Hossein Kazemeyni Boroujerdi

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Ayatollah Seyyed Hossein Kazemeyni Boroujerdi is an Iranian Muslim cleric who advocates the separation of religion and politics. He first made his opposition to the Iranian government in 1994, having kept his opinions private until then. He had written 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 theocratical government.

He opposes the concept of 'the rule of the jurisprudent' velayat-e faqih in Islam. He has stated that Iranians, "are very tired of the religion of politics and political slogans... they (the 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 Koran] emphasized to us that 'there is no compulsion in religion^[1]."

Boroujerdi and many of this followers were arrested in Tehran on October 8, 2006, following a clash between police and hundreds of his followers. Iranian officials charge him with having claimed to be a representative of the hidden Imam, a venerated figure in Shia Islam. Boroujerdi has denied these charges.^[2]

1 October 7 demonstration
2 External links
3 References
4 See also

[edit] October 7 demonstration

The Iranian government has issued a warrant for Borujerdi's arrest and imprisonment in Evin Prison, and has imprisoned some of his followers. Supporters and students of the Ayatollah have been living at his home in order to protect him. On October 7, 2006 a large crowd of over 1,000 people including many women gathered around his house and prevented his arrest by police forces and was able to repel them. The Iranian news service IRNA, posted pictures the demonstration and printed some of the slogans shouted by the crowd: "Freedom, freedom - This is our incontrovertible right," (a counterpoint to the slogan shouted by supporters of the regime during Friday prayers: "Nuclear energy - This is our incontrovertible right," and, "[We are] ready for martyrdom according to our traditional religion - that is, Islam that is not political"^[3].