A Childhood Memento 1- A Memoir of Dr. Baqer Aqeli

Date of Interview: 1994
The first twelve years of my life was in Pahlavi’s time. Since I was extremely intelligent and curious, I can remember many incidents, much of people’s life style and the decisions the government made in that period.
The first incident to bring pain to our home was the orders my father was given to remove his turban and change his outfit. The parliament had enacted a law called “the unity of clothing”. They only allowed a few particular people to wear clergy’s clothing. That is to say, the clergies could stay in their clothes only if they were preachers or studying Islamic Theology. My father was not one of them. What I mean is that he was a small time feudal clergyman who had done his religious studies in Najaf. After the banning of clergy clothing in public places, he refused to leave home for a very long time. Finally the government managed to convince him to join the ministry of justice. He used to put on his cloak and clogs and instead of turban he used to wear a skull cap. However, because he believed that the Islamic rules were not respected there, and that he, as a Muslim, could not do what is not allowed in Islam, he resigned after a while.  Therefore he became the headmaster of a Muslim school where he could go to classes in full clergy clothing.

Translated by: Jairan Gahan