Hossein Kazemeyni Boroujerdi
| Ayatollah Hossein Kazemeyni Boroujerdi | |
|---|---|
| Born |
2 August 1958 Qom, Iran |
Ayatollah Hossein Kazemeyni Boroujerdi (also Hosein Kazemaini Boroujerdi) is an Iranian Twelver Shi'i Muslim cleric who advocates the separation of religion and government and has been imprisoned several times by the Iranian government.
He reportedly first expressed his opposition to the theocratic nature of the Islamic government of Iran under which Islamic jurists rule or provide "guardianship" in 1994. He has been quoted as saying Iranians "are loyal to the fundamentals of the true religion and the Prophet's mission", but are "tired of the religion of politics and political slogans."
Boroujerdi and many of his followers were arrested in Tehran on October 8, 2006, following a clash between police and hundreds of his followers. Iranian officials charged him with having claimed to be a representative of Muhammad al-Mahdi, a venerated figure in Shi'i Islam, a charge he denies.
According to mardaninews website, as of 1 June 2008 "judicial authorities have released no information concerning his prosecution" and his medical condition is deteriorating.
Boroujerdi had been preaching a "traditional interpretation of Islam which separates religion from politics" in a mosque in a "poor neighbourhood in the south of Tehran" for some years.
He has been quoted as saying that Iranians "believe that they are loyal to the fundamentals of the true religion and the Prophet's mission, but they are opposed to the politicization of religion and its exploitation by a group that has nothing to do with true Islam. Islam is the religion of tolerance, forbearance, and mercy, to the point where [the Qur'an] emphasized to us that 'there is no compulsion in religion."
He wrote to Pope Benedict XVI and the European Union to complain about the suspicious circumstances surrounding the death of his father Ayatollah Seyyed Mohammad Ali Kazemeini Boroujerdi in 2002, the subsequent confiscation of his father's mosque, and his own and his followers' harassment by Iran's theocratic government.
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Wikipedia