Ayatollah Mohammad Va'ez Abaee-Khorasani (1940-October 13, 2004) was an Iranian cleric and

reformist Reformism is a political doctrine advocating the reform of an existing system or institution instead of its abolition and replacement. Within the socialist movement, reformism is the view that gradual changes through existing institutions can eve ...

politician. He was a representative of

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 ...

in the

Majlis of Iran The Islamic Consultative Assembly ( fa, مجلس شورای اسلامی, Majles-e Showrā-ye Eslāmī), also called the Iranian Parliament, the Iranian Majles (Arabicised spelling Majlis) or ICA, is the national legislative body of Iran. The P ...

from 2000 to 2004. Born in Mashhad in a religious family, he studied

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 ...

ic sciences in Mashhad and 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 popul ...

to continue his studies there. Because of his religious-political speeches, he was arrested by the

Pahlavi government The Pahlavi dynasty ( fa, دودمان پهلوی) was the last Iranian royal dynasty, ruling for almost 54 years between 1925 and 1979. The dynasty was founded by Reza Shah Pahlavi, a non-aristocratic Mazanderani soldier in modern times, who ...

twice, the first time in 1972 when he was sentenced to a short jail time. But the second time, in 1973, he was exiled to

Bandar Deylam Bandar Deylam ( fa, بندر ديلم; also Romanized as Bandar-e Deylam and Bandar Dīlam; also known as Bandar-e Delam; also known simply as Deylam or Dīlam) is a port city in the Central District (Deylam County), Central District of Deylam Cou ...

and Nain for three years. Abaee-Khorasani restarted his political speeches in 1976, with other cleric colleagues of his, specially

Sadegh Khalkhali Mohammed Sadeq Givi Khalkhali (27 July 1926 – 26 November 2003) ( fa, صادق خلخالی) was an Iranian Shia cleric who is said to have "brought to his job as Chief Justice of the revolutionary courts a relish for summary execution" that ...

Mehdi Karroubi Mehdi Karroubi ( fa, مهدی کروبی, Mehdi Karrubi, born 26 September 1937) is an Iranian Shia cleric and Iranian reform movement, reformist politician leading the National Trust Party (Iran), National Trust Party. Following 2009–2010 Iran ...

, and Mohammad Mousavi-Khoiniha. After the

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 ...

, Abaee-Khorasani's first governmental post was the

Sharia Sharia (; ar, شريعة, sharīʿa ) is a body of religious law that forms a part of the Islamic tradition. It is derived from the religious precepts of Islam and is based on the sacred scriptures of Islam, particularly the Quran and the H ...

ruler in

Ahwaz Ahvaz ( fa, اهواز, Ahvâz ) is a city in the southwest of Iran and the capital of Khuzestan province. Ahvaz's population is about 1,300,000 and its built-up area with the nearby town of Sheybani is home to 1,136,989 inhabitants. It is home ...

. Shortly after, he moved back to Qom to head the provincial branch of the

Organization for Islamic Evangelization An organization or organisation (Commonwealth English; see spelling differences), is an entity—such as a company, an institution, or an association—comprising one or more people and having a particular purpose. The word is derived from ...

(''saazmaan-e tablighaat-e eslaami''), which sent clerics to the whole country for speeches during the holy

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 ...

months of

Muharram Muḥarram ( ar, ٱلْمُحَرَّم) (fully known as Muharram ul Haram) is the first month of the Islamic calendar. It is one of the four sacred months of the year when warfare is forbidden. It is held to be the second holiest month after R ...

Safar Ṣafar ( ar, صَفَر) also spelt as Safer in Turkish, is the second month of the lunar Islamic calendar. The Arabic word ''ṣafar'' means "travel, migration", corresponding to the pre-Islamic Arabian time period when muslims flee the oppr ...

, and

Ramadan , type = islam , longtype = Religious , image = Ramadan montage.jpg , caption=From top, left to right: A crescent moon over Sarıçam, Turkey, marking the beginning of the Islamic month of Ramadan. Ramadan Quran reading in Bandar Torkaman, Iran. ...

, and also published periodicals, which sometimes contained critiques of extremist or conservative factions of the ''

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 ...

''. While keeping the position in Qom, Abaee-Khorasani moved to Mashhad and was one of the

Friday prayer In Islam, Friday prayer or Congregational prayer ( ar, صَلَاة ٱلْجُمُعَة, ') is a prayer ('' ṣalāt'') that Muslims hold every Friday, after noon instead of the Zuhr prayer. Muslims ordinarily pray five times each day according ...

Imam Imam (; ar, إمام '; plural: ') is an Islamic leadership position. For Sunni Muslims, Imam is most commonly used as the title of a worship leader of a mosque. In this context, imams may lead Islamic worship services, lead prayers, ser ...

s of the city for ten years, where he escaped an unsuccessful assassination attempt in 1994. He also represented the Khorasan province in the first

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 ...

. Abaee-Khorasani moved to Qom again as the head of

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 ...

's presidential campaign office in the city of Qom. The Qom campaign led to about 70% of the people of the city voting for the reformist Khatami, which was unexpected because of the supposedly conservative leanings of the citizens of the city. The local campaign team later became the founding members of the Society of Scholars and Teachers of Qom's Hawza (''majma'-e mohaghgheghin va modarresin-e howze-ye elmiyye-ye ghom''), the political organization of reformist clerics of the city. When Khatami became president in 1997, he appointed Abaee-Khorasani as one of his advisors. Later, he was elected in 2000 in the parliamentary elections to represent the city of Mashhad, his birthplace, in the

. He collected the most votes in the city. During his term there, he participated in the reformist candidates' sit-in in early 2004, amid his old

blood Blood is a body fluid in the circulatory system of humans and other vertebrates that delivers necessary substances such as nutrients and oxygen to the cells, and transports metabolic waste products away from those same cells. Blood in the c ...

and

kidney The kidneys are two reddish-brown bean-shaped organs found in vertebrates. They are located on the left and right in the retroperitoneal space, and in adult humans are about in length. They receive blood from the paired renal arteries; blood ...

disease A disease is a particular abnormal condition that negatively affects the structure or function of all or part of an organism, and that is not immediately due to any external injury. Diseases are often known to be medical conditions that a ...

. He also participated in the symbolic mass resignation of more than a hundred colleagues from the sixth ''Islamic Consultative Assembly''. After a long physical illness, Abaee-Khorasani died on October 13, 2004 in the

Khatam ol-Anbia Hospital Khātam ( fa, خاتم) is an ancient Persian technique of inlaying. It is a version of marquetry where art forms are made by decorating the surface of wooden articles with delicate pieces of wood, bone and metal precisely-cut intricate geomet ...

. On October 16, he was buried in Qom, near the shrine of Fatima bint Musa ibn Jafar, the daughter of the seventh

Shia Imam In Shia Islam, the Imamah ( ar, إمامة) is a doctrine which asserts that certain individuals from the lineage of the Islamic prophet Muhammad are to be accepted as leaders and guides of the ummah after the death of Muhammad. Imamah further ...

Sources

Founder of Reformism in Qom

Shargh ''Shargh'' ( fa, شرق, lit=East) is one of the most popular Reformist newspapers in Iran. History and profile ''Shargh'' was founded in 2003. The daily is managed by Mehdi Rahmanian. Its chief editor was Mohammad Ghouchani in its first period ...

's article on Abaee-Khorasani (in Persian) {{DEFAULTSORT:Abaee-Khorasani, Mohammad Iranian ayatollahs Members of the 6th Islamic Consultative Assembly 1940 births 2004 deaths Burials at Fatima Masumeh Shrine