Mahmoud Taleghani

In 1938 he went to Tehran to preach and lecture on Islam and was arrested and imprisoned the next year for opposing the regime of Reza Shah. From 1948 onwards he held classes at Hedayat Mosque in Tehran. Ayatollah Taleghani had the responsibility of educating revolutionary folks from the very beginning.[11] He traveled abroad to Jordan and Egypt in 1951 and 1952, to the Peoples Muslim Congress in Karachi, and twice to Jerusalem as the head of an Iranian delegation to the annual Islamic Congress of Quds. He supported Mohammed Mosaddeq's nationalization of the oil industry. Following the 1953 Iranian coup d'état that overthrew Mossaedegh and restored the Shah he was arrested and — according to the Islamic Republic's IRIB website — "accused of hiding Navvab Safavi, the founder and leader of the Fadayan-e Islam" Islamist assassination group.[12]

Politically active from his student days, Taleghani was a veteran in the struggle against the Pahlavi regime. He was imprisoned on several occasions over the decades, "as a young preacher, as a mid-ranking cleric, and as a senior religious leader just before the revolution,"[13] and served a total of a dozen years in prison.[14] In his time in prison he met many leftist political prisoners and "was particularly fond of talking about his interactions with leftists." The influence of the left on his thinking was reflected in his famous book Islam and Ownership (Islam va Malekiyat) which argued in support of collective ownership "as if it were an article of faith in Islam."[13] He helped found the National Resistance Movement in 1957 and along with Mehdi Bazargan, Yadollah Sahabi and Ali Shariati he founded the Iran Freedom Movement in May 1961.[15][16][17] In 1971 he exiled to Zabol, a city in Sistan and Baluchestan Province and then to Baft a city of Kerman Province.[18] Between 1964 and 1978 he spent nearly a decade in jail. Altogether he spent nearly 15 years behind bars.[6] Finally, Taleghani after the rise of the Islamic Revolution in November 1978 was released.

Although not as influential as Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, Taleghani was instrumental in "shaping the groundswell movement" that led to the Iranian Revolution and brought Khomeini to power. During the Islamic Revolution he became chairman of the "secretive" Revolutionary Council, Iran's chief ruling body — a fact not revealed until his death.[14] In order of Ayatollah Khomeini, he was the first Imam for Friday Prayer in Tehran after the fall of Iran's interim government, In the late July 1979.[18]

Taleghani was "known for his tolerance" and "served as Khomeini's mediator in disputes with the Kurds and other dissident groups."[14] He also had differences with Khomeini, which led to a clash between them in April 1979. "To popular acclaim, Taleghani warned then against a 'return to despotism.'" Two of Taleghani's sons were arrested[14] by revolutionary Guards, but thousands of his supporters marched in the streets chanting "Taleghani, you are the soul of the revolution! Down with the reactionaries!'ì" Khomeini summoned Taleghani to Qom where he was given a severe criticism after which the press was called and told by Khomeini: "Mr. Taleghani is with us and he is sorry for what happened." Khomeini pointedly did not refer to him as Ayatollah Taleghani.[19]