In mid-2008 the world press was abuzz with a media campaign initiated by the Haifan Baha'is claiming that then dissident (and now deceased) Grand Ayatollah Hossein-'Ali Montazeri had issued a fatwa (legal jurisprudential ruling) arguing for full recognition, and tangentially full citizenship rights, to be granted the Haifan Baha'i creed under the Islamic Republic of Iran. On the basis of the Baha'i campaign, the following text was offered by the world media as proof of the claim:Read more here : http://montazerifatwabahai.blogspot.com/
This was posted somewhere by Wahid Azal - its seems interesting to me :
ReplyDeleteRegarding the sites that claims to reproduce a text of Montazeri's decision/letter with an affixed date of 14 May 2008:
http://www.mideastyouth.com/2008/05/22/ayatollah-montazeri-proclaims-...
Curiously, rather than signing off with the hejri date of 18th Jamadi'l-Ula 1429, it actually signs off with a secular Iranian shamsi/solar date of 25th of Ordibehesht 1387. A Grand Ayatollah and Source of Emulation (marja' taqlid) such as Montazeri, if even a liberal dissident to the Khomeinist mullocracy, would never sign an opinion let alone a decision with a secular solar date.
Next, in the discussion section of Montazeri's own site http://www.amontazeri.com/farsi/topic.asp?TOPICID=56&FORUMID=4&CAT_...
The webmaster of the discussion logs responds on behalf of Montazeri in a thread with the identically same note and the identically same wording as the purported text of the ruling/opinion the Haifan Bahais are making much noise regarding, but the date of the posting is given as October 2 2007. Moreover, the sentence where Montazeri articulates the fact that the Bahais do not possess rights in fiqh (principles of Islamic jurisprudence) is gratuitously excised in the May 14th missive. Clearly there is a gigantic discrepancy and embellishment happening there, which on the indisputable face of things, is clearly not initiating from Ayatollah Montazeri or any of his representatives.
As such big ??? hangs over the authenticity of all this.
Wahid Azal