Memoirs of Akbar Hashemi – May 25, 1981

We had a public session, and the proceedings went well. The bill concerning the amendment to the service outside the Central [Medical, Dental and Pharmaceutical] Corps and the general principles of the bill on real estate transactions were approved.

At noon, the Friday prayer leader and representatives of the people of Paveh came. They had three requests: 1) amendment of Article 12 of the Constitution concerning the official recognition of Sunni Muslims, 2) preventing insults directed at Sunni figures, and 3) assistance to the Paveh Municipality.

They said that a book denigrating the Sunni imams had been published in the region, and that the author’s name was Hashemi; the counter-revolutionaries had spread the rumor that it referred to the Speaker of Parliament, which I officially denied. What disgraceful methods they use to undermine the Islamic Republic!

Messrs. Olviri, Pourmohammadi, the Revolutionary Prosecutor of Masjed Soleyman, and Bahadori came and consulted about whether Mr. Bahadori should go to India or run as a candidate in Masjed Soleyman. He is an interesting young man.

At night, I attended a meeting of the preachers of Tehran at Martyr Motahari Mosque. There were about fifty people. It was a good meeting. I spoke about the importance of the Islamic Revolution and the fact that, for the first time, a Shiite Islamic government based on the principle of the Guardianship of the Islamic Jurist and Islamic laws, with Islamic jurisprudence as the governing authority, had been established. I said that this is precisely where the root of our differences with the liberals lies: they do not accept our jurisprudence or the Guardianship of the Islamic Jurist. Serious conflicts began after the Constitution was drafted. I cited examples from statements made by Bani-Sadr, Bazargan, and others.

Dinner was served at the same gathering, and I came home late. Television was broadcasting a debate among Messrs. Beheshti, Peyman, and Kianouri, and [Farrokh Negahdar, Abdolkarim Soroush, and Ayatollah Mesbah]. I stayed awake until 1:15 a.m.