir (exegesis of the Quran) written by ...
'', the influential
Shi'a
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 ...
exegesis of
Quran
The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation from God. It is organized in 114 chapters (pl.: , ...
. He graduated in 1960. Before the 1979
Islamic revolution
The Iranian Revolution ( fa, انقلاب ایران, Enqelâb-e Irân, ), also known as the Islamic Revolution ( fa, انقلاب اسلامی, Enqelâb-e Eslâmī), was a series of events that culminated in the overthrow of the Pahlavi dyna ...
, he assisted the other clerics, i.e.,
Mohammad Beheshti
Mohammad Hosseini Beheshti ( fa, سیّد محمد حسینی بهشتی; 24 October 1928 – 28 June 1981) was an Iranian jurist, philosopher, cleric and politician who was known as the second person in the political hierarchy of Iran after t ...
and
Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani
Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani ( fa, اکبر هاشمی رفسنجانی, Akbar Hāshemī Rafsanjānī, born Akbar Hashemi Bahramani, 25 August 1934 – 8 January 2017) was an Iranian politician, writer, and one of the founding fathers of the Islami ...
, in publishing two journals called "Mission of Prophet Muhammad" and "Revenge"; and was responsible for all publishing activities in "Revenge".
Political activity
1963-1989
Mesbah Yazdi became politically active in 1963, following the
15th of Khordad movement (demonstrations against the arrest of
Ayatollah Khomeini
Ruhollah Khomeini, Ayatollah Khomeini, Imam Khomeini ( , ; ; 17 May 1900 – 3 June 1989) was an Iranian political and religious leader who served as the first supreme leader of Iran from 1979 until his death in 1989. He was the founder of ...
). He was involved in
community organizing
Community organizing is a process where people who live in proximity to each other or share some common problem come together into an organization that acts in their shared self-interest.
Unlike those who promote more-consensual community bui ...
circulating petitions against the Shah's
White Revolution
The White Revolution ( fa, انقلاب سفید ''Enqelāb-e Sefid'') or the Shah and People Revolution ( fa, انقلاب شاه و مردم ''Enqelāb-e Shāh o Mardom'') was a far-reaching series of reforms resulting in aggressive moderniz ...
reforms. After Khomeini was released from arrest, Mesbah Yazdi was among clerics who celebrated in the
Feyziyeh School
Feyziyya School ( fa, مدرسه فیضیه) is an old school in Iran that was founded in the Safavid era. The school has been listed as one of Iran's national monuments as of January 29, 2008. The school served as a focal point for clerical oppos ...
.
He abandoned political activity before Ayatollah Khomeini's exile in 1964 and went back to theological work. He authored works strenuously denying the historical consensus that
Ali Shariati
Ali Shariati Mazinani ( fa, علی شریعتی مزینانی, 23 November 1933 – 18 June 1977) was an Iranian revolutionary and sociologist who focused on the sociology of religion. He is held as one of the most influential Iranian intell ...
's ideas contributed anything at all to the
1979 Iranian Revolution
The Iranian Revolution ( fa, انقلاب ایران, Enqelâb-e Irân, ), also known as the Islamic Revolution ( fa, انقلاب اسلامی, Enqelâb-e Eslâmī), was a series of events that culminated in the overthrow of the Pahlavi dynas ...
.
Mesbah Yazdi is reported to have been "politically isolated" until 1989, when
Ruhollah Khomeini
Ruhollah Khomeini, Ayatollah Khomeini, Imam Khomeini ( , ; ; 17 May 1900 – 3 June 1989) was an Iranian political and religious leader who served as the first supreme leader of Iran from 1979 until his death in 1989. He was the founder of ...
died.
1997-2016
In 1997, after the election of President
Mohammad Khatami
Sayyid Mohammad Khatami ( fa, سید محمد خاتمی, ; born 14 October 1943) is an Iranian politician who served as the fifth president of Iran from 3 August 1997 to 3 August 2005. He also served as Iran's Minister of Culture from 1982 to ...
, Mesbah Yazdi encouraged Iran's
Revolutionary Guards
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC; fa, سپاه پاسداران انقلاب اسلامی, Sepāh-e Pāsdārān-e Enghelāb-e Eslāmi, lit=Army of Guardians of the Islamic Revolution also Sepāh or Pasdaran for short) is a branch o ...
and
Hezbolli to put a stop to
the reform agitation by any means, including violence.
[
He had been named by ]Akbar Ganji
Akbar Ganji ( fa, اکبر گنجی , born 31 January 1960 in Tehran) is an Iranian journalist, writer and a former member of Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. He has been described as "Iran's preeminent political dissident", and a "wildly pop ...
as "having encouraged or issued fatwas, or religious orders" for the 1998 chain murders assassinations of five Iranian dissidents.
After the decline of the reform movement in 2003, his supporters made gains in local and parliamentary elections. In 2005, Mesbah Yazdi supported Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad ( fa, محمود احمدینژاد, Mahmūd Ahmadīnežād ), born Mahmoud Sabbaghian ( fa, محمود صباغیان, Mahmoud Sabbāghyān, 28 October 1956), 's presidential bid and subsequently gained "direct influence" in the Iranian government through the appointment of loyal supporters "to high posts" after Ahmadinejad's victory.
2009 presidential election
Mesbah-Yazdi supported Ahmadinejad in 2009 and declared his election a miracle and a gift from the Hidden Imam.
On 22 June, a few days after security forces broke up one of the biggest election protests, Mesbah-Yazdi "addressed a gathering" of Revolutionary Guards and told them:
"Do not be worried about the events and earthquakes that have occurred. Know that God created this world as a test, ... The supreme leader holds a great many of the blessings God has given us and at a time of such uncertainties our eyes must turn to him."
By 2011, however, he was sharply critical of Ahmadinejad saying that he was behaving "unnaturally" and needed to be "saved." After Ahmadinejad fired intelligence minister Heydar Moslehi
Heydar Moslehi (born 1957 in Isfahan) is an Iranian cleric and politician who served as the minister of intelligence from 2009 to 2013.
Early life and education
Moslehi was born in Shahreza in the Isfahan province, Iran, in 1957. He was a stud ...
without consulting Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei
Sayyid Ali Hosseini Khamenei ( fa, سید علی حسینی خامنهای, ; born 19 April 1939) is a Twelver Shia ''marja and the second and current Supreme Leader of Iran, in office since 1989. He was previously the third president o ...
, Mesbah Yazdi stated, "That a human being would behave in a way that angers his closest friends and allies and turns them into opponents is not logical for any politician."
Assembly of Experts
According to some sources, Mesbah-Yazdi is rumored to had ambitions to succeed Khamenei as Supreme Leader.[Battle for Iran shifts from the streets to the heart of power. Peter Beaumont. 28 June 2009](_blank)
Reyrieved 15 July 2009 Some clerics and some newspapers feared Mesbah-Yazdi was trying to expand his power by "packing" the Assembly of Experts with "loyalists." In October 2006, an acolyte of Mesbah-Yazdi, Mojtaba Samareh Hashemi
Mojtaba Samareh Hashemi is an Iranian politician. He was a "senior adviser" to Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and deputy interior minister for political affairs. He is said to have "strong ties to the Revolutionary Guard Corps and to the ...
, was appointed head of the election commission, supervisor of the poll for the Assembly of Experts
The Assembly of Experts ( fa, مجلس خبرگان رهبری, majles-e khobregân-e rahbari), also translated as the Assembly of Experts of the Leadership or as the Council of Experts, is the deliberative body empowered to appoint the Supreme ...
, and many of the candidates in the 2006 Assembly of Experts elections were Mesbah-Yazdi loyalists (though they ran as independent candidates to avoid revealing their affiliation to him). However, his group failed to achieve a majority in that election, leaving the assembly in the hands of pragmatic conservatives. Mesbah-Yazdi himself won a seat but finished only in sixth-place in Tehran municipality where he ran, and had the minority faction in the assembly. In 2016 he was defeated for reelection to the Assembly.
Career
Mesbah Yazdi believed that the educational system of hawza
A hawza ( ar, حوزة) or ḥawzah ʿilmīyah ( ar, حوزة علمیة) is a seminary where Shi'a Muslim scholars are educated.
The word ''ḥawzah'' is found in Arabic as well as the Persian language. In Arabic, the word means "to hold so ...
should be changed and his proposal was approved by Seyyed Hossein Borujerdi
Grand Ayatollah Sayyid Hossein Ali Tababataei Borujerdi ( Luri/ fa, آیت الله العظمی سید حسین طباطبایی بروجردی; 23 March 1875 – 30 March 1961) was a leading Iranian Shia Marja' in Iran from approximately 1947 ...
, so he and Mohammad Beheshti
Mohammad Hosseini Beheshti ( fa, سیّد محمد حسینی بهشتی; 24 October 1928 – 28 June 1981) was an Iranian jurist, philosopher, cleric and politician who was known as the second person in the political hierarchy of Iran after t ...
establish the Haghani School
Haghani school (also Haqqani) is a Shi'i school of thought in Iran based in the holy city of Qom and formerly headed by Ayatollah Mohammad Taghi Mesbah Yazdi, an influential theologian. The Haghani Circle has its origin in the Haghani seminary, fo ...
(also Haqqani) in Qom
Qom (also spelled as "Ghom", "Ghum", or "Qum") ( fa, قم ) is the seventh largest metropolis and also the seventh largest city in Iran. Qom is the capital of Qom Province. It is located to the south of Tehran. At the 2016 census, its pop ...
to train the future cadres of Iran
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...
. Mesbah-Yazdi had been described as close to Ayatollah Mohammad Beheshti
Mohammad Hosseini Beheshti ( fa, سیّد محمد حسینی بهشتی; 24 October 1928 – 28 June 1981) was an Iranian jurist, philosopher, cleric and politician who was known as the second person in the political hierarchy of Iran after t ...
, Khomeini's first designated heir who was assassinated in Hafte Tir bombing
On 28 June 1981 (7 Tir 1360 in the Iranian calendar; fa, هفت تیر, ), a powerful bomb went off at the headquarters of the Islamic Republican Party (IRP) in Tehran, while a meeting of party leaders was in progress. Seventy-four leading offi ...
in 1981 (despite being considered a moderate), and is (or was) a member of the school's board of directors. The Haghani School is very influential and had been described as "a kind of Ecole Nationale d'Administration for the Islamic Republic" whose alumni "form the backbone of the clerical management class that runs Iran's key political and security institutions."
Mesbah-Yazdi is the author of many books on fiqh
''Fiqh'' (; ar, فقه ) is Islamic jurisprudence. Muhammad-> Companions-> Followers-> Fiqh.
The commands and prohibitions chosen by God were revealed through the agency of the Prophet in both the Quran and the Sunnah (words, deeds, and e ...
, Quran
The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation from God. It is organized in 114 chapters (pl.: , ...
exegesis, divinity
Divinity or the divine are things that are either related to, devoted to, or proceeding from a deity.[divine ...](_blank)
and general issues of Islam
Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...
. His "Amuzesh-e Falsafeh" is used widely in the philosophy classes of Qom's hawza
A hawza ( ar, حوزة) or ḥawzah ʿilmīyah ( ar, حوزة علمیة) is a seminary where Shi'a Muslim scholars are educated.
The word ''ḥawzah'' is found in Arabic as well as the Persian language. In Arabic, the word means "to hold so ...
. It broadly covers the same ground as Allameh Tabatabaei
Muhammad Husayn Tabataba'i or Sayyid Mohammad Hossein Tabataba'i (16 March 1903 – 15 November 1981) was an Iranian scholar, theorist, philosopher and one of the most prominent thinkers of modern Shia Islam. He is perhaps best known for his '' ...
's Arabic-language works in philosophy "Bidayat al-Hikmah" and "Nihayat al-Hikma". Mesbah-Yazdi's "Amuzesh-e Falsafeh" has been published in English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
translation by Gary Legenhausen and Azim Sarvdalir as "Philosophical Instructions".[Arun Wyramuttoo Rasiah: City of Knowledge. PhD Dissertation. University of California at Berkeley. 2007.]
He published the weekly '' Parto Sokhan'', was the director of the Imam Khomeini Education and Research Institute in Qom
Qom (also spelled as "Ghom", "Ghum", or "Qum") ( fa, قم ) is the seventh largest metropolis and also the seventh largest city in Iran. Qom is the capital of Qom Province. It is located to the south of Tehran. At the 2016 census, its pop ...
, (founded in 1995), and
was a member of the Iranian Assembly of Experts from 1991 to 2016.
After the presidential election of June 1997, in the relatively more open political atmosphere in that time, Mesbah Yazdi's students played an important role as the critics of the former president Mohammad Khatami
Sayyid Mohammad Khatami ( fa, سید محمد خاتمی, ; born 14 October 1943) is an Iranian politician who served as the fifth president of Iran from 3 August 1997 to 3 August 2005. He also served as Iran's Minister of Culture from 1982 to ...
. As a result, Mesbah Yazdi's name appeared more often in the media and became more well known. He supported Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad ( fa, محمود احمدینژاد, Mahmūd Ahmadīnežād ), born Mahmoud Sabbaghian ( fa, محمود صباغیان, Mahmoud Sabbāghyān, 28 October 1956), 's successful presidential bid, though he later criticized him.
Views
Mesbah Yazdi had been described as "a theoretician of the radicals" in Iran, and "is opposed to western culture", lamenting that "nowadays ... if someone says something critical" of freedom and democracy, "he or she will face serious peril." He considered "the Zionists" to be the fundamental source of evil on earth.
[Is war between Iran and Israel inevitable? Erich Follath](_blank)
23 June 2009, Retrieved 15 July 2009
In an article by the Associated Press, quoting from a 2005 book written by Yazdi, the AP asserted that Yazdi made a "rare public call for the producing the 'special weapons' that are monopoly of a few nations -- a veiled reference to nuclear arms."
In a lecture posted on his website, Ayatollah Mesbah Yazdi warns of Muslim "thugs of falsehood and the followers of the damned Satan" who have formed a
coalition of the forces of infidelity and hypocrisy, the servants of dollars and euros/gold and silver, and influential oppressors and traitors to uproot Islam, to fight Muslims, to dominate their countries, wealth, and resources, to deny their glories and excellence, to destroy their relics and teachings, to wipe out their culture, to alter their identity, to put them in miserable conditions, and to force them into wretchedness in this world and God’s punishment in the hereafter.
Mesbah-Yazdi supported a return to what he saw as the values of the 1979 Iranian revolution
The Iranian Revolution ( fa, انقلاب ایران, Enqelâb-e Irân, ), also known as the Islamic Revolution ( fa, انقلاب اسلامی, Enqelâb-e Eslâmī), was a series of events that culminated in the overthrow of the Pahlavi dynas ...
. He believed that an "Islamic republic" is a contradiction in terms, on the grounds that a truly Islamic government would only hold "elections" as a way for the people to express their allegiance to the supreme faqih. Elections as an opportunity for voters to make choices between representatives and policies were unIslamic. The "republican component" of the Islamic Republic of Iran was established as a concession to secular forces and should be "stripped" away to leave the true essence of the "Islamic system."[Iran: a green wave for life and liberty, Asef Bayat, 7 July 2009](_blank)
Retrieved 14 July 2009 He had been quoted as saying, "It doesn't matter what the people think. The people are ignorant sheep."[Molavi, Afshin ''The Soul of Iran'' Norton, (2005), p. 105]
Mesbah-Yazdi was also a firm opponent of the Reformist movement in Iran which he believed an Islamic government must "combat ... because injecting misleading ideas f reform in Islamis like injecting the Aids virus!". He also claimed that young Iranians who questioned the regime after studying abroad did so only because they had been trained in 'psychological warfare' by foreign universities. President Khatami once called him ''the theoretician of violence''.
In 2005, he issued a fatwa urging Iranians to vote for Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad ( fa, محمود احمدینژاد, Mahmūd Ahmadīnežād ), born Mahmoud Sabbaghian ( fa, محمود صباغیان, Mahmoud Sabbāghyān, 28 October 1956), , a former student and "protege", whom he is "considered a ideological and spiritual mentor" of, and with whom he reportedly met with weekly.
On the issue of slavery
Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...
Mesbah Yazdi said:
Today, too, if there’s a war between us and the infidels, we’ll take slaves. The ruling on slavery hasn’t expired and is eternal. We’ll take slaves and we’ll bring them to the world of Islam
Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...
and have them stay with Muslims. We’ll guide them, make them Muslims and then return them to their countries.
Like many prominent 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 ...
clerics, he supported literal interpretations of various verses of the Qur'an and narrations (hadith) attributed to the Prophet and his followers. Ayatollah Mesbah Yazdi opposed bida'a
In Islam, bid'ah ( ar, بدعة; en, innovation) refers to innovation in religious matters. Linguistically, the term means "innovation, novelty, heretical doctrine, heresy".
In classical Arabic literature ('' adab''), it has been used as a fo ...
or innovations in religion which he believed includes new interpretations of the Sunna and Qur'an. He had been quoted as saying: "If someone tells you he has a new interpretation of Islam, sock him in the mouth."
In August 2009, he warned Iranian opposition groups against undermining supreme leader Ali Khamenei
Sayyid Ali Hosseini Khamenei ( fa, سید علی حسینی خامنهای, ; born 19 April 1939) is a Twelver Shia ''marja and the second and current Supreme Leader of Iran, in office since 1989. He was previously the third president o ...
, stating,
"When the president is endorsed by the leader, obeying him is similar to obedience to God."
Controversy
Ayatollah Mesbah Yazdi had been described as "affiliated" with the Hojjatieh
Anjoman-e Hojjatieh, also called The Hojjatie Society ( fa, انجمن خیریه حجتیه مهدویه, Anjoman-e Kheyriyeh Hojjatiyeh Mahdaviyeh, lit=Charity Society of Allah's Proof Over Creation, also spelled ''hojjatiya''), is a tradition ...
group. Mesbah denied this and denounced the rumor, saying that if anyone finds a connection between him and Hojjatieh, he will renounce everything he stands for. Ayatollah Khomeini
Ruhollah Khomeini, Ayatollah Khomeini, Imam Khomeini ( , ; ; 17 May 1900 – 3 June 1989) was an Iranian political and religious leader who served as the first supreme leader of Iran from 1979 until his death in 1989. He was the founder of ...
actually frowned on the Hojjatieh and the group was nominally dissolved in 1983.
Public image
According to a poll conducted in March 2016 by ''Information and Public Opinion Solutions LLC'' (iPOS) among Iranian citizens, Mesbah had 18% approval and 20% disapproval ratings and thus a –2% net popularity; while 52% of responders didn't recognize the name.
Personal life
He married his wife, who is from Ayatollah
Ayatollah ( ; fa, آیتالله, āyatollāh) is an 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 Arabic word ...
Hossein Noori Hamedani
Grand Ayatollah Hossein Noori-Hamedani ( fa, آيت الله العظمى حسين نورى همدانى ) (born March 21, 1925) is an Iranian Twelver Shi'a Marja', Marja. Nuri-Hamadani has been called a "hard-line cleric".
He has expressed hi ...
's family, in the 1950s. The couple had three children, two sons and a daughter. Both their sons are said to be clerics and one of them has studied in McGill University
McGill University (french: link=no, Université McGill) is an English-language public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter granted by King George IV,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill Universit ...
of Montreal, Quebec
Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple-pea ...
, Canada. The daughter is married to Hujjat al-Islam
Hujjat al-Islam (from ''ḥujjat-u l-Islām'') (also Hojatoleslam) is an honorific title meaning "authority on Islam" or "proof of Islam".
Sunni Islam
Its first recorded use was in a Sunni context, as a title for the 11th-century theologian al- ...
Mohammadi Araghi, who headed the "Islamic Culture and Communication Organization
Islamic Culture and Communication Organization ( fa, سازمان فرهنگ و ارتباطات اسلامی) is one of the Iranian organizations which is affiliated to the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance; and was established in 1995. I ...
", a subdivision of Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance
The Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance ( fa, وزارت فرهنگ و ارشاد اسلامی, ''Vâzart-e Ferheng-e vâ Arshad-e Eslâmi'') ("Ministry of CIG") is the Ministry of Culture of the Islamic Republic of Iran. It is responsible ...
.
See also
*
* Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad ( fa, محمود احمدینژاد, Mahmūd Ahmadīnežād ), born Mahmoud Sabbaghian ( fa, محمود صباغیان, Mahmoud Sabbāghyān, 28 October 1956),
* Abbasali Amid Zanjani
* History of fundamentalist Islam in Iran
History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...
* List of Ayatollahs
This is a partial list of Ayatollahs, a title given to high ranked Twelver Usuli Shi'a Muslim clerics. Its ranking is higher than Hujjat al-Islam, and the next higher clerical rank is Grand Ayatollah also known as Marja'. This list contains only t ...
References
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mesbah-Yazdi, Mohammad-Taghi
1935 births
2021 deaths
Iranian ayatollahs
Members of the Assembly of Experts
Front of Islamic Revolution Stability politicians
Society of Seminary Teachers of Qom members
Iranian Muslim activists
Spiritual leaders of political parties in Iran
Shia Islamists
Imam Khomeini's Educational and Research Institute
People from Yazd