No Fear

Updated Documents

//rajanews.com/detail.asp?id=74430

Indeed

I think we do. There is a lot of interesting angles here to explore. Do you know of any attempts in the past 30 years to write an impartial and independent academic study of the Hojjatiyeh? If not, why not? Is it an issue of accessibility to sources and archival material? Would the regime not be forthcoming in giving access to potential researchers? How many of the original players are still alive? Would their families be willing to talk and be interviewed? Would they allow access to private papers and correspondences from the era?

With a decent proposal, I'm sure there would be all kinds of university foundations who would fund a research project such as this. A Ph.D dissertation on the Hojjatiyeh could literally make someone's academic career in Iranian or Islamic studies. It would also once and for all remove the shroud of enigma over what this organization was actually about, what it really believed and what the exact nature of its activities were and what its true legacy really is.

Hey, if the money is there, I am willing to do it :)

Thanks for the quote by Soroush.

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May we be amongst those who are to bring about the transfiguration of the Earth - Yasna XXX 9

Aryana,

While i found a few quotes from some scholars who claim Hojatiyeh society believed in " Ijtehad " ( without offering proof ), I can't conclusively say they did or didn't. Their founding guideline which i have posted here, doesn't mention anything about a " Mojtahed". But the spirit of their guideline seems to support your arguement.

However, this society enjoyed the support of many Marja'e Tagleed ( Mojtahed) when it was founded.

We need to dig deeper.

متن کامل اساسنامه انجمن حجتيه

مقدمه: به منظور فعاليت‌هاي علمي و آموزشي و خدمات مفيد اجتماعي، با الهام از تعاليم عاليه اسلام و مذهب شيعه جعفري براي پرورش استعداد و تربيت انسان‌هاي لايق و كاردان و مقيد به تقوي و ايمان و اصلاح جهات مادي و معنوي جامعه، مؤسسه‌اي به نام (انجمن خيريه حجتيه مهدويه) به قصد صد در صد غيرانتفاعي به شرح زير تأسيس مي‌شود.

فصل يكم: اسم، موضوع، هدف، مركز و مدت و دارايي

ماده اول: اسم مؤسسه (انجمن خيريه حجتيه مهدويه ) است كه اين اساسنامه به اختصار انجمن ناميده مي‌شود.

ماده دوم: موضوع و هدف: منظور از تشكيل انجمن، اجراي اموري است كه ذيلا شرح داده مي‌شود:

تبليغ دين اسلام و مذهب جعفري و دفاع علمي از آن با رعايت مقتضيات زمان به روش‌هاي مختلف زير:

1ـ تشكيل كنفرانس‌ها و سمينارهاي علمي و ديني در نقاط مختلف كشور با رعايت مقررات عمومي

2ـ چاپ و پخش جزوات و نشريه‌هاي علمي و ديني با رعايت قوانين مطبوعاتي كشور

3ـ تأسيس كلا‌سهاي تعليم و تدريس اخلاقي و معارف اسلامي با رعايت مقررات عمومي

4ـ ايجاد كتابخانه و قرائت‌خانه و اماكن ورزشي با رعايت قوانين مربوطه

5ـ انجام امور خيريه عمومي و مساعدت فرهنگي مؤسسات اسلامي و اخذ تماس با مجامع مشابه بين‌المللي با نظر مقامات ذي‌صلاحيت

6ـ تدارك جلسات آموزشي به منظور تربيت افراد براي مناظرات و مباحثات علمي، ادبي و مذهبي در محافل اسلامي با رعايت مقررات

7ـ تأسيس هر نوع مؤسسه فرهنگي نظير دبستان، دبيرستان، مدارس عاليه و پرورشگاه با رعايت قوانين

8ـ ايجاد هر نوع مراكز درماني نظير بيمارستان و درمانگاه با رعايت مقررات وزارت بهداري

9ـ تبصره

تبصره 1ـ موضوع و هدف انجمن، ثابت و تا زمان ظهور حضرت بقيه‌الله امام زمان «ارواحنا فداه» لايتغير خواهد بود اما برنامه‌هاي آن با توجه به شرايط زمان و نياز جامعه، مي‌تواند بر اساس حفظ هدف ملي و رعايت مقررات اين اساسنامه تغيير و يا تعميم شود.

تبصره 2ـ انجمن به هيچ‌وجه در امور سياسي مداخله نخواهد داشت و نيز مسؤوليت هرنوع دخالتي را كه در زمينه‌هاي سياسي از طرف افراد منتسب به انجمن صورت گيرد، بر عهده نخواهد داشت.

ماده 3ـ مراكز انجمن در تهران است و صندوق پستي شماره… براي مكاتبات آن در اختيار مي‌باشد. در صورت اقتضا هيأت مؤسس مي‌تواند با نظر مقامات ذي‌صلاحيت، نماينده گروه يا شعب انجمن را در تهران يا ديگر نقاط، اعم از داخل يا خارج كشور داير نمايد و افراد نيكوكار را به نمايندگي انجمن براي اجراي اهداف اساسنامه به خدمت دعوت كند.

عبدالکريم سروش و انجمن حجتیه

Halabi's neo-Akhbarism?

On one level you can look at Halabi's statements that got him accused as being muted criticisms of the na'ib al-khass (special deputyship) doctrine that empowers the 'ulama as quasi-gates (abwab)  to the absent Imam. This doctrine in its fully developed form is the basis of the Usuli position on unfettered ijtihad, and it later leads to the formation of the institution of the marja' taqlid (source of emulation) during the 19th century. If you look at the Hojjatiyeh's emphasis on empowering the common believer's knowledge of the sources of her/his religion, you can make an implied argument that this is a form of neo-Akhbarism because it is surreptitiously attempting to chip away at the exclusive interpretative power of the trained mujtahid by universalizing the function of ijtihad more and more and so diffusing the function of ijtihad beyond just clerical experts. In essence this is a classic attempt to, at least theoretically, make only the sources and the Hidden Imam the believer's sole sources of authority and emulation rather than any ecclesiastical establishment, and this is definitely a form of neo-Akhbarism. I believe Halabi's accusers saw this as well which is why they made the accusation.

BTW what is the basis of Abdolkarim Soroush's animosity to the Hojjatiyyeh? His articulated positions in his published works on this have been rather contradictory.

@Roozbeh: history is documented not erased just because you happen to dislike the subject of this history. Friend or villian, you don't just forget any aspect of history and force everyone else to do as well. Erasing the collective memory is what fascists and stalinists do. The true history of the Hojjatiyeh Society needs to be carefully documented and analyzed by historians because this society thrived at one time in Iran and enjoyed support amongst some important religious cross-sections of Iranian society and, more importantly, aspects of the history of this society are presently shrouded in mystery, intrigue and polemic no thanks to its Khomeinist and Bahai enemies. I don't have much regard for the Hojjatiyeh either, but my personal opinions and views of it are irrelevent, because simultaneously I do want to see a comprehensive analytical academic treatment of it someday soon to find out what was really going on.

@Rosie, shut-up!

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May we be amongst those who are to bring about the transfiguration of the Earth - Yasna XXX 9

COP,

Whether the 12th Imam is in a well or not is irrelevent.  You can not question other people's belief. What should concern you is their methods which they practice their religion. Does it interfere with politics? Does it interfere with rights and freedoms? Does it interfere with people's daily life?

Based on my research, Hojatiyeh was a very passive and non political society. They did not believe in any confrontations or any revolutionary methods. Compare that to what Khomeinism did to Iran and you get a better idea of how deep this well is.

hmmm......

aryana and no fear together...this is a conversation i wouldn't want to miss... :oP

Aryana,

Good observations. The accusation that Halabi believed in Akhbari ideology is unproven and not likely. His belief in the " seperation of politic and religion " is enough to make any revolutionary brand of Islam to oppose him harshly.

Unless you can shed some new light over this issue.

To other readers;

Akhbari Vs. Usulis

The Akhbārīs are Twelver Shī‘a Muslims who reject the use of reasoning in deriving verdicts, and believe only the Qur'an, aḥadīth, (prophetic sayings and recorded opinions of the Imāms) and consensus should be used as sources to derive verdicts (fatwas).

Usulis are the majority Twelver Shi'a Muslim group. They differ from their now much smaller rival Akhbari group in favoring the use of ijtihad i.e. reasoning in the creation of new rules of fiqh; in assessing hadith to exclude traditions they believe unreliable; in considering it obligatory to obey a mujtahid when seeking to determine Islamically correct behavior.

Never seizes to amaze me

how polluted we Iranians have become after 14 centuries of the islamic mess.

...the coming of the 12th emam....a stolen ideology from Chrisitianity, and equally baseless, but  the manner in which the 12th emam "disappeared" is a bit embrassing, I mean the well thing. Couldn't the designers of Islam and shiaism think of better means for him to "disappear"? Perhaps from a mountain top or something like that? The answer is no because being from the deserts of Arabia,  the sacred nature of water to them made them think of a well as adivine place to 'disappear".

However, I do hope that this Hojatieh clan gets more power for if they wait for the coming of Mehdi before trying to grab power, may be, just may be by then we Iranians will wake up and reject the notion of Islam as the only means to salvation.

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IRAN FIRST

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Crazy Ideology of some rejects within a rejected ideology.

Apart from crazed anti_bahais or ever obsessed with "progressive wing of islamist regime" Tudeh party, the rest of us simply dont care about this crap of Hojatieh , itself part of larger crap of Terrorist islamist ideology!

Fact is The entire Islamist regime and their ideology was thrashed and rejected loud and clear by the Iranian masses on the glorious Uprising of the Ashura, last year. Why should we ever bother to learn and understand these mentally challenged, hateful hojjatieh individuals who've made it their life mission to persecute their own Bahai compatriots due to their religious belief's? 

 Now lets talk about less ridiculous stuff, like this  islamist flying boat or the first islamist terrorist in space by 2030 or ahmad bi_mokhs's 15 year old niece achieving nuclear fusion in her ameh's ashpaz khooneh whilst cooking a ghormeh sabzi! 

Michael Fischer & Mehdi Abedi

Devote a good portion of an entire chapter in their Debating Muslims: Cultural Dialogues in Postmodernity and Tradition discussing the Hojjatiyeh. They especially detail the conflict with Khomeini and the events leading up to and after the society's disbanding. This is why the Baha'i accusation that the regime is infiltrated by the Hojjatiyeh makes no sense. These people were dyed in the wool ultra-orthodox Shi'ite traditionalists and found the whole idea of Islamic government and the VF completely abhorent to their literalist Shi'ite piety. In fact an accusation some of the 'ulama made of Halabi was that he was a neo-Akhbari, which is not entirely without foundation because he had apparently once expressed the view that some of the 'ulama had derogated too much power  to themselves and that some of this power was illegitimate because  it ventured too close to the authority that is supposed to belong to the Hidden Imam.

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May we be amongst those who are to bring about the transfiguration of the Earth - Yasna XXX 9

MM,

Good questions.

Here is a link to blogs by Hossein Pajohesh. He could be a (former)member due to his devotion to sheikh Halabi.

Go down to number 7 and read. The rest of the article is also interesting to read.

//marzbanan.blogfa.com/8505.aspx

Targol,

I am not familiar with Banisadr article on Hojatiyeh. Perhaps you could fill us in on it. The list of members that he claims to have is very interesting to see.

I am not an expert on Hojatiyeh, infact i need your help here.

حالا این شد

no Fear - do the members still believe in original guidelines?

What are their thoughts on VF, opposing Bahaism....etc, now?

Are they followers of the jailed Ay. Boroujerdi?

Thanks for the info.

(Update) انجمن حجتیه درخواست مجوز فعالیت رسمی کرد

//www.parlemannews.ir/?n=12634