Book review:
A Pious Fighter
Mahya Hafezi
Translated by M. B. Khoshnevisan
2023-4-11
On the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the re-establishment of Qom Seminary, the Islamic Revolution Document Center has published a collection of books. One of them under the title "A Pious Fighter" is dedicated to the oral history of the life and struggles of Ayatollah Seyyed Hassan Mousavi Shali.
This work, authored by Mohammad Kazem Ameli, describes the narrator's life, education, religious, cultural and political activities in four chapters. Ayatollah Shali is one of the fighters of the Islamic Revolution in Qazvin. His first revolutionary move was a speech on the occasion of the 15 Khordad (June 6) uprising, which led to his arrest and ban on delivering speeches. Among his other actions, we can mention the establishment of the Martyr Mustafa Khomeini Seminary in the town of Takestan, his presence in war zones during the Iraqi imposed war against Iran, the Friday prayer leader of Takestan and a representative in the Assembly of Experts for Leadership.
This research has been produced using the interviews conducted with the narrator and people who were in contact with him.
The first chapter deals with the family background and education of Ayatollah Shali in the years 1293 to 1312 (1914-1933). This chapter has started with a look at the city of Shall and Qazvin region; in continuation, it describes the narrator's family and his education in the holy cities of Najaf, Karbala and Samarra.
The book’s second chapter covers the mid-1330s (1950s) when the narrator returned to his homeland after 23 years; He has been engaged in promoting religion and strengthening seminaries in Qazvin province.
The narrator's political activities have been mentioned in the third chapter of the book. In this section, while explaining some events before the Islamic revolution, his positions and actions have also been stated. Taking a position regarding the production of a film about the biography of the Prophet (PBUH), the bill of state and provincial associations, the referendum on the six-step bills, the incident of the Faiziyeh School, the incident of 15th of Khordad (June 6) and the exile of Imam Khomeini, opposition to Jewish settlements, a statement against the Pahlavi regime, the uprising of 19th of Dey (January 10) in Qom, the uprising of 29th of Bahman (February 19)in Tabriz, the rally of 17th of Shahrivar (September 9) and the rallies of Tasua and Ashura are some of the topics that are detailed in the third chapter of the book.
The fourth chapter is dedicated to the activities of Ayatollah Shali after the victory of the Islamic Revolution. Among his other actions are the formation of the Qazvin Islamic Revolution Committee, the representative of Imam Khomeini in Takestan and the Friday prayer leader of the city, mobilization of the people for constructive jihad in deprived areas, the establishment of the branch of the Islamic Republic Party in Shall, participation in the Holy Defense, the establishment of Martyr Mustafa Khomeini Seminary in Takestan and a representative in the Assembly of Experts for Leadership.
A significant volume of the book is filled with appendices, including documents and images, which have been published after the fourth chapter. The final part of the book is bibliography (list of sources) and index (people and places).
The first edition of “A Pious Fighter” has been published in the summer of 1401(2022) in 377 pages.
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Tabas Fog
Ebham-e Tabas: Ramzgoshayi az ja’beh siah-e tahajom nezami Amrika (Tabas Fog: Decoding the Black Box of the U.S. Military Invasion) is the title of a recently published book by Shadab Asgari. After the Islamic Revolution, on November 4, 1979, students seized the US embassy in Tehran and a number of US diplomats were imprisoned. The US army carried out “Tabas Operation” or “Eagle’s Claw” in Iran on April 24, 1980, ostensibly to free these diplomats, but it failed.An Excerpt from the Memoirs of General Mohammad Jafar Asadi
As Operation Fath-ol-Mobin came to an end, the commanders gathered at the “Montazeran-e Shahadat” Base, thrilled by a huge and, to some extent, astonishing victory achieved in such a short time. They were already bracing themselves for the next battle. It is no exaggeration to say that this operation solidified an unprecedented friendship between the Army and IRGC commanders.A Selection from the Memoirs of Haj Hossein Yekta
The scorching cold breeze of the midnight made its way under my wet clothes and I shivered. The artillery fire did not stop. Ali Donyadideh and Hassan Moghimi were in front. The rest were behind us. So ruthlessly that it was as if we were on our own soil. Before we had even settled in at the three-way intersection of the Faw-Basra-Umm al-Qasr road, an Iraqi jeep appeared in front of us.Boycotting within prison
Here I remember something that breaks the continuity, and I have to say it because I may forget it later. In Evin Prison, due to the special position that we and our brothers held and our belief in following the line of Marja’eiyat [sources of emulation] and the Imam, we had many differences with the Mujahedin.
