Kadivar's Sermon Against the Regime

So my former Professor Mohsen Kadivar gave a sermon to the Islamic Cultural Center of Northern California. Kadivar is a cleric, but he is a fierce advocate of freedom and democracy in Iran. He has been jailed by the regime and is now exiled in the US. Here is a part of the video in farsi in which he argues against the gaurdiansip of the jurist:



Also I have included part of the question and answer session that has been translated:


Why are the grand ayatollahs silent?

The grand ayatollahs have not remained silent. You see, in Qom, there are approximately 13 people who are considered marja taqlid [literally translates to: source to imitate or follow, grand ayatollahs with the authority to make decisions for their followers.] Of these 13, seven are the highest ranking, meaning that they have the greatest influence. Of these seven, not a single one has congratulated Ahmadinejad. None have congratulated the leader.

Of that 13, 2 have sent their congratulations but they are are not part of the top 7. Of these seven who have the greatest number of students and funding, who have greater influence within the public, who have more followers, none have been willing to lend their support. This silence was so painful that Ayatollah Khamenei, in his speech on the day of Mabas, stated: “why are the elites silent?” By “elites” he meant these grand ayatollahs. Because they are the ones who give legitimacy to the system. And they have remained silent. Not only are they silent, they have raised their voice in protest. [the leader did say that, and also said that with regards to the “elites”, silence makes them as complicit in crime as those who speak out in support of it.]

Of these seven, three have been outspoken in defending the rights of the people. Of the remaining four, one has taken the middle ground, meaning that he’s addressed both sides. Of the remaining three, one has been completely silent, and the other two have spoken of their strong disapproval with recent events.

Meaning that of these seven, five have supported the green movement in some way. Grand Ayatollah Montazeri, Grand Ayatollah Sanei, Grand Ayatollah Mousavi Ardebili, Safi Golpayghani and Bayat Zanjani. The last two have supported the movement, the first three have written official statements and letters.

On the 10th of July, Ayatollah Montazeri has issued a fatwa calling for the illegitimacy of this government. In the past one hundred years, this fatwa has only been given three times:

- once during the constitutional revolution by Akhond Khorasani against Mohammad Ali Shah Qajar
- once at the beginning of the Islamic revolution by Ayatollah Khomeini against Mohammad Reza Pahlavi
- And now by Ayatollah Montazeri against the head of the Iranian ruling system

About Evin Prison

Evin prison is the cherry on top of Iranian prisons. They have to open the prison doors to U.N. commisioners, MPs, and others. So Evin is kept presentable. The real atrocity takes place in Ghasreh Firoozeh prison, Eshrat Abad prison, Rajaie Shahr prison in Karaj, Kahrizak prison, etc.

Each of these prisons is operated by a different body, like the intelligence ministry, the revolutionary guards, the state prisons and corrective measures organization, etc.

I was in Evin at a time when the newspapers were still allowed to breathe, and thus, for most of my time there, I personally never had to endure physical brutality. But the news we hear now, some of which are firsthand, makes me nauseous. If even one of these were true, that alone is enough to call for the illegitimacy of the system. If you want to assess the health of a ruling system, the first place you should look is in its prisons. What sort of treatment are prisoners getting? Those who have no one to turn and cry to but god?

What we outside of Iran can do:

We must do things which can have good influence inside of Iran. I do not defend those actions which have no positive effects on what is happening in Iran. Some just do things to comfort themselves. They do something just to be able to pat themselves on the back and say “I’ve done something too.” But they don’t ask themselves, when the pictures have been taken and when the photos reach Tehran, is it going to be in the benefit of the people, or can it harm them? Some of our actions do not really end up in the benefit of those in Iran. We should always assess our actions by thinking what sort of an effect they have inside Iran.

Many of those English interviews I see on TV, many of those giving these interviews, much of what they say has nothing to do with the green movement in Iran. These people are speaking for themselves alone. People in Iran aren’t saying these things.

Do the protesters in Iran want Islam?

Which Islam? The Black Islam or the Green Islam? The Islam of Ayatollah Montazeri or the Islam of Ayatollah Khamenei? the Islam of Mousavi or the Islam of Jannati? The Islam of Mesbah Yazdi or the Islam of Sanei?

There’s a world of difference here, do not put everything under one category. The ruling system in Iran has behaved tyrannically in the name of Islam, that’s a correct assessment and those who have suffered the most are these Muslims themselves.

Consider this: Iranian Christians in Tehran have their own churches, but Sunni Muslims in Tehran, in Mashad, in Qom, in Tabriz, … they are not allowed to have their own mosques. Dervish Iranians are not permitted to have places of worship in religious cities in Iran, like in Qom, in Mashad. These are Muslims. We have Jewish synagogues, but as a Sunni Muslim or Dervish Muslim, we can not have our own places of worship.

Or consider this, I have the same religion and same faith as these gentlemen [Shia Islam], but I don’t agree with their stance on anything. If I want to go for the Fetr or Ghorban prayer, if I want to go for Friday prayer, I have no place to go in Tehran. In the Shah’s time, Ayatollah Taleqani had his own mosque, Hedayat Mosque. In the Islamic Republic, we do not have an inch of space for ourselves. They’ve turned all mosques into government and state mosques.

This is the way this system treats the Muslims, the Shi’a Muslims, the Sunni Muslims, the dervish Muslims.

Many friends believe that this secular hegemony that exists outside of Iran exists inside as well. Look, in Iran, over 60% of the people still think in very, very traditional ways. We must open our eyes. This traditional worldview is what the majority of Iranians believe in, we are not a majority.

Today, the words of a marja [grand ayatollah] have much, much greater influence than the words of ten renowned university professors. We must be aware of these realities. Marja’yiat [the act of following a grand ayatollah] is still considered a civic structure in Iran. From these traditional structures, the only one they have not been able to destroy is this one. Why? Because it is not funded by the government, by the ruling system. The clerical establishment in Shi’a Islam is not like the one in Egypt where the head of Al Azhar is appointed by President Mubarak and is financially supported by the government and thus the president can be sure that the cleric will never have harsh things to say about him. The clerics [grand ayatollahs] in Iran receive funds from the hands of the people, not the government. And that means two things: they are independent of the government, and they will always tune themselves with the people. This is a very important point. You will eventually turn to the place that provides for you.

I think that if there was a vote, the majority of Iranians would want to have Islamic values respected in their country while democracy is also implemented and respected. We claim that the green Islam that we understand has no problems with democracy. We have written extensively of this, and spoken of this. Those who disagree, they are by all means welcome to try out their theories and see how much followers they will have and how much they will be able to take their agendas foreword inside Iran.

The main focus of the green movement now is the one third of the Iranian constitution that already exists, those parts of the constitution which stress the rights of the nation, the rights of the people, that have always gone ignored. We believe that is the least that all opposition parties can agree on. And if those articles are actually implemented, greater change will certainly follow.

On Sanctions and military attacks:

There are those who believe that raising our hands in need towards the international community can help solve our dilemmas. Thus, they think that if a military attack is carried out against Iran, or that if the country is put under more severe sanctions, the problems will be solved. They sometimes open their hearts to the head of the United Nations and think that the secretary-general of the U.N. can do something for Iran or the general assembly can take a few steps for the country.

Please let me state the stance of the green movement as I understand them, on these issues. I strongly believe that the Iranian problem must be solved by Iranian hands. Democracy is not what is placed in the backpack of an American soldier to be exported to Iraq or Afghanistan. Democracy is not what is put in American ships and is exported to Basra and the like. Democracy needs political, social, economic and cultural backing by the people. I am certain our people have this. We want to implement Iranian democracy in our own country by our own hands. And we do not need any foreign country to do so for us.

In regards to a military attack, I believe this will only be in the benefit of the current rulers of Iran. And will, most certainly bring much harm to the people of Iran. A military attack is like a coup d’état. The truth will never conquer by a coup d’état.

We are the ones who can reform our country and are strongly against any sort of military intervention. If anything of this sort is carried out, for example, by Israel who has been sending us threats, this will be the greatest blessing the current rulers in Iran can get. They will use this excuse to silence the protesters even more and to imprison more people and this will result in the total burial of the opposition voices that now exist in Iran.

In regards to economic sanctions, which is sometimes advocated by some specialists I am strongly opposed to such actions. I believe that such sanctions will bring greater harm to the people of Iran. It will directly affect the people. And again, this will mean that the ruling class will bring even greater pressure on the people by using the sanctions as an excuse. We have to find a solution that will bring less harm to our people and will pressure the rulers.

We do not have our hopes in the international community. Be certain that if the rulers in Iran give the smallest incentives to these countries which they have, these countries that cry of human rights and democracy will forget all about us. Is there democracy and human rights in Saudi Arabia or the gulf countries which are this close to the U.S.? Democracy, human rights, these are just labels, just tools that these countries misuse.