Hussein-Ali Montazeri

Grand Ayatollah Hussein-Ali Montazeri
Montazeri in 1978
Deputy Supreme Leader of Iran
In office 10 November 1985 – 13 March 1989
Supreme Leader	Ruhollah Khomeini
Tehran's Friday Prayer Imam
In office 12 September 1979 – 14 January 1980
Appointed by	Ruhollah Khomeini
Preceded by	Mahmoud Taleghani
Succeeded by	Ali Khamenei
Chairman of the Assembly of Experts for Constitution
In office 19 August 1979 – 15 November 1979
Preceded by	Position created
Succeeded by	Position abolished
Member of the Assembly of Experts for Constitution
In office 15 August 1979 – 15 November 1979
Constituency	Tehran Province
Majority	1,672,980 (66.24%)
Personal details
Born	(1922-09-24)24 September 1922 Najafabad, Sublime State of Persia
Died	19 December 2009(2009-12-19) (aged 87) Qom, Iran
Resting place	Fatima Masumeh Shrine
Nationality	Iranian
Political party	Society of Seminary Teachers of Qom
Spouse	Mah-Sultan Rabbani ​ ​ (m. 1942⁠–⁠2009)​
Children	7, including Mohammad Montazeri
Website	https://amontazeri.com/
Personal
Religion	Islam
Denomination	Twelver Shīʿā
School	Jaʿfari
Main interest(s)	Fiqh, Irfan, Islamic philosophy, Islamic ethics, Hadith
Notable idea(s)	Guardianship of the Islamic Jurist, Islamic democracy
Alma mater	Qom Seminary
Muslim leader
Teacher	Seyyed Hossein Borujerdi Ruhollah Khomeini
Students Abdolkarim Soroush, Emadeddin Baghi, Mohsen Kadivar, Ahmad Ghabel, Hassan Yousefi Eshkevari
Post	Qom Seminary Feyziyeh Seminary

Grand Ayatollah Hussein-Ali Montazeri^[1][2] (Persian: حسینعلی منتظری‎ [hosei̯næˈliː-e montæzeˈɾiː] pronunciation^ⓘ; 24 September 1922^[3][4] – 19 December 2009) was an Iranian Shia Islamic theologian, Islamic democracy advocate, writer and human rights activist. He was one of the leaders of the Iranian Revolution and one of the highest-ranking authorities in Shīʿite Islam.^[5] He was once the designated successor to the revolution's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Khomeini, but they had a falling-out in 1989 over government policies that Montazeri claimed infringed on people's freedom and denied them their rights, especially after the 1988 mass execution of political prisoners. Montazeri spent his later years in Qom and remained politically influential in Iran, but was placed in house arrest in 1997 for questioning "the unaccountable rule exercised by the supreme leader",^[6] Ali Khamenei, who succeeded Khomeini in his stead. He was known as the most knowledgeable senior Islamic scholar in Iran^[7] and a grand marja (religious authority) of Shia Islam. Ayatollah Montazeri was said to be one of Khamenei's teachers.^[7]

For more than two decades, Hussein-Ali Montazeri was one of the main critics of the Islamic Republic's domestic and foreign policy. He had also been an active advocate of Baháʼí rights, civil rights and women's rights in Iran. Montazeri was a prolific writer of books and articles. He was a staunch proponent of an Islamic state, and he argued that post-revolutionary Iran was not being ruled as an Islamic state.