Former Basiji about the Shia priesthood

Aghajari said shiites should not follow clerics “like monkeys”

From monkey to man


“Core Islam” and “Traditional Islam”
Part of Dr. Shariati’s work was to separate [what he called] ‘core Islam’ from [what he called] ‘traditional Islam.’ Many additions were added to Islam’s core, [but] they were not part of the core; they were merely historical additions. It must be kept in mind that 70 or 80 years ago, the Shi’ite Muslim clergy was opposed to eliminating public bathhouses where one could immerse oneself in large containers of water and replacing them with showers and modern bathing facilities. But, of course, they have made some concessions to modernity when it comes to their own lifestyles, such as owning a car.


The Clerics Have Become a Ruling Class

In Islam, we never had a class of clergy; some clerical titles were created as recently as 50 or 60 years ago. Where did we have a clerical class in the Safavid dynasty? [Today's titles for Islamic clergy] are like the Church hierarchy - bishops, cardinals, priests.



This type of hierarchy in Shi’ite Islam]is an imitation of the Church. [Today], this clerical hierarchy is headed by the Ayatollah Ozma [i.e. the 'Grand Ayatollah']? And a level down you have an ayatollah, Hujjat ul Islam, Thaqqat ul Islam, and so on.

In the past few years, [the religious institutions] have become a sort of government institution, and the issue has become more sensitive. Is there anyone in our society who understands the distinction between a Hujjat ul Islam and an Ayatollah?[6] Shariati said that in Islam we do not have a class of religious leaders. This is not the ‘core Islam.’ It is a development of historical Islam, and, fortunately, we have not yet seen [in Iran the establishment of] a single central apparatus based on the ranks of clerical titles. For years, there were many parallel [Marja-e Taqlid] institutions,[7] and each Marja-e Taqlid [Ayatollah Ozma] [Grand Ayatollah] had his own structure.

Today, [the ruling clergy] in Iran wants to consolidate all the Ayatollah Ozma organizations under a single rule. (The audience applauds wildly.) Shariati said that in Iran, we have never had a true clerical class. This is what they want to do in our country. I doubt whether they will succeed because of our independence and the elements that we have in Shi’ite Islam. The divisions and the hierarchies they wanted to create are Catholic [and not Islamic]? Some of the clergy are so engrossed in what they are trying to do that they start thinking of themselves as icons?


A Cleric is Not a Divine Being

Shariati used to say that the relationship between [the clergy] and the people should be like the relationship between teacher and pupil - not between leader and follower, not between icon and imitator; the people are not monkeys who merely imitate. The pupils understand and react, and they try to expand their own understanding, so that someday they will not need the teacher. The relationship that the fundamentalist religious people [seek] is one of master and follower; the master must always remain master and the follower will always remain follower. This is like shackles around the neck [i.e. eternal slavery].

We must understand that the master is not a holy, divine being, and we cannot grant him that status. They [the Iranian ruling clergy], however, want to exercise total power. Shariati did something about it; he told the religious leaders: ‘You are not imams, you are not prophets, [you] cannot consider the people a subhuman species.’ They are born the same way we all are, their blood is the same color as yours; they are born like you; they issue from their mothers’ wombs? They are the same creatures of God that you are?