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Iranian ethics professor Ayatollah Mahmoud Amjad said in a video he uploaded to his Instagram account on December 15, 2020 that Shiite religious scholars and Iran's Islamic regime have betrayed and oppressed the people. He said that the scholars, particularly Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, must repent and return to God, because their actions show that they are not truly men of God. Ayatollah Amjad also said that Iranian journalist Ruhollah Zam, who was recently executed by the Iranian regime, is a martyr.
Mahmoud Amjad: "Our problem as [religious scholars], who don turbans, is that we think we are the chosen people and that everything we say is the word of God and the Prophet, so people must listen to us without hesitation. This is a huge mistake.
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"For 40 years, these poor people who have sacrificed so much... Great people, people from all walks of life, have been sacrificed. They have given their lives and more... They have dedicated everything to this regime, but through our ugly acts, we have betrayed them rather than served them.
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"Silence in the face of oppression is betrayal. So many crimes and evil actions have been perpetrated. People tell me not to call Ruhollah [Zam] a martyr. No! I refer to him as the martyr Ruhollah, and so should you, not just as a figure of speech, but because [he] was killed as an oppressed person. Any person who is killed in a state of oppression, or who is killed while defending his family's honor or his goals, is a martyr! I refer to everyone who has been killed over the last 40 years as a martyr.
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"We are hated by God, by the Prophet, by the Quran, and by everyone, yet we think we are superior. We must return to God!
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"I am surprised by our actions, and by everybody's actions. How could they execute an oppressed young man [Ruhollah Zam] yet we do not flinch, yet we are not saddened? We have become so numb.
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"Mr. Khamenei must give up on his tyranny. All the blood that has been spilled and all the people who have been killed since [the election riots in] 2009 – Mr. Khamenei, you are responsible! I hope that it is God's plan for you to repent. You know that we do not wish ill upon anyone – rather, we want what is best for all.
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"This country is full of crimes, and those who remain silent have no excuse. What are you afraid of? Nobody can kill you, be sure. And if they kill you, so they kill you – is your blood worth more than the blood of Imam Hussein?
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"Allah willing, so long as [Khamenei] is alive, we hope that he truly repents, and may his repentance result in people having freedom of expression, in people living in prosperity, and in the renewal of the constitution.
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"At the end of the day, we are all to blame, from the top all the way to the bottom. In Najaf, in Karbala, in the seminaries there, in Mashhad, in Qom, in all the seminaries, all the senior clerics, all the people at the universities... We are all to blame, and we have no excuse before God. What are we afraid of?
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"The Revolution didn't take place so that we could betray [the people] once the power is in our hands. We got the power so we could serve [the people].
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"We hope that while Mr. Khamenei is alive, he will have a change of heart and will help people. For 40 years, people have been embroiled [in difficulties]. They have problems, that they have endured, and their patience has run out. People do not view the religious scholars like they used to. In their eyes, we are pickpockets and thieves, who are embedded in the [material] world. This is what they have understood, and this is what our actions show. Our actions show that we are the people of the [material] world, and not people of God."
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