Attack on Clergy, Unease in Qom

Rooz Online: Rooz Special Report

Five of the highest clerics in Qom (ayatol-ozma) expressed their serious concerns in a coordinated effort and warned about the interferences of Hossein Shariatmadari, the representative of ayatollah Khamenei in ultra-conservative Kayhan newspaper, in determining the day of the Eid al-Fetr, which is the celebration for the end of the month of Ramazan – when Muslims around the world fast for the whole month – and which is usually determined by the position of the moon. This determination has always been reserved for the grand ayatollahs in Qom and the recent announcement by Kayhan independent of the ayatollahs has been taken as a direct interference in the affairs of the clergy. The ayatollah’s warn that if such interference is repeated they will take appropriate action regarding it. READ MORE

An office linked with ayatollah Sistani had announced that Friday is the day of Eid-al Fetr, which was acknowledged by ayatollahs Montazeri, Sadegh Shirazi, Sadegh Tehrani and Khamenei. But other grand ayatollahs Behjat, Fazel Lankarani and Yousef Sanei, who have millions of followers, announced Thursday to be the day of Eid.

In their protests the three ayatollahs Behjat, Fazel Lankarani and Sanei specially mention interference in their domain under the guise of support for the government.

The difference occurred when the ayatollah Khamenei is said to have decided that when the Eid should be celebrated, while the ayatollahs had announced Thursday and had called on the people to perform their Eid prayers on that day. Reports indicate that ayatollahs Behjat, Fazel Lankarani and Sanei were harassed and were asked why they continued to proclaim Thursday to be Eid when the leader of the Republic had announced a different day.

According to news reports, a group of Hizbollahis began chanting disrupting slogans during a Thursday Eid prayers of ayatollah Behjat in Qom, calling the participants anti-Leader. Prayer participants who were subjected to this humiliation asked the ayatollahs on what course of action they wanted them to take. Security forces then intervened and tried to calm the ayatollahs, promising to prevent similar incidents in the future. When the security forces raided the homes of some of the organizers of the protests, they discovered thousands of leaflets protesting the ayatollah’s proclamation of the Eid day, all written by Hossein Shariatmadari of Kayhan.

Some of the protesters and organizers were arrested. One of the ayatollah’s who had suspended his classes because of the disturbances, then resumed them after government officials intervened in their support. Ayatollah Behjat Tabrizi is reported to have calmed down the public and the other ayatollah’s in their annoyance.

In Shariatmadari’s article published last Saturday, he emphatically asserts that it is the prerogative of the leader to determine the day of Eid al Fetr commemorating the end of the month of Ramazan. This is not the first time that Shariatmadari has created a storm by making comments which the ayatollah’s in Qom protect as their territory, prompting their protests and then his apologies. In the letter, Shariatmadari specifically wrote that if the ayatollah’s had a different interpretation of the day of Eid, it was their personal choice. It is this commentary that has sparked the protest of the ayatollah’s, who see an encroachment into their historic domain.

A close associate of ayatollah Sanei told Rooz that Shariatmadari sees himself to be an expert in every field and regularly makes religious and secular proclamations. Jomhurie Eslami reported the event without mentioning any names and thanked the grand ayatollah’s from diffusing the situation.

In a subsequent editorial, and after the protests of the conservative media and the grand ayatollahs, Shariatmadari wrote an apologetic letter in Kayhan.