Akbar Hashemi's Memoirs - January 26, 2000 - Reactions and Discussions on the Clemency Request and Release of Gholamhossein Karbaschi in the Press

Opening the congress “Government in the Thought of the Leader of the Revolution.”

Attending the session of the Supreme Council of the Management of Qom Seminary.

Receiving updates on the publication process of Tafsir Rahnama.

Meeting with Sheikh Hussein al-Mu’ayyad, an Iraqi Shiite cleric who later, in 2005, converted to Sunni Islam, and narrating a dream he shared.

The release of Gholamhossein Karbaschi and the surrounding reactions in the media.

The fall of two approximately 200-kilogram ice chunks from the sky in the Kojour region of Mazandaran.

At 6:30 in the morning, we departed for Qom and arrived at 8:30 AM at Qom University. In the Mofid Hall, the congress on "Government in the Thought of Imam" was held. I delivered an extensive opening speech, explaining the role of the people in Islamic governance.

We then proceeded to the Feyziyeh School, where I attended a session of the Supreme Council of the Management of the Seminary. Messrs. [Hossein] Rasti [Kashani, head of the Supreme Council of Qom Seminary], [Seyed Hashem Hosseini] Bushehri, [Director of the Management Center of Qom Seminary], and [Mohammad Ali] Sharaei [Director of the Management Center of Women’s Seminaries] provided reports.

Qom has about 36,000 male students, 8,000 female students, and thousands of foreign students, with 6,000 students under the new program. Female students do not receive stipends. They proposed amendments to the resolution of the Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution regarding the formal recognition of seminary studies, and they are working on revising the curriculum.

We then visited the Office of Islamic Propagation. After prayers, lunch, and some rest, we met with working groups related to Tafsir Rahnama, the Culture of the Quran, and the Biography of the Imams.

Messrs. Saeed Bahmani [Deputy Director of the Center for Quranic Culture and Knowledge], Mohammad Moradi [Project Manager for the Culture of the Quran], and Seyed Hassan Mousavi [Head of Indexing at the Center] reported on the progress. Nine volumes of my Tafsir have been published, with three more ready for print. Thirty volumes will be completed by next year, and about one million index cards have been completed and are being entered into the computer.

Mr. [Hussein] Mu’ayyad, a scholar from Iraq who teaches around 600 students in Qom, brought his books and mentioned that he had a dream in which I handed him a letter with a green seal, under which was written: "Leader of the People."

At 4:00 PM, we headed back to Tehran, with light rain in parts of the journey.

I arrived at my office by sunset, completed some work by 6:30, and then returned home. It is still raining. The release of Mr. [Gholamhossein] Karbaschi [Secretary-General of the Executives of Construction Party] has received widespread attention in both domestic and foreign media, with some left-leaning newspapers criticizing his request for clemency.

In Kojour, Noor in Mazandaran, two 200-kilogram ice chunks fell from the sky today, and the cause is still unknown. In the British Parliament, a mouse caused chaos and disrupted the session's order.