“Aboutorabi”… Khamenei’s savior from the revolution’s wrath

Following the violence that erupted in the Iranian city of Mashhad on Dec. 28, 2017, to protest the country’s economic woes, Supreme Leader of Iran, 78-year-old Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, adopted several policies to attract young protesters.

Iran has been suffering harsh economic sanctions that were imposed on the country to scale back its nuclear development program.

Khamenei appointed Mohammad-Hassan Aboutorabi as an interim Friday prayer imam (leader) of Tehran.

Tehran’s Friday Prayer Imam is deemed an appointment of a great status; he acts as a messenger who delivers the Supreme Leader’s messages to the inside and outside of Iran.

Aboutorabi was chosen by Khamenei, who often appoints a temporary imam to deliver a sole Friday prayer sermon, for belonging to a less radical middle generation.

Hujjat-ul-Islam Mohammad-Hassan Aboutorabi Fard was born in Qom in 1932; he moved to Najaf to receive his religious studies and learn from the prominent Shiite clerics of Hawza 'Ilmiyya (a seminary where Shi'a Muslim clerics are trained).

Aboutorabi started his political activities in 1964 when he was carrying Khamenei’s messages and announcements from Iraq to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

He got more involved in Iran’s political scene after the Islamic Revolution in 1979; he joined the Iranian army as a chaplain in central and southern Iraq.

In 1993, Ayatollah Muhammad Sadiq as-Sadr issued a decree to appoint Aboutorabi as representative of the Guardianship of the Islamic Jurist at Imam Khomeini International University in recognition of his scientific, religious and political efforts.

Aboutorabi was the second to get the title Hujjat al-Islam (an honorific title awarded to Shiite scholars, a lower clerical rank than Ayatollah) after Hujjat al-Islam wa al-Muslimin Kazem Seddiqi, not to mention other clerics who got the title before them but later got ranked to Ayatollah.

Hujjat-ul-Islam positions:

Aboutorabi was elected first deputy speaker of the Parliament of Iran for two consecutive rounds, he was first elected a representative of Qazvin for three rounds, starting 2005.

As Aboutorabi kept participating in major political and religious events, he was appointed a member of the Supreme Council for the Settlement of Disputes in 2011 by a decree from the supreme leader. He was also appointed a member of the Department of Constitutional and Political Affairs during Khamenei’s era.

In 2013, Aboutorabi ran for presidency, however, the electoral commission disapproved his candidacy for being incompetent to run for the position. A five-member coalition of Iranian principlists, namely Aboutorabi, Mostafa Pourmohammadi, Yahya Ale Es’haq, Mohammad-Reza Bahonar and Manouchehr Mottaki, announced Aboutorabi’s candidacy in a majority decision.

Being the deputy speaker of the Iranian Parliament, Aboutorabi assumes both the official and hidden stances of supporting the Shiite factions in the Arab region, so he took part in delivering speeches and lessons to members of these factions.

Aboutorabi affirmed in a 2014 interview that whoever controls the situation in Lebanon are the graduates of Khamenei’s school, and that they have to get ready for this new political stage, in which Iran will be a key player in the Middle East and North Africa.

He also supported Iran’s role in Iraq, affirming that it will gain a positive situation through the Basij (mobilization) Resistance Force that are scattered around the walls of Baghdad.

The Basij Resistance Force is a paramilitary volunteer militia founded in Nov. 1979 by order of Ayatollah Khomeini.

Aboutorabi and Syria:

Aboutorabi pointed out that the problem of Syria lies in the interference of other countries, especially the United States, financed by petrodollars and planned and executed by the Zionist Mossad.

He also declared Iran’s official stand towards the Jerusalem crisis, as he called upon the Iranian people and all Muslims, during his speech at the Parliament, to participate in peaceful protests in support of Jerusalem.

Aboutorabi was appointed as Tehran’s interim Friday prayer imam despite the existence of other Shiite clerics who hold the titles Hujjat al-Islam and Ayatollah. The Supreme Leader would often choose one of four substitute imams to perform the Friday prayer sermon alternately, namely Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati, chairman of the Assembly of Experts and the Guardian Council; Ayatollah Ahmad Khatami, senior member of the Assembly of Experts; Ayatollah Mohammad Ali Movahedi-Kermani, secretary-general of Combatant Clergy Association; and Hujjat al-Islam Kazem Seddiqi.

Choosing Aboutorabi for the position, however, affirmed Khamenei’s intentions to take new approaches in his policies after the waves of protests that spread across Iran; moreover, Hujjat al-Islam always had his place among the Iranian youths since he was representative of the Guardianship of the Islamic Jurist in Tehran University, not to mention his close ties with the reformist movements that supported him in the 2013 presidential election.

On Feb. 16, 2018’s Friday sermon, Aboutorabi tried to deliver the messages entrusted to him by the Supreme Leader as he said, “The people affirmed their adherence to the principle by the late Khomeini during the Feb. 11 protests, which mark the victory of the Islamic Revolution in Iran.” He considered the protests to be a consolidation of unity between the people and the leader of the revolution, which completely contradicts why these young protesters against economic situations decided to revolt.