Arash Aramesh

Ayatollah Abdollah Javadi-Amoli, a senior conservative cleric, resigned on Nov. 26 as one of Qom’s Friday prayer leaders. Amoli resigned from this popular and influential podium without providing any clear reasons. However, he is one of many clerics who have declined to lead the Friday prayer apparently in a sign of protest. Other clerics, who have not been vocal in their support for the government, have been banned from leading the prayers.


In his last Friday prayer sermon, Amoli said, “I can no longer serve as your prayer leader. I apologize to you if I were not able to fulfill my duties to you over the years.” He added, “A prayer leader has two duties and if he does not fulfill them he will be responsible before God.” He asserted, “God has told his people that if they have problems, they should go to the prayer. People have hundreds of problems. If their problems are solved, that means the prayer leader did a good job, but if their problems remained unresolved, that means the prayer leader has failed.”

Ayatollah Javadi-Amoli is considered to be on of Iran’s most senior conservative clerics. He was one of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini’s close confidants. Amoli became an early member of the Assembly of Experts and also sat on the powerful Judicial Council in Iran. Before his death, Ayatollah Khomeini sent Amoli to the former Soviet Union to deliver a personal message to then President Mikhail Gorbachev. In his message, Khomeini told Gorbachev that communism was no longer relevant, and it was going to end up in the museum of history. After Khomeini’s death, Amoli went back to Qom and continued to teach at Qom’s prestigious Shiite seminaries. He was one of Qom’s four Friday Prayer leaders.

What is interesting is that three of Qom’s four prayer leaders who have resigned their posts criticized the events following the disputed June 12 election, or excused themselves from participating in Friday prayers.

Ayatollah Reza Ostadi, another senior conservative cleric and one of Qom’s four Friday prayer leaders, has refused to give sermons at the Friday prayer. He is a critic of the radical Ayatollah Mesbah-Yazdi, a mentor of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. The government-run organization responsible for arranging and scheduling Friday prayer leaders said that Ayatollah Ostadi was unable to attend the prayers due to “heart problems.” But the moderate Sarmayeh newspaper in Iran wrote, “Ayatollah Ostadi criticized those radicals who claim to be supporters of the Supreme Leader. He has excused himself form teaching, leading prayers, or giving sermons based on advice from his doctors.”

Ayatollah Ebrahim Amini is Qom’s other Friday Prayer leader. He too expressed criticism of the violence against demonstrators following the presidential election, and said there was much doubt among the people about the government’s actions. Ayatollah Amini had defended Mir-Hossein Moussavi and Mehdi Karroubi, candidates in the June 12 election, by saying that they were “neither hypocrites nor against the Supreme Leader.”

According to Ayandeh, a website close to the sons of Hashemi-Rafsanjani, Ayatollahs Amini, Amoli, and Ostadi have refused to take part in Friday Prayers as long as the current crackdown in Iran continues. A number of senior clerics in Iran have either refused to lead prayers or have been asked by the government not to do so. Hashemi-Rafsanjani is the most famous Iranian cleric who was allowed to appear at the Friday prayer only once since the June 12 election. Since then, he has been unofficially banned from leading the prayer.

The elimination of Javadi-Amoli is the final stage of the government’s efforts to rid itself of independent and rather moderate clerics. The political clergy close to the government of Ahmadinejad and Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei are not well known or respected within the clerical establishment. For instance, after the June 12 election, only one Grand Ayatollah congratulated Ahmadinejad on his victory.