Those who think that Iran's rising regional profile is no matter of concern are not looking closely enough, writes Galal Nassar "The absolute velayat-e faqih [rule by the scholar] is a byword for polytheism," one of the founders of the Iranian republic and a top Shia scholar recently said. Ayatollah Hussein Ali Montazeri was the heir apparent of Ayatollah Khomeini until he was ousted from that position shortly before the death of Khomeini. Montazeri was then placed under house arrest because he objected to the appointment of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as supreme guide of the revolution. On Monday 22 December 2008, Montazeri was having a meeting with Ibrahim Yazdi, leader of the opposition Iran Freedom Movement ( Nezhat-e Azadi ) and the first foreign minister of post-revolutionary Iran. During that meeting, Montazeri said he opposed the idea of an absolute velayat-e faqih, saying that, "the opinion of the faqih supersedes the views of others in Sharia [Islamic law] interpretation only. As for matters related to political affairs and maintaining relations with other countries, this is not the domain of the vali-faqih [scholar- ruler] and must be left to the specialists." "When the Iranian constitution was revised in the mid- 1980s, I opposed the enlargement of the vali-faqih powers and the transfer of these powers into absolute rule, for I believe that Prophet Mohamed himself was not a supporter of absolute rule. The Quran told the prophet to govern according to Islamic law, not according to his own views. So the belief in the absolute velayat-e faqih is a byword for polytheism," Montazeri stated. This was Montazeri's answer to those who support the absolute power of Iran's supreme guide, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The latter take their cue from the late supreme guide Khomeini, who once said that "the formation of government and its running is part of the absolute velayet of the prophet and one of the primary tenets that outranks all other tenets, including prayer, fasting and pilgrimage." The phrase "absolute velayet-e faqih " was used by Khomeini for the first time in 1982, three years after the ousting of the shah, and right after the mullahs finished liquidating all the political allies who helped stage the revolution. Two years after Khomeini espoused velayat-e faqih, the idea became enshrined in the Iranian constitution against the objections of Shia clerics and politicians, who saw it as a threat to Iranian political life. Their biggest fear was that velayat-e faqih would lead to the abolition of the constitution and the introduction of emergency measures by the vali-faqih, which is happening now. It was the Shia scholar Mohamed bin Makki Al-Amili (born in Jazzin in south Lebanon in 725 AH, killed in Damascus in 786 AH, and often referred to as "the first martyr") who gave birth to the concept of velayat-e faqih. He proceeded to name himself a deputy for the hidden imam. Al-Amili coined the term " al-faqih al-jamie lil sharaet ", or the scholar holding all the reins. He was the first to order tithes to be paid to the faqih and it was his opinion that Friday Prayers should be cancelled until the return of the hidden imam. His views on velayat-e faqih were briefly discussed in his books Al-Lamaah Al-Damashqiyah (The Damascene Glow) published 782 AH as well Dhikra Al-Shia (Shiism Remembered) published 784 AH. Having studied in Iraq, Al-Amili returned to Jazzin in 760 AH and started propagating his ideas, gaining many followers. He soon formed an armed gang to seek power. Some of his supporters turned against him as a result, accusing him of extremism. He retaliated with fatwas, or decrees, sanctioning their murder. One of the men killed by decree was called Mohamed Al-Yalushi. The followers of Al-Yalushi, led by Taqieddin Al-Khyami, collaborated with the Mameluke rulers of Damascus and had Al-Amili arrested. The Mameluke authorities collected the signatures of 70 of Al-Amili's followers as well as those of hundreds of scholars, all testifying that the man was an apostate. He was tried for apostasy and insurrection. As was the custom, according to the Shaffite doctrine, an apostate or a heretic was condemned to one year in prison before execution, to give him a chance to repent and be pardoned. Al-Amili was first given this privilege by the Damascus qadi (jurist). But the qadi al-qodah (supreme jurist) ordered his execution. The first Shia cleric to advocate velayat-e faqih was thus executed in 786 AH. This incident is described in Shia books as Hijrat Ulamaa al-Shiaa min Jabal Amil ila Iran fi al-Asr al-Safawi (The Emigration of Shia scholars from Jabal Amil to Iran in Safavid Times) by Mahdi Ferhani. According to Ferhani, Al-Amili wasn't just another Shia scholar giving a theological opinion, but a man bent on seizing power by force. Most mainstream Shia scholars ignored Al-Amili's theory since his death, concluding that it violated the true tenets of the faith. Khomeini was the one to revive the concept in modern times. He actually based his ideas about exporting the revolution on that concept. And the Iranian regime tried accordingly to establish organisations and parties in Arab and Islamic countries to promote the idea of velayat-e faqih. Hizbullah's Hassan Nasrallah admitted it during the fighting in Beirut in May 2008: "They imagine that they insult us when they refer to the party of velayat-e faqih. I am proud to be a member of the party of velayat-e faqih," he said. Again, this indicates that velayat-e faqih is not a theological matter, but a political party prepared to achieve its goals at all costs. And yet, certain individuals who claim to oppose sectarianism now advocate velayat-e faqih openly. In an interview with the Kuwaiti newspaper Al-Nahar, published Wednesday 24 December, Mahdi Akef, supreme guide of the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood, was asked about the expansion of Shia influence in the region. "I have nothing against it. We have 56 Sunni countries in the Organisation of the Islamic Conference, so why be afraid of Iran, when it is the only Shia country in the world," he replied. What the Muslim Brotherhood supreme guide forgets is that Iranian Shiism is not mainstream Shiism. Iran is propagating the party of the absolute velayat-e faqih. Iran is propagating ideas borrowed from a man executed for heresy. Unfortunately, Mahdi Akef is not alone. There is a long line of pro-Iranian writers who naively sympathise with the Brotherhood's ideas, apparently to spite the Egyptian regime. Theirs is a risky game. I simply fail to understand why a group with such a long history of suffering, apparently in defence of Islam and Muslims, subscribes to the concept of velayat-e faqih. Cannot they see that all Iran wants is to establish sectarian governments everywhere and use them as satellites of a revived Persian Empire? Haven't we learned anything from the events in Iraq, Lebanon and Gaza?
