Hussein-Ali Montazeri
Grand Ayatollah Hussein-Ali Montazeri[1][2] (Persian: حسینعلی منتظری [hosei̯næˈliː-e montæzeˈɾiː] ; 24 September 1922[3][4] – 19 December 2009) was an Iranian Shia Islamic theologian, Islamic democracy advocate, writer and human rights activist. He was one of the leaders of the Iranian Revolution and one of the highest-ranking authorities in Shīʿite Islam.[5] He was once the designated successor to the revolution's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Khomeini, but they had a falling-out in 1989 over government policies that Montazeri claimed infringed on people's freedom and denied them their rights, especially after the 1988 mass execution of political prisoners. Montazeri spent his later years in Qom and remained politically influential in Iran, but was placed in house arrest in 1997 for questioning "the unaccountable rule exercised by the supreme leader",[6] Ali Khamenei, who succeeded Khomeini in his stead. He was known as the most knowledgeable senior Islamic scholar in Iran[7] and a grand marja (religious authority) of Shia Islam. Ayatollah Montazeri was said to be one of Khamenei's teachers.[7]
"Ayatollah Montazeri" redirects here. For other uses, see Ayatollah Montazeri (disambiguation).
Hussein-Ali Montazeri
Position created
Position abolished
1,672,980 (66.24%)
24 September 1922
Najafabad, Sublime State of Persia
Iranian
7, including Mohammad Montazeri
For more than two decades, Hussein-Ali Montazeri was one of the main critics of the Islamic Republic's domestic and foreign policy. He had also been an active advocate of Baháʼí rights, civil rights and women's rights in Iran. Montazeri was a prolific writer of books and articles. He was a staunch proponent of an Islamic state, and he argued that post-revolutionary Iran was not being ruled as an Islamic state.
Early life and public career[edit]
Born in 1922, Montazeri was from a peasant family in Najafabad,[8][9] a city in Isfahan Province, 250 miles south of Tehran.
His early theological education was in Isfahan. After Khomeini was forced into exile by the Shah, Montazeri "sat at the center of the clerical network" which Khomeini had established to oppose Pahlavi rule. He became a teacher at the Faiziyeh Theological School. While there he answered Khomeini's call to protest the White Revolution of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi in June 1963 and was active in anti-Shah clerical circles.[10] He was sent to prison in 1974 and released in 1978 in time to be active during the revolution.[11] Montazeri then went to Qom where he studied theology.[12]
Reputation[edit]
According to journalist Christopher de Bellaigue, Montazeri was regarded as "brilliant" by his allies, and even his opponents; de Bellaigue added that Montazeri "lives plainly, and equates Islam with social justice". Montazeri's detractors portrayed him as stubborn and naïve in his insistence that the Islamic republic find reconciliation with the "hypocrites" and "liberals" who are its "internal enemies."[8]
Public image[edit]
In late 1960s, Montazeri gained influence and popularity in Isfahan Province after his speeches criticizing the Shah, moving SAVAK to banish and subsequently imprison him.[54]
In 1980s, Montazeri was known by the pejorative nickname Gorbeh Nareh (Persian: گربهنره, the masculine cat) after the Cat, a character in the Pinocchio animated series. According to Elaine Sciolino, this was due to his "poor public speaking skills, squeaky voice, round face and grizzled beard".[55]
Personal life[edit]
On 4 September 1942, he married Mah-Sultan Rabbani (1926 – 26 March 2010) and had seven children, four daughters and three sons.[56] One of his sons, Mohammad Montazeri, died in a bomb blast at Islamic Republican Party headquarters in 1981 which was carried out by the People's Mujahedin of Iran; another, Saeed Montazeri, lost an eye in the Iran-Iraq war in 1985. Another son, Ahmad Montazeri, is a cleric in Qom; during the 1970s Ahmad underwent military training in Fatah camps in Lebanon.[57] The brother of Montazeri's son-in-law, Mehdi Hashemi, was sentenced to death and executed after the 1979 revolution due to his alleged involvement in the murder of Ayatollah Abul Hassan Shams Abadi, who had been a critic of Montazeri, in Isfahan.[22]
He was described by Ayatollah Mohammad Guilani as "meticulous about, if not obsessed by, cleanliness."[23]