Mesbah Yazdi

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Mesbah Jasdi

Mohamad-Taghi Mesbah Yazdi , mostly just Mesbah Jasdi (but also Taqi Mesbah Yazdi , * 1934 in Yazd ), is a Shiite Ayatollah in Iran . Yazdi is regarded as the fundamentalist chief ideologist of the Iranian regime and the spiritual mentor of the former Iranian President Mahmud Ahmadinejad .

education

Yazdi began in 1952 with the study of Islamic theology in Qom and entered 1975, the leadership of the extremist haghani circle in Qom. The Haghani School represents a specific, traditionalist version of Sharia law . Numerous graduates of the Haqqani School have received entry into the highest circles of the Iranian judiciary, secret service and constitutional organs, the so-called "Haqqani Circle".

Mesbah Yazdi is also head of the Imam Khomeini Institute , Center for Islamic Education and Scientific Studies, or Qabas for short, which is also located in Qom .

Religious views

As the head of the Haqqani school in Qom, Mesbah Yazdi is convinced that “Iranian society is not an Islamic society. The women did not play the role that was intended for them in Islam. Un-Islamic, dirty morals prevail in schools, universities, factories and authorities. In the buses, in the parks, in the educational institutions, in the authorities and in other workplaces, a strict separation of the sexes must be ensured ”. Democracy, freedom and human rights have no place in Islamic theology.

Yazdi is known for his fundamentalist views, e.g. B. proclaimed in 2000 that "anyone who offends Islam must be killed". Mesbah Yazdi not only advocates the death penalty in general, but presents it as an Islamic principle. "Anyone who questions Islamic principles such as these must be killed on the spot."

He expressly supports martyr operations and Iran should set up martyr units for this purpose, which should be sent out in the event of an attack on Iran to "defend" Islam. Because of these radical views, Yazdi is also controversial in the religious establishment of Iran, even within the conservative camp.

Mesbah Yazdi is a member, possibly the “de facto head” of the Hojjatieh secret society and is described as the system's chief ideologist. The "Hojjatieh" has changed its direction several times in the decades of its existence, and in the 2000s it approximated Yazdi's theses. The "Hojjatieh" is an organization, the purpose of which is often described as calling for the return of the hidden Imam Mahdi to be hastened by creating chaos. According to a popular idea among some of the Shiite clergy, the Mahdi should rise from a dry well in Jamkaran near Qom to take over his rule. For this purpose, an avenue was created with great structural effort. Jamkaran is said to be more important as a place of pilgrimage than Mashhad .

In a book, Yazdi spoke out in favor of building nuclear weapons. Iran should not deprive itself of the possibility of developing “special weapons”, which are currently the privilege of a few states. In February 2006, Mesbah Yazdi stated through his spokesman that the use of nuclear weapons as a countermeasure would not contradict Sharia law.

Political force

During the Iranian Revolution under Ruhollah Khomeini, Yazdi did not hold a leading position and did not belong to the inner circle of power. Critics accuse him of being a power-hungry opportunist who did not take part in an anti-Shah demonstration. It was only under Seyyed Ali Chamene'i that he was promoted to and entered the Expert Council, and today he owes him the chairmanship of the Qabas religious foundation. Mesbah Yazdi does not designate Iran as a republic because, in his opinion, only the Supreme Legal Scholar has authority and this is absolute.

In 1990 ( Chuzestan constituency ) and 1998 ( Tehran constituency , 9th place), Yazdi was elected to the Expert Council. The council of experts, which is elected every eight years, has the task of appointing the spiritual leader of Iran, the revolutionary leader, and has at least the theoretical possibility of removing him again. On December 15, 2006 (4th electoral term), Yazdi ran as the first candidate of the ultra-conservative camp to take the chair in the elections for the Expert Council. His main rival candidate was Ali-Akbar Hāschemi Rafsanjāni, with whom he fought a bitter election campaign in the run-up to the election. The election result was disappointing for Yazdi. He ended up in seventh place, while Rafsanjani won the election, surprising to many observers. When elected to the Expert Council in 2016, Mesbah Yaszdi left the Expert Council.

Effects

Yazdi is the ideological and spiritual mentor of the former Iranian President Mahmud Ahmadinejad . Among other things, it is reported that he supported Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in the 2005 presidential election by issuing a fatwa calling on all supporters of the Basichi militia to vote for Ahmadinejad.

Yazdi's eschatological views, which are fundamentally based on Shiite doctrine, were also reflected in the speech that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad gave to the UN General Assembly in September 2005 when he pleaded for the twelfth Imam to reappear. This expectation of the return of the “hidden imam” is, however, an essential part of Shiite Islam. It is also reported that attempts by the Iranian government to start a "second Islamic revolution " and help the stalled Islamic revolution in Iran to victory were influenced by Yazdi.

Regarding the controversial re-election of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on the occasion of the presidential election in 2009 and his confirmation by revolutionary leader Ali Khamene'i , Mesbah Yazdi commented: “If the president has the support of the ruling legal scholar, obedience to the president equals obedience to God. [...] When the supreme leader appoints the president, the light of the supreme leader also shines on the president. ”Yazdi takes the view that the guidelines of the government come from God and are promulgated by the revolutionary leader. He also takes the view that Khatami and Rafsanjani betrayed the ideals of the Islamic revolution and led the country astray. The "flawless" state of God to be strived for must be cleansed of all pernicious western influences and republican tendencies.

More moderate forces in Iran now assume that parts of the state leadership, including the military, police and other executive branches , are dominated by supporters of the Hojjatieh . In this context, the statement of the former President Akbar Hāschemi Rafsanjāni should be understood, who said after the lost presidential election in 2005 that his defeat was due to a conspiracy directed against him.

Several hearings in various courts against six members of the Basij-e Mostaz'afin attracted national attention . They were accused of killing five out of 18 people as serial killers in Kerman, Iran in 2002 . In their defense, the defendants explicitly invoked a fatwa by Mesbah Yazdi, which reads: "The murderer of an apostate from Islam whose guilt can be proven will not be convicted" (Mahdur ul-Dam). In 2007 the Iranian Supreme Court overturned the previous three convictions.

Trivia

A cartoon by Nikahang Kosar in which Mesbah Yazdi appears as a "crocodile" became internationally known. Yazdi, a staunch opponent of the freedom of the press, portrays a lizard overflowing with tears, who wailingly exclaims: "Why is no one helping me against this hired scribe?" Nikahang Kosar had drawn himself as a scribe, who is being strangled by the lizard's tail .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. Alessandro Topa: qantara.de of November 16, 2010 attack on free thinking
  2. Ali Shirazi: Iran: The secret government emerges from the shadows, August 31, 2005
  3. droi.wordpress.com, November 9, 2009 The Haghani Circle (Hojjatieh?)
  4. Festschrift for the 25th anniversary of the School for the Protection of the Constitution, 2007 (PDF file; 2.6 MB)
  5. Bahram Rafiee: payvand.com of July 9, 2010 Mesbah Yazdi from Ayatollah Khamenei's Office: Democracy and Human Rights Have No Place in Islamic Theology
  6. Birgit Cerha: President blows the culture war . Report in the Kölner Stadtanzeiger from January 31, 2006
  7. Katajun Amirpur: The Infallible . DIE ZEIT, December 14, 2006, No. 51
  8. memri.org of July 25, 2005 Spiritual Advisor of Iran's President-Elect Calls on Iranian Volunteers to Carry Out Martyrdom Operations
  9. ^ Heinrich Böll Foundation: Iran Report 09/2005 ( Memento from September 1, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF file; 93 kB)
  10. A. Savyon and Y. Mansharof: memri.org, May 2007 (PDF; 203 kB) The Doctrine of Mahdism
  11. Semiramis Akbari: PRIF Report 9/2006 (PDF file; 338 kB) Limits to political reform and scope for action in Iran
  12. Ilan Berman: Understanding Ahmadinejad, June 1, 2006 ( Memento of April 22, 2009 in the Internet Archive )
  13. Asghar Schirazi: linksnet.de of October 12, 2010
  14. roozonline.com of October 29, 2010 Hojatieh Society: 57 Years in the Shadow
  15. DiePresse.com of June 15, 2010 Ayatollah for the construction of nuclear weapons
  16. MEMRI.org of February 16, 2006 iranvajahan.net ( Memento of July 29, 2012 in the web archive archive.today ) Religious Law Does Not Forbid Use of Nuclear Weapons
  17. Durham University: Center for Iranian Studies ( Memento from June 30, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF file; 297 kB) Understanding Iran's Assembly of Experts
  18. Nazila Fathi: nytimes.com of November 25, 2006 Iranian Clerics' Angling Stirs Worry on Absolute Rule
  19. Katajun Amirpur: The Infallible . DIE ZEIT, December 14, 2006, No. 51
  20. iranonline.com ( Memento from August 11, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Members of Assembly of Experts, 1999
  21. Heinrich Böll Foundation: Iran Report 01/2007 ( Memento from December 11, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF file; 94 kB)
  22. Alfred Hackensberger: heise.de of February 5, 2006 A question of good and bad, God and the devil
  23. Ahmadinejad has divine authority reuters.de of August 13, 2009
  24. Heinrich Böll Foundation: Iran Report 10/2005 ( Memento of December 12, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF file; 95 kB)
  25. Heinrich Böll Foundation: Iran Report 11/2006 ( Memento from December 11, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF file; 88 kB)
  26. Kasra Naji: Ahmadinejad. The secret history of Iran's radical leader. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2008. ISBN 978-0-520-25663-7 . Page 103
  27. Nazila Fathi: nytimes of April 19, 2007 Iran Exonerates Six Who Killed in Islam's Name
  28. Caricature by Nikahang Kosar with Yazdi as a crocodile
  29. Victor and Victoria Trimondi: Political Apocalyptic The Messiah Complex of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, which is dangerous to the public