Category: Books

The Rights of Mankind: Human Rights and Reformist Islam

Anything that we call Islamic today must be reasonable, just, moral, and more functional according to the conventions of the present time. The main problem of traditional Islam is that it is living in the 21st century while breathing in the atmosphere of several centuries ago. It is possible to have a reading of the Qur’an and the Tradition of the Prophet and a methodology in ijtihad and jurisprudence that is consistent with the criteria of human rights. A critical and detailed introduction has been added to the new edition.

The Era of Cooperation and Assistance

The book is a documentary of the agreeable years of constructive cooperation between Khomeini and Montazeri before and after the 1979 revolution. The Assembly of Experts recognized Montazeri as the next leader of the IRI. This hurried action proved to be detrimental to Montazeri, and did not bear any advantage for him at all. These resolutions were the brainchild of Ali Khamenei which were directed and realized with the assistance of Hashemi Rafsanjani. Compared to Khomeini, Montazeri had a relatively liberal mindset regarding domestic politics, public rights, and civil liberties.

Shedding Light on the Covert Assembly of Experts

The book starts with shedding light on the the regulations of Assembly of Experts. The approval of the regulations relevant to Article 111 of the constitution (the right to supervise, impeach and depose the Leader) remains the greatest achievement of the Assembly to date. Both of Leaders of the I.R.I. refrained from any kind of cooperation with the ‘Panel of Investigation’. The most prominent advocator of actual religious authority as a binding requirement for qualifying a Leader was S. Ali Khamenei. He disqualified the leadership of himself 3 years earlier!

Human Rights and Reformist Islam

Human Rights and Reformist Islam translates the influential collection Haqq al-nas, and critiques traditional Islamic approaches to the question of compatibility between human rights and Islam, and argues instead for their reconciliation from the perspective of a reformist Islam. The book focuses on six controversial case studies: religious discrimination; gender discrimination; slavery; freedom of religion; punishment of apostasy; and arbitrary or harsh punishments. Critically compares Kadivar’s approach to Islam and human rights with those of five leading contemporary scholars: Mahmoud Taha, Abdullahi an-Na’im, Ann Mayer, Mohammad Shabestari and Abdulaziz Sachedina.

Blasphemy and Apostasy in Islam

Take a front-row seat to the debate on blasphemy and apostasy in Islam: a. Presents a back-and-forth debate between two Shi’a jurists (one conservative, one reformist) that locates the exact points of controversy surrounding apostasy and blasphemy; b. Engages with the broader subjects of religious freedom and human rights, addressing both secular and religious interests; c. Articulates the secular–religious divide and proposes a pluralistic solution, making a case that apostasy and blasphemy are non-existent in the Qur’an; d. Packed with translations of primary sources, including fatwas and interviews.

Animosity towards Wisdom and Morality

The collected works of Āqā ‘Ali Modarres was published twice in the span of nineteen years. The present book is the review of the second edition by the editor of the first one that was selected as the Book of the Year in 1999 and the Leader of the I.R.I. removed it. It represents the evidence of plagiarism, violation of moral rights, and a waste of public purse. After 12 years of having all his publications banned in Iran, this is Kadivar’s first print publication released in Germany.

Arbitrary Rule in the Name of Islam

Three senior combatant jurists stood up in the uprising of June 1963 against Shah’s dictatorship: Khomeini, Ḥassan Qummī and Bahā’ ad-Dīn Maḥallātī (d. 1981). The latter two also protested against the Islamic Republic in its early post-revolution phase. Qummī was placed under house arrest illegally by his previous ally Khomeini since 1981. Maḥallātī wrote two letters of protest to Khomeini in 1980, and in January 1981 issued a pronouncement questioning the legitimacy of the Islamic Republic. The book is story of Maḥallātī’s struggle for reforming Islamic Republic.

A Tribute to the Virtuous Theologian

Ayatollah HosseinAli Montazeri NajafAbadi (1922-2009) was a senior jurist and teacher at the Qom Theological Seminary since 1950, and one of the first ranking Shi’ite authorities between 1983 and 2009.  Montazeri was the second figure of 1979 Revolution in Iran, the vice leader of Islamic Republic of Iran who was elected by the Assembly of Experts of Leadership in July 1985, and was suspended from office by Ayatollah Khomeini in May 1989 (100 days before his death). He was the most influential dissident of Islamic Republic of Iran between 1989 and 2009.

The Green Call

The Green Call A Narrative of the Iranian Green Movement Volume I: Papers, Letters and Declarations (2009-2014) Nedaye Sabz Rawayati as Jonbesh-e Sabz-e Mardom-e Iran