Forqan Group () was an Iranian militant opposition group. It had a

clandestine cell system A clandestine cell system is a method for organizing a group of people, such as resistance fighters, spies, mercenaries, organized crime members, or terrorists, to make it harder for police, military or other hostile groups to catch them. In ...

, and had a

Shia Shia Islam is the second-largest branch of Islam. It holds that Muhammad designated Ali ibn Abi Talib () as both his political successor (caliph) and as the spiritual leader of the Muslim community (imam). However, his right is understood ...

anti-clerical Islamist ideology. Forqan assassinated senior Iranian officials including Gen. Valiollah Qarani,

Morteza Motahari Morteza Motahhari (; 31 January 1919 – 1 May 1979) was an Iranian Twelver Shia scholar, philosopher, lecturer. Motahhari is considered to have an important influence on the ideologies of the Islamic Republic, among others. He was a co-found ...

Mohammad Mofatteh Mohammad Mofatteh (; 17 June 1928 – 18 December 1979) was an Iranian philosopher, theologian, and political activist. He was a Twelver Shia ayatollah and an important figure in the 1979 Iranian revolution, leading religious and anti-monarchist a ...

and Mohammad Ali Qazi Tabatabaei. It also attempted to assassinate future Supreme Leader Khamenei in 1981. The primary motive behind these assassinations was Forqan's rejection of the ayatollahs, whom they considered "reactionary clerics." The group became defunct following the arrest and execution of its key members in 1980. The Forqan Group opposed other social sectors such as the "wealthy ''

bazaari Bazaari ( Persian: بازاری) is the merchant class and workers of bazaars, the traditional marketplaces of Iran. Bazaari are involved in "petty trade of a traditional, or nearly traditional, kind, centered on the bazaar and its Islamic cultur ...

s''", the "liberal politicians" and the "Marxist atheists" who, in their view, "were plotting to betray the

Islamic Revolution The Iranian Revolution (, ), also known as the 1979 Revolution, or the Islamic Revolution of 1979 (, ) was a series of events that culminated in the overthrow of the Pahlavi dynasty in 1979. The revolution led to the replacement of the Im ...

". The group self-proclaimed to be followers of

Ali Shariati Ali Shariati Mazinani (, 23November 193318June 1977) was an Iranian revolutionary and sociologist who specialised in the sociology of religion. He is regarded as one of the most influential Iranian intellectuals of the 20th century. He has be ...

, however, according to Ronen Cohen, the claim was used instrumentally to look more "prestigious" and allow them to develop their combined ideology.

Etymology

'' A Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic'' describes "" as a meaning "criterion" or "standard".

Uri Rubin Uri Rubin (; 1944 – 26 October 2021) was an Israeli academic who was a professor in the Department of Arabic and Islamic Studies at Tel Aviv University. His areas of research were early Islam (with special emphasis on the ''Qur'an''), ''Qur'an ...

introduced Forqan as one of the names of the Quran. The root of this word means "separate". In the ''

History of the Prophets and Kings The ''History of the Prophets and Kings'' ( ''Tārīkh al-Rusul wa al-Mulūk''), more commonly known as ''Tarikh al-Tabari'' () or ''Tarikh-i Tabari'' or ''The History of al-Tabari '' () is an Arabic-language historical chronicle completed by the ...

'' and '' Tafsir al-Razi'' the root of this word means "God's separating or distinguishing between truth and falsehood, defined as f-r-q".

History

The Forqan group was an Islamic Shia group that promoted a view of Islam that opposes the existence of religious clergy. Most of its members came from a lower middle-class background, with a large portion originating from Qolhak in the northern part of Tehran. According to the

Shariati Ali Shariati Mazinani (, 23November 193318June 1977) was an Iranian revolutionary and sociologist who specialised in the sociology of religion. He is regarded as one of the most influential Iranian intellectuals of the 20th century. He has be ...

thought, the rule of the unity of

God In monotheistic belief systems, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. In polytheistic belief systems, a god is "a spirit or being believed to have created, or for controlling some part of the un ...

forms the basic element of an equal and just society in the tradition of the Islamic prophet

Muhammad Muhammad (8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious and political leader and the founder of Islam. Muhammad in Islam, According to Islam, he was a prophet who was divinely inspired to preach and confirm the tawhid, monotheistic teachings of A ...

. He believed that

the Twelve Imams The Twelve Imams (, '; , ') are the spiritual and political successors to the Islamic prophet Muhammad in the Twelver branch of Shia Islam, including that of the Alawite and Alevi. According to Twelver theology, the Twelve Imams are exemplary ...

(not

Rashidun The Rashidun () are the first four caliphs () who led the Muslim community following the death of Muhammad: Abu Bakr (), Umar (), Uthman (), and Ali (). The reign of these caliphs, called the Rashidun Caliphate (632–661), is considered i ...

except

Ali Ali ibn Abi Talib (; ) was the fourth Rashidun caliph who ruled from until his assassination in 661, as well as the first Shia Imam. He was the cousin and son-in-law of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. Born to Abu Talib ibn Abd al-Muttalib an ...

) are the real successors of Muhammad and they tried to make an equal society. He considered

Shia Islam Shia Islam is the second-largest Islamic schools and branches, branch of Islam. It holds that Muhammad in Islam, Muhammad designated Ali ibn Abi Talib () as both his political Succession to Muhammad, successor (caliph) and as the spiritual le ...

above all ideologies and religions, but believed clerics should not have key political positions. Akbar Goodarzi was affected by the revolutionary thought of Shariati and authored an interpretation of the

Quran The Quran, also Romanization, romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a Waḥy, revelation directly from God in Islam, God (''Allah, Allāh''). It is organized in 114 chapters (, ) which ...

named "monotheistic ideology." Shariati believed in Islam without clerics, similar to

Abul A'la Maududi Abul A'la al-Maududi (; – ) was an Islamic scholar, Islamist ideologue, Muslim philosopher, jurist, historian, journalist, activist, and scholar active in British India and later, following the partition, in Pakistan. Described by Wilfred C ...

's ideas but Goodarzi was more fanatical than Shariati and in 1970 the Forqan group was founded by Goodarzi. Another person who had important effect on forming the ideology of the Forqan group was Habibollah Ashouri, a disgruntled cleric. The climax of the Forqan group's activities came in the early days after the

1979 Iranian revolution The Iranian Revolution (, ), also known as the 1979 Revolution, or the Islamic Revolution of 1979 (, ) was a series of events that culminated in the overthrow of the Pahlavi dynasty in 1979. The revolution led to the replacement of the Impe ...

. By early 1980, the group was effectively eliminated due to a series of arrests.

Activities

The Forqan group claimed responsibility for a number of assassinations during the 1979 Revolution, including: Mohammad Taghi Haji Tarkhani,

Abbas Amir-Entezam Abbas Amir-Entezam (, 18 August 1932 – 12 July 2018) was an Iranian politician who served as deputy prime minister in the Interim Cabinet of Mehdi Bazargan in 1979. In 1981 he was sentenced to life imprisonment on charges of spying for the U.S ...

, Seyed Razi Shirazi, Seyed Mohsen Behbahani, Hosein Mahdian, Mahdi Iraqi, Hesam Iraqi, Mohammad Baqir Dashtianeh, Hans Joachim Leib, Mohammad Ali Qazi Tabatabaei,

, Javad Bahmani, Asghar Nemati, Faqih Imani, Qasim Rouhani,

Mohammad-Vali Gharani Mohammad-Vali Gharani () (1913–23 April 1979) was an Iranian military officer. He was born in Tehran in 1913. He graduated from the Officers' Academy and the War College. In 1950 he joined the Imperial Army and was promoted to the rank of colo ...

, and

Morteza Motahhari Morteza Motahhari (; 31 January 1919 – 1 May 1979) was an Iranian Twelver Shia scholar, philosopher, lecturer. Motahhari is considered to have an important influence on the ideologies of the Islamic Republic, among others. He was a co-found ...

. The assassination attempts on prominent Iranians such as Ahmad Ladjevardi,

Ali Khamenei Ali Hosseini Khamenei (; born 19 April 1939) is an Iranian cleric and politician who has served as the second supreme leader of Iran since 1989. He previously served as the third President of Iran, president from 1981 to 1989. Khamenei's tenure ...

and

Abdul-Karim Mousavi Ardebili Sayyid Abdolkarim Mousavi Ardebili (, 28 January 1926 – 23 November 2016) was an Iranian reformist politician and Twelver shi'a marja. Political career Ardebili was a supporter of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini and was a friend of his. He made sp ...

are also attributed to the Forqan group. The assassinations usually were carried out by shooting from speeding motorcycles.

References

Bibliography

* {{refend Anti-clerical parties Islamic terrorism Militant opposition to the Islamic Republic of Iran Organisations designated as terrorist by Iran Organisations of the Iranian Revolution Terrorism in Iran

Etymology

History

Activities

See also

References

Bibliography