Killing the Rooster

When my husband was attending a university in East Texas, he kept chickens.  The rooster kept escaping.  One day, when my husband was seated on the back porch drinking beer, the old rooster escaped again.  Having already sighted his rifle on a deer, he took aim at the escapee instead.  Poof! A burst of feathers and it was all over.  But he was smart enough not to place what was left of the bird in the pot.  Rooster Stew is tough.

When we killed Grand Ayatollah Khamenei we also took aim at a tough old bird; an educated political survivor of Shi'a intrigue.  To better understand this, I will be placing (a portion) the words of a Shi'a from Birmingham, UK on the page. This man educated me regarding the House of Ali.  This e mail - is from March 25, 2008. 

Strap in for the ride.  Let's take off for the universe of a Grand Ayatollah.

.... Firstly the term, "Ayatollah" itself. This is a title given to high ranking Shi'a clerics and the word itself means "sign of God".  So a person achieving that title is a sign of the deity Himself in this world.  To attain this title, a cleric, known more commonly amongst the Shi'a as a "Mojhtahed"  or "Marj'a" would have attained expertise in Islamic jurisprudence, ethics and philosophy and would have spent many years teaching in Shi'a seminaries. 

The title would normally be granted to a top Shi'a "Mojhtahed"  after completing sat'h (basic or internal) and kharij (advanced or external) studies in the "Hawza", a Shi'a religious seminary, in either Qom in Iran or Najaf in Iraq.  The title would normally be granted by the Grand Ayatollah of the day and would usually take place without any ceremony, either by word of mouth or posting a message in the seminary, or a simple handwritten letter to the chosen one.  An Ayatollah would be able to issue his own edicts or "Fatawa" from the four sources of religious laws as per the Shi'a school of thought:  Qur'an,  Sunnah,  Ijma' (collective thought) and Aql (intellect or common sense) rather than the Sunni principle of Qiyas.  Most of the time this is attested by an issued certificate from his teachers.  The Ayatollah can then teach in hazwas according to his specialty, can act as a reference for their religious questions, and act as a judge.  There is an important difference between Shi'a Ayatollah's and "saints" in other religions and Sunni Islam as they are not regarded as enlightened by God Himself, but by the Word of God.

There are a few females with equal ranking to the Ayatollahs, and are known as Lady Mujtahideh.  A current example of a Lady Mujtahideh is Zohreh Sefati in Qom.  Historically, there have been several Mujtahideh's in Shi'ism, most famously the women in the family of the famous Shi'a scholar Alam Hilli.

Only a few of the most important Ayatollah are accorded the rank of Grand Ayatollah (Ayatollah Ozma "Great Sign of God").  This usually happens when the followers of one of the Ayatollahs refer to him in many situations and ask him to publich his Juristic book in which he answers the vast majority of daily Muslim affairs.  This book is called "Resalah" and is available for reference purposes from most Shi'a seminaries, which is usually a reinvention of the book Al-Urwatu l-Wuthqah, according to their knowledge of the most authentic Islamic sources and their application to current life.  

Again there is no formal  appointment process.  A collection of Ayatollah will concede, over a period of time, that there is one amongst them that is most "wise and knowledgeable" and the title will be conferred upon him without any pomp or ceremony.

* Tammy's note:  I have read the complete Resala of one of the Grand Ayatollah.  Among other things which were haram because they could excite a male, were the clacking of women's high heels on the pavement, her public laughter, and of course, perfume.  The word "fun" does not exist for these guys.  smile

There is usually one Grand Ayatollah in Iraq that heads the Hazwas (currently Syed Ali Sistani) and a few that coordinate with him like Ayatollah Bashir Najafi, Mohammad Said Al-Hakim (of the famous Al Hakim family, currently the biggest power brokers in Iraq), Mohammad Ishaq Al Fayyad and Mohammad Taqi Modarressi.  There are more in Iran and wherever there is a substantial Shi'a population.  (There are more than 20 living world wide and some of the more well known are Ali Khamenei, supreme leader of Iran, Makarem Shirazi, Mohammad Malakouti, Ali Montazeri, Syed Mohammad Fadlullah Kadhem Haeri (whose protege is the famous Moqteda al Sadr) and Sadeq Shirazi. (There is written communication between Syed Fadlullah and myself. As anticipated, his response was gracious. These men are jurists, and they write in a measured and elegant manner.)

Due to the large number of Ayatollahs and Grand Ayatollahs, there is a constant power struggle and political machinations that would teach Machiavelli a trick or two.  There is also the small matter of "Khums".  Khums is a Shi'a taxation system that requires all its followers to "donate" a percentage of their income to the Imam.  Now, here's the thing.  The Shi'a invented "Khums" to bypass the Islamic taxation system of "Zakat".  During the rule of the Islamic Caliphs, all through history, whether it was the Ommayads or the Abbasids or the Othoman Caliphate, power remained with the Sunni, most of whom were virulently anti-Shi'a and anti Ahl-al-Bait.  Now as per the Shi'a belief tax can only be paid to a just ruler.  Because the Shi'a did not believe that any of their rulers fulfilled that criteria, they were therefore not liable to pay tax to them.  The only just ruler in their view could be the Imam i.e. the Imam Mahdi who was not present in this world, therefore only those deputising for him in the world i.e. the Marajeh and the Mojtahideen could collect tax on his behalf.  So all of the income generated from "Khums", which in today's income could well run into hundreds of millions of dollars (no audit has ever taken place and no figures have ever been presented to the people who pay the tax) goes to the assorted Ayatollahs and by default to the Grand Ayatollah to whom the Ayatollahs owe their allegiance.  So we are talking big money here and the very survival of the system, in fact some would go as far and say that the survival of the Shi'a ism itself depends on the system of "Khums".  Of course, this also means there is a constant struggle between various factions to see who gets the lion's share of the pot and it all makes for some very interesting and occasionally bloody turf wars.

Just as there is no formal appointment process, so there is no retirement process either.  Many Grand Ayatollah (except those who fell foul of tyrannical Sunni Caliphs, British colonials, Saddam, or the equally vile Shah of Iran) have lived to a ripe old age, most of them with their faculties intact.  There have been instances where a Grand Ayatollah has taken ill, but will continue to issue edicts through his deputies.  Syed Ali Sistani is the latest example.  Despite being (as a rough estimate) in his mid to late 80's, he is still consulted on a regular basis on all matters of Islamic jurisprudence, and although his personal audiences are limited to the Prime Minister of Iraq or some such, his word is law.  I shall continue to read his health bulletins and would be as interested as yourself to find out what happens if and when old age and or ill health get the better of him.

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