Kazem Seddiqi

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Kazem Seddiqi
Tehran's Ephemeral Friday Prayer Imam
Assumed office
1 August 2009
Appointed byAli Khamenei
Personal details
Born (1951-03-04) March 4, 1951 (age 73)
Abhar, Imperial State of Iran

Kazem Seddiqi (Persian: کاظم صدیقی, born 4 March 1951, sometimes with the honorific Ayatollah, and surname anglicised as Sedighi) is an Iranian Shia scholar and Mujtahid currently serving as Tehran's Friday Prayer Temporary Imam. A rival of President Ahmadinejad, Seddiqi was appointed as interim Friday prayers leader for Tehran by Ayatollah Khamenei in 1 August 2009. The New York Times characterized the appointment as part of an effort to "reinforce [Khamenei's] authority by cultivating divisions between factions" following the controversial June presidential election.[1]

Among the targets of criticism in Seddiqi's khutbahs have been "certain regional countries for `supporting` the leader of the Jundallah terrorist group, Abdolmalek Rigi",[2] the United States President Barack Obama for showing his "ugly face" by preparing a new slate of sanctions against Iran,[3] and women who wear immodest clothing and behave promiscuously, which Seddiqi claims causes earthquakes to occur.[4][5] In response to the latter statement, hundreds of thousands of women around the world, organized through social-networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter, declared April 26, 2010, to be "Boobquake day", in which they all agreed to wear immodest clothing on the same day.[6]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Slackman, Michael (2009-08-27). "Ayatollah Ali Khamenei Softens Accusations Against Reformists in Iran". The New York Times. Retrieved 2010-08-16.
  2. ^ Iranian cleric condemns Rigi sponsors[permanent dead link], 5 March 2010 by İslâmi Davet
  3. ^ Iranians not scared of Obama ‘threats’, says cleric[permanent dead link], 21 November 2009 by İslâmi Davet
  4. ^ Iran: Fashion That Moves the Earth By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS, April 19, 2010
  5. ^ Promiscuous women cause earthquakes, claims Iranian cleric, The Independent, 28 May 2015.
  6. ^ Pat Pilcher (26 April 2010). "Islamic cleric causes Boobquake". The New Zealand Herald.

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