Word: sharietmadari
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...members of a constituent assembly who are to approve a new constitution that Khomeini and others have drawn up as the blueprint for an Islamic republic. He said he welcomed the boycott of the election by such groups as the breakaway Democratic National Front and supporters of Kazem Sharietmadari, a nationally popular ayatullah, but had had no advance knowledge of their intentions...
Even more of a challenge to Khomeini is the fact that some high-ranking Islamic clerics share this view. The most notable opposition comes from Ayatullah Kazem Sharietmadari, 79, whose popularity in Iran is second only to that of Khomeini himself. In an interview with Tehran Bureau Chief Bruce van Voorst last week, Sharietmadari implicitly criticized Khomeini-though he never mentioned him by name. Said Sharietmadari: "In politics, all people are equal. I don't think religious edicts should bind citizens to particular political viewpoints. Politics is a matter of opinion. Religious authority may not be called upon...
...Ayatullah, who is one of Iran's most respected Islamic scholars, rejected Khomeini's proposal that the 160-article constitution, now being drafted, should simply be put to a yes-or-no public referendum instead of being debated at an elected representative assembly. Sharietmadari's view was that a constituent assembly was the "only way to reconcile expertise with popular representation." Sharietmadari will openly oppose a referendum. Says he: "It is like asking the man in the street to vote on this or that method of curing cancer...
...reason for Sharietmadari's disaffection may have been a pamphlet printed by some of Khomeini's followers charging, unfairly, that Sharietmadari had accepted huge bribes from the Shah. Khomeini was not informed of the leaflet; when he heard about it, he ordered it stopped. However, Sharietmadari learned of it anyway and refused to lead prayers in Qum for several days. Two other leading Ayatullahs in the holy city joined him in a boycott of religious services...
Khomeini's reprieve could spare many of the 1,500 political prisoners now awaiting trial at Tehran's Qasr prison. It might also mollify some Shi'ite leaders, including Ayatullah Sharietmadari, who believe that the tribunals should be more selective in their pursuit of revenge against the followers of the toppled Shah. But there will be no mercy for the Shah himself. Speaking at a pro-Palestinian rally, Ayatullah Sadegh Khalkhali, head of Tehran's revolutionary court, issued a worldwide murder contract for the exiled monarch, several members of his family and his closest advisers. "Anyone...