Responding to a question about the legal status of the Bahaiis,
Ayatollah Hassan-Ali Montazeri, the deposed heir apparent of the late
Ayatollah Khomeini, has issued a historical fatwa which may prove to be
the most important statement in support of the Bahaiis thus far. The man
who established his career by his anti-Bahaii struggles before the 1979
revolution wrote: “The Bahaii sect does not have a revealed book like the
followers of Judaism, Christianity, or Zoroastrianism, and are not
considered a religious minority in the Constitution; but because they are
the residents of this country, they have territorial rights, and benefit
from the rights of citizenship, and they should benefit from the Islamic
gentleness which is so much emphasized by the Quran and our religious
leaders.”

This is the most favorable fatwa on Bahaiis. Lebanon’s Ayatollah Mohammad
Hussein Fadllollah also has issued a sympathetic fatwa. Two other fatwas
by the late Ayatollahs Broujerdi and Golapyegani just prevented Muslims
from mingling with the Bahaiis, although Broujerdi advised against hurting
them.

Ayatollah Montazeri’s fatwa is a watershed because it establishes a new
source of legitimacy for the religious minorities and those out of Islam:
territorial right. Considering that Iran acknowledges blood ties only as
the basis for nationality, to say that Bahaiis need to be protected by the
government because of their territoriality right is a landmark edict.
Moreover, it is quite a new approach in Shi’ite fight to recognize the
right of a group outside religious conviction.

To introduce the concept of citizenship as a new source of legitimacy is a
major step taken by a prominent Shi’ite leader. One may argue that this
is just the confirmation of the rights of “dhemmi” infidels. However,
Ayatollah Montazeri does not mention the rights of dhemmis in his fatwa,
rather, Bahaiis’ rights as citizens. This edict could potentially become a
new source of legitimacy for free thinking and secular Muslims, and
replacement of fate based rights with human rights.

Rasool Nafisi