Mohandes Abdol-Ali Bazargan

 

The elder son of Mehdi Bazargan, the late Prime Minister of Iran, Mohandes Abdol-Ali Bazargan was born in 1944 in Tehran.

 

Although an architect by trade, Mr. Bazargan's long religious and political activities date back to early 60's with his membership in the National Front's Youth Group while still in high school.  A couple of years later he helped found the Islamic Student Association of Shahid Beheshti University (then, known as the National University of Iran).  But, his political activities did not end there.  Mr. Bazargan subsequently signed up and remained an active member of various Islamic and progressive movements including the political wing of Iran's Freedom Movement since 1975.  Some of those activities did not sit well with those in government earning him multiple convictions in Iranian military and revolutionary courts (both before and after the revolution) costing him between 4 months and 2 years prison sentences in 1972 and 1991, respectively.

 

Equally, if not more so, important in Mohandes Bazargan's life has been his dedication to the study and research of the Qur'an, Islam's holy book.  In addition to working closely with the late Dr. Ali Shariati in conjunction with his famous Qur'anic lessons at Hosseinieh Ershaad Center (1970-73) Mohandes Abdol-Ali has participated in countless religious seminars and conferences as a main speaker both in Iran and abroad, as well as published no less than 19 major research works about the Holy Qur'an and Islam in general since 1976 which should give some indication of just how extensive his devotion to the subject matter has been over the years.  

 

A partial list of Mohandes Bazargan's book includes, Select Words from the Holy Qur'an (1979), Islamic Ethics in Political Relations (1980), God's Rule in Government of the People (1980), Split in the Nation of Unity (1983), Freedom in Qur'an (1984), The Perfect Human (1987), and Tales of the Pioneers (2004). 

 

Mr. Bazargan currently resides in California with his wife and three children where in addition to his work as a consultant in a design and construction engineering firm, he has a very busy teaching schedule in local Islamic centers, including IMAN Center (Los Angeles), IBN SINA (Orange County) and TOHEED (San Jose) on a weekly basis.  In addition, as an extremely popular scholar, Mohandes Bazargan occasionally engages in his highly sough-after national speaking tours whenever his busy schedule allows him to do so.

 

His latest published article, a scholarly response to Pope Benedict VI's recent controversial speech about Islam, has been a subject of worldwide discussion and ought to be on everyone's recommended reading list.