The Grand Ayatollahs: Are they Really the Pillars of Islam?

The Problem: It is said from time immemorial that the sources of emulation in Islam (known in Islam as the marjae taghlid, or senior clerics, also known as the grand ayatollahs who become mentors and  leaders in religious matters for people to follow ) are the pillars of Islam and that the protection of the core of Islam (i.e., beyze Islam ) is obligatory for all. This means there is a duty to defend the core of Islam should it be under threat. But what constitutes this core, i.e., beyze Islam ? Mirzae Qomi, the author of Ghavanin al-Osool has presented various interpretations of the term in his book Jame al-Shetat and two of them are relevant to the topic in this article. This is what he writes:

The meaning of the term beyze Islam is the sultan or the chief of the Muslim community, be he a just or a despotic imam, whose elimination will result in the harm and fall of Islam. The rationale for this duty, coming out of fear for the destruction of the core of Islam, is to uproot the threat and the environment in which it exists. In other words, they are warning against a source and an environment that can exist to threaten Islam. This is similar to what Shahid says in Doroos , which is that the just imam is constrained in calling for jihad except for fear of danger to the core of Islam.[1]

But what is the meaning of the faith/Islam/Shiism/the ruler being under threat?

1-Religious texts.  If by this they mean a threat to the book (i.e., the Quran) and credible traditional texts, then one must say that books and credible traditions can actually no longer under threat to be destroyed. Perhaps in the past one could destroy the book and the traditional texts, but in the modern world, where modern technology abounds, these texts can be protected better than anything else.

In the past a cleric could pride himself by claiming to know the names of all the Kerbala martyrs by heart. Today, the Internet provides this to anyone who can get the list of the Kerbala martyrs with the click of a button.

In the past a cleric could pride himself by claiming to know hundreds of religious narratives ( ravayat ) by heart.  Today the Internet provides anyone the ability to have any text in a matter of seconds.

In the past a cleric could pride himself by claiming to know hundreds of verses from the Quran by heart. Again, the Internet provides this to anyone through the click of a mouse button.

In the past the pride of a cleric was that he had all the interpretations of the Quran in his home library or had access to them at the library of a grand ayatollah. Today, all major interpretations of the Quran are available on the Internet and all the interpretations of a specific Quranic verse ( aye ) can be displayed on a single computer screen by anyone. So who needs to purchase texts on the interpretations of the Quran? Technology professionals have made all this simple and have thus taken the burden off the shoulder of clerics.

Grand ayatollahs too know the value of this blessing brought about by technology technicians.  All grand ayatollah today have their website.  At the same time, clerics have deprived Iranians of other websites, while access to websites of senior and regular clerics is freely available.

So there is no threat facing the faith/Islam/Shiism and thus there is no need for grand ayatollah’s to intervene.

2-Reletless waves of people fleeing from the faith. This form of threat to the faith requires an explanation. In other words the fear that there will be waves or groups of people fleeing from the faith requires an understanding of a number of questions:

-         What causes this, i.e., people fleeing from the faith?

-         If this were true, what could the grand ayatollah do to change this?

-         Does the faith that they introduce have any attraction to convert people? Is the interpretation and image of Islam that they present not discouraging? What attraction does a faith whose main preoccupation is the stoning people, cutting off of hands, of feet, being thrown down a cliff, male chauvinism, cleric chauvinism, etc. have to people? What problems does it solve this way? The truth is that the grand ayatollahs have not played a positive role regarding this flight from the faith, but in fact are themselves the source for creating this problem.

3-Following the religion to be a Muslim. Perhaps the most rational issue is that the property, life and image of Muslims/Shiites become endangered. In other words the fear is that Muslims/Shiites will be the subject of cruelty, oppression, torture, invasion, etc.  But this is precisely what has been going on in the “Sultanic fagih supremacy” regime in the Islamic republic of Iran

The critical areas of conflict are not in the communist, Jewish, Christian, and Bahai communities as these are not the concern of the clerics and the grand ayatollahs have no responsibility in protecting them. The critical areas of conflict and concern are the conflicts between the Sunnis and the Shiites. No one can deny the tragic events that have befallen on them in fagih chauvinistic regime in Iran. Were people not shot at and killed in the streets at last year? Isn’t a person considered mahareb (i.e., rebel) only if, according to the grand ayatollahs, he takes up arms against the security of society/community? Did sultan Ali Khamenei, as the leader of the rebels, not issue the order on June 19, 2009 to shoot at Muslims who were protesting against a fraudulent election? These are the people who silently – without even chanting any slogans - marched to show that all they wanted to know was what had happened to their vote. He ordered the forces under his command to shoot at these peacefully marching people.  More than four thousand of them have been detained. According to official accounts, three of them were killed under torture, and according to Mehdi Karoubi, some have been raped and according to the writings of prisoners themselves, many were subjected to the most brutal tortures. Are Abdollah Momeni and Ahmad Zeidabadi and many others who were tortured not Muslims or Shiites?

So, what have the clerics and grand ayatollahs really done to protect Muslims or Shiites?

[1] Mirza abi Qassem binal-Hassan al-Gilani al-Qomi, Jame al-Shetat, edited by Morteza Razavi, Keyhan Publications, 1994, volume I, pp 376-377.

Beyze Islam is a well-established term among the tradition of the clerics. For example, note the three following cases:

Sheikh Mohammad Ismael Mahalati Garavi, a cleric who had lived/studied in the six main Shiite shrines, imams  (in Najaf, Kerbala, Kazemeyn and Samara) and the author of al-Nali al-Marbuta fi Vojoob al-Mashroota which has been approved by ayatollah Mohammad Kazem Khorasani  and ayatollah Abdollah Mazandarai, uses the term to justify his advocacy of a constitutional government arguing that “the protection of the beyze Islam is obligatory.

Mohammad Hossein Naini, in his book Tanbih al-Amme va Tanzi al-Malle , has presented two conditions for a legitimate government:  1-the protection of the internal order of the country and the creation of a community, the provision of justice, the prevention of aggression of one group against another, among others; 2-intervention to prevent foreign aggression, intervention to prevent the interference of other countries, creation of a defense force, the development of defense capabilities etc. These interpretations are made by the author regarding the protection of beyze Islam . The term beyze Islam (core of Islam) used by religious people equates to the protection of the homeland in non-religious parlance.” (Sheikh Mohammad Hossein Naini, Tanbih al-Amme va Tanzi al-Malle, authored by seyed Mohammad Teleghani, Enteshar publishing company, pp5-7).

In a recent Tehran Friday prayer sermon, ayatollah Imami Kashani also said:

“If an Islamic community has shortcomings, it must cover it up and not reveal it. It must not talk about it. We must not talk or write about thus weakening the country in this world, which is our duty. Muslims must protect the world of their religion, or beyze din , and also the world of the nation of Islam, and must also protect the sensitivities of the religion. If we talk about our shortcomings and the enemy learns of them, then we have committed treason. We must all protect this.”