"Government by inquisition has never been good. However, since January 1979, our country has been under the yoke of inquisitorial power. Five centuries after the Spanish Inquisition, Iran is living under the terror of a new Torquemada who is more pitiless and more sinister than its predecessor. In fact the Inquisition tribunals did not sentence men to be executed unless they were known to be heretics. They had the opportunity to recant and to repent; and they would call witnesses, which the Iranian Torquemada does not allow. The tribunals are said to be Islamic. But the truth cannot be overlooked, and genuine Islamic law insists on the right of an accused man to defend himself. Islam is never served by hatred, vengeance and murder, but by justice, goodness, forgiveness and high moral standards. This explosion of hatred, supposedly "in the name of God", is an insult to God and to our religion. And this insult, I repeat, unfortunately threatens to do great harm to Islam, just as the Inquisition did great harm to Catholicism."
Quote Details
Added by wikiquote-import-bot
Unverified quote
0 likes
Original Language: English
Available Languages (1)
Sources
Page 209
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Mohammad_Reza_Pahlavi
Revision History
No revisions have been submitted for this quote.
Categories
Mohammad Reza Pahlavi
Mohammad Rezā Shāh Pahlavi (Persian: محمدرضا شاه پهلوی, pronounced [mohæmmæd-rezɒː-ʃɒːh-e pæhlæviː]) (26 October 1919 – 27 July 1980) was the Shah of the Imperial State of Iran from 1941 until he was deposed in 1979 by the Islamic Revolution. He died in exile in Egypt. His eldest son is Reza Pahlavi.
116 quotes on TrueQuotesView all quotes by Mohammad Reza Pahlavi →
Related Quotes
"Mossadeq, the orator, is difficult to judge as a politician because of the perpetual contradictions between his words…"
"No doubt history will say that Eisenhower was a soldier. For my part, I will remember, above all, his goodness. He wa…"
"One of my chief "crimes" then, was to have wanted Iran to move from the oil age into the atomic age before it was too…"
"I did not share the enthusiasm of certain politicians for the National Front leader, it was because I had noticed, in…"
"Nikita Khruschev was a difficult man to deal with, often very hard, always determined. But his peasant side which mad…"
"All ideological differences set apart, I cannot help having a sincere admiration for Mr Brezhnev. He is to all appear…"
"My father loved us dearly and deeply. There were eleven of us and our love for him was full of admiration. We held hi…"
"The world petroleum story is one of the most inhuman known to man: in it, elementary moral and social principles are …"
"... the Jewish press in the USA is solely responsible for our poor publicity."
"Henry Kissinger is possessed of a truly superior intelligence, in addition to which he has two qualities which, unfor…"