Читать книгу The Tragedy of Islam - Imam Mohammad Tawhidi - Страница 17

After withdrawing from the regime-run university by the end of 2012, I found myself free, and with a visa ending in December 2013. I resigned from the office of Grand Ayatollah Makarem after informing them of what Mr. HW had done to me, and my disappointment that they were not prepared to question the intelligence services about why this had happened. I no longer subscribed to the faith taught by the Iranian regime and its Islamic universities, and I found myself unable to co-exist with groups that supported the Iranian regime, even though they dominated the entire city. As a matter of fact, many casual students in Al-Mustafa University were and still are actual Hizbullah militants.

Without a place to turn to, or a dormitory to reside in, I found myself homeless. I could not inform my immediate family of my situation as they would be deeply worried, and I did not want to leave Iran either. Therefore, I began to eat what I could afford until I was completely broke. I began to visit mosques and Islamic centers that offered meals after their events, and would request to take more home. I spent four months sleeping on cardboard in the vicinity of the Holy Shrine in Qum. Despite the fact that I was homeless, I maintained my outer appearance and was very cautious to conceal my situation, as supporters of the Iranian regime could take advantage of any sign of weakness or instability. During this time, one Pakistani cleric, Shaikh Ahmad, residing in Iran and who was also a friend of mine, knew of my situation as I had told him. He also administrated an Islamic center and would invite me regularly for meals and offer me other forms of hospitality. One Saturday morning, Shaikh Ahmad informed me that two men from Australia had come into his center looking for me, and requested that I leave the area for my own safety.

Meanwhile, my friends at Shirazi’s office had suspected something was out of the ordinary with my situation because I had not visited them nor Grand Ayatollah Shirazi for a considerable amount of time. They initiated contact with me and inquired about how I was doing, even though I had tried to avoid them. News had reached them that I was in trouble, homeless, and broke. The office of Shirazi offered me a private room within the dormitory of their educational institute and supported me, modestly, in every way possible. Because Shirazi was oppressed by the Iranian regime and under house arrest, he couldn’t provide me with a visa, but luckily, I had organized that already. I remained in Iran and served Shirazi’s office as a form of thank you.

By this time, I had made several public statements that supported an enlightened brand of Islam. The clerics at Shirazi’s office knew of my intentions and, even though they were not on the same page as me, they still welcomed me; after all, it was Shirazi who ordained me as an imam. I associated myself with Shirazi’s office because, out of all of the ayatollahs, he was the most moderate and peaceful one.

During my final year in Iran, I began to develop healthy relationships with the offices of numerous grand ayatollahs and Islamic authorities, and acquired a large number of licenses and certifications from them after attending their advanced lessons. Now that I was not part of a government-run institute, nobody questioned my movements, and I was free to explore the scholarly works that were foundations of the Islamic faith. I kept my reformist agenda to myself, until I was in a strong position to express my opinions. Perhaps this explains why I did not accept the position of deputy to any grand ayatollahs or marry into their families.