Court for 'Corrupt Clerics'; Critic Clergymen Stripped of Their Robes

The term 'corrupt clerics' was the subject of a speech by Ayatollah Khomeini four months after the Iranian Revolution. He first spoke about the establishment of a special court for clergy in June 1979, claiming it was to address the accusations against 'corrupt clerics'. Khomeini stated that the 'special court' was not meant to defend the clergy and that they should not be treated differently from other accused individuals. He emphasized, 'We do not support the turban; we support Islam.' Although power had shifted to the clergy after the fall of the Shah, some clerics were dissatisfied with this power shift, and others faced anger from the new leaders due to their connections to the Shah's regime. Ayatollah Tabatabai, a source of emulation in Qom, mentioned in a December 1979 interview with the newspaper Etelaat that he told Khomeini: 'Respectable and pious clerics, who have nothing against them, are stripped of their robes... Unqualified individuals become judges and heads of courts. I told him, in your name and in the name of Islam, they are undermining Islam and striking blows against it.' On June 3, 1979, following reports of actions against some clerics accused of connections with the SAVAK, Khomeini ordered that in cities, committees composed of three trusted scholars and two local notables be formed to investigate the cases of individuals who were clerics or speakers, and after proving their crimes, they should be punished under the Islamic Revolutionary Court. These small committees were initial steps toward establishing a structure that began operating in 1990 under the title 'Special Court for Clergy' with an independent regulation. Article 43 of this regulation states that this 'court condemns those who are unqualified to wear clerical clothing to be stripped of their robes.' Clerical clothing includes a turban, a gown or cloak, and a cape draped over the shoulder. This article examines some clerics whose qualifications to wear this clothing, which some Islamic clerics believe is 'the clothing of the Prophet of Islam,' have been rejected in the four decades following the revolution. Abdul Reza Hajazi, a close associate of Ayatollah Shariatmadari, was one of the first to be stripped of his robes after the revolution. He had previously supported Khomeini but later became a critic and wrote a critical letter to him. Hajazi was tried for collaborating with Ayatollah Shariatmadari during the Nouzeh coup and was sentenced to seven months in prison and stripped of his robes by the military revolutionary court. Mohsen Kadivar notes that he 'was not a reputable cleric in the winter of 1979.' Part of this lack of reputation is related to a scandal that SAVAK created for several prominent clerics before the revolution. Reports indicate that SAVAK assigned several women to have sexual relations with several clerics, including Hajazi, and took photos of these relationships to blackmail them into silence. Mohsen Kadivar cites from the memoirs of Mohammadi Reyshahri that Abdul Reza Hajazi was executed in 1983. Ali Akbar Hakimzadeh is known for his famous book 'Secrets of a Thousand Years,' published before the revolution. His book critiques superstitions that have infiltrated religion. In this book, he raised questions that Khomeini later addressed in his book 'Kashf al-Asrar.' After the revolution, Hakimzadeh became isolated and was stripped of his robes due to government pressure, passing away in 1987. Hassan Youssefi Eshkouri is a cleric close to the reformist movement in Iran with a history of parliamentary representation. He was one of the Iranian political figures who participated in the controversial Berlin conference in 2000 and was arrested upon returning to Iran along with several other participants. Eshkouri was tried in the special clergy court in Tehran. Initially sentenced to death, his sentence was later reduced to seven years in prison and stripping of his clerical robes upon appeal. After serving about five years, he was released and appeared in public without clerical clothing. Ali Afshahi, a cleric and editor of the Cinema and Sports weekly, was tried in 2000 for 'insulting the sacred and disrespecting the clergy' and sentenced to four months in prison and stripped of his robes. He was arrested after giving a speech at a film center in Bushehr. Seyed Mohammad Mousa Mirshah Valad, a seminarian, was sentenced in 2002 in Mashhad to 20 months in prison, 30 lashes, and two years of being stripped of his robes for 'insulting officials and propaganda against the regime.' Iranian media reported that he was released in 2003 after requesting clemency. Hadi Qabel, a reformist cleric, was arrested in 2007 by the special clergy court in Qom for 'propaganda against the regime.' His lawyer announced that a sentence of 40 months in prison, stripping of his clerical robes, and a fine of 500,000 tomans for Qabel was confirmed. The reason for his stripping was stated as 'disgracing the clergy.' He was released in 2009 after serving 22 months in prison. Seyed Hossein Kazemini Boroujerdi is a cleric who opposes the involvement of religion in politics and the theory of Velayat-e Faqih. In his last court session in September 2007, he was sentenced to stripping of his robes and one year in prison in Tehran and 10 years in prison and exile in Yazd for 'moharebeh' (waging war against God) and 'propaganda against the regime.' Majid Jafari Tabar, a cleric from Qom with Yazdi ancestry and affiliated with Mohammad Sadoughi, a prominent Friday prayer leader in Yazd who was assassinated in 1981, was sentenced to death in 2014 by the special court for 'financial crimes, master-disciple relationships, and claiming a connection with the Imam of the Time.' Majid Jafari Tabar was known for seeking divine guidance and after his arrest, his office was sealed, and his website was filtered. Following his arrest, the publication of images of him alongside Hassan Rouhani caused a significant uproar. Ahmad Montazeri, a cleric and son of Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri, was sentenced to 21 years in prison after the release of an audio file of Ayatollah Montazeri regarding the 1988 executions, but it was decided that with the aggregation of sentences, this would be reduced to six years. He was also stripped of his robes, but the execution of this sentence was suspended for three years in 2016. Mohammad Reza Nakounam, a teacher of jurisprudence and philosophy in Qom, was arrested once in 2014, with some Iranian media citing his criticism of Nasir Makarem Shirazi as the reason for his arrest. He was arrested again in 2016 after publishing an article about 'commanding good and hijab' in the Law newspaper and went on a hunger strike in prison. The special clergy court sentenced him in 2017 to five years in prison, lashes, and stripping of his clerical robes. Hassan Aghamiri is a controversial cleric who is very active on social media, with some Iranian media referring to him as the 'Telegram cleric.' His Instagram account has over a million followers, and more than 200,000 people follow him on Telegram. He has gained popularity among the youth for his critical speeches and is currently facing charges from the Tehran special prosecutor for 'disgracing the clergy, disturbing public opinion, and insulting the sacred,' resulting in a two-year suspended prison sentence and stripping of his robes. He stated in his Instagram post that he has also been involved in 'taking and bringing and arrests' over the past ten to fifteen years.