Gholam-Ali Haddad-Adel

Gholam-Ali Haddad-Adel (; born 9 May 1945) is an Iranian politician and former chairman of the Parliament. Haddad-Adel is a member of the Expediency Discernment Council.

He was the first non-cleric in the post since the Iranian Revolution of 1979. He was one of the candidates in the 2013 presidential election but withdrew on 10 June, four days before the election. He is part of "neo-principilist" group in the Iranian political scene.

Early life and education Haddad-Adel was born in Tehran on 9 May 1945 into a business family. He received a bachelor's degree in physics From 2008 to 2026, he served as an advisor to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.

He is also a member of the High Council of Cultural Revolution and the Expediency Discernment Council.

Speaker of Parliament As the speaker of Parliament, Haddad-Adel condemned the bombings of the al-Askari Shrine in 2006 and 2007. He added that Islamic countries must promote solidarity through guaranteeing unity and security against common enemies. In January 2008 Haddad-Adel visited Cairo for talks with then-President Hosni Mubarak, making him the first senior Iranian parliamentary official to conduct high-level talks with Egyptian counterparts after the Islamic revolution.

Presidential candidacy

In October 2012 Haddad-Adel formed a coalition named 2+1 together with Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf and Ali Akbar Velayati in October 2012, ahead of the upcoming presidential election. He withdrew his candidacy a few days before the election, and said in a statement carried by the semi-official Mehr News Agency: "With my withdrawal I ask the dear people to strictly observe the criteria of the Supreme Leader of the Revolution [Khamenei] when they vote for candidates."

He did not endorse a single candidate, but called for a hardline conservative victory. "I advise the dear people to take a correct decision so that either a conservative wins in the first round, or if the election runs to a second round, the competition between two conservatives."

President of Academy of Persian Language and Literature

Haddad-Adel is also the second president of the Academy of Persian Language and Literature. His presidency at the academy has focused on language policy and planning, and promotion of the Persian language in all domains.

Electoral history

Affiliation Haddad-Adel is a senior member in the conservative umbrella organizations Alliance of Builders of Islamic Iran, as well as the Popular Front of Islamic Revolution Forces (JAMNA) and is considered close to the Society of Devotees of the Islamic Revolution and the Society of Pathseekers of the Islamic Revolution.

Public image According to a poll conducted in March 2016 by Information and Public Opinion Solutions LLC (iPOS) among Iranian citizens, Haddad-Adel has 51% approval and 27% disapproval ratings and thus a +24% net popularity; while 13% of responders don't know him.

Views One of Haddad-Adel's most significant views has been on the hijab in western civilization. According to him in the book of The Culture of Nakedness and the Nakedness of Culture, the issue of veiling and clothing in the West is problematic. He believes that materialism is the mentality which is governed by Western culture. The culture is based on the priority of material life, with no value in anything beyond materialism. The origin of materialism as a worldview is humanism, according to the renaissance. According to Haddad-Adel, religion serves an important role in Iranian education. Referring to the dominance of religious thought in education, he pointed out that religious education is one result of the victory of the Islamic revolution. He believes that the problem of human freedom is a permanent one. The problem itself has changed with the appearance of new theories in scientific and philosophic domains, particularly in the field of anthropology. He is also an admirer of the development of non-governmental higher education, and believes that developing such schools would lead to decreased demands on the administration of education and pedagogy.

Personal life

Haddad-Adel is married to Tayyebeh Mahrouzadeh with whom he has one son and three daughters. Their daughter Zahra married Mojtaba Khamenei, the son of Ali Khamenei, Supreme Leader of Iran. This has led to the popular belief that he was among the most trusted and backed allies of Ayatollah Khamenei.

Publications Farhang-e Berahnegi va Berahnegi-e Farhangi (Culture of Nudity and Nudity of Culture), Soroush, Tehran, 1981, translated into Urdu, Arabic, and Turkish. Haj: Namaaz-e Bozorg (Hajj: the Grand Prayer), Sana, Tehran, 2000. Daaneshnaame-ye Jahaan-e Eslam (The Encyclopaedia of the world of Islam), Encyclopaedia Islamica Foundation, Volumes 2–6 (as supervisor), 1996–2001. Textbooks on sociology, social science, Civil studies and Qur'an, for high school and guidance schools. History & Histography, 2012 Tafsir: Qur'anic Exegesis, 2012 Hawza-Yi 'Ilmiyya Shi'I Teaching Institution: An Entry from Encyclopaedia of the World of Islam, 2012 Law: Selected Entries from Encyclopaedia of the World of Islam - Encyclopaedia of the World of Islam (EWI), 2013 Historians of the Islamic World, 2018 (Editor) Muslim Organisations in the Twentieth Century: Selected Entries from Encyclopaedia of the World of Islam, 2022 (Editor) Historical Sources of the Islamic World: Selected Entries from Encyclopaedia of the World of Islam - Encyclopaedia of the World of Islam (EWI), 2013 Sufism: An Entry from Encyclopaedia of the World of Islam, 2013

Translations Tamhidaat: Moghaddame-i baraaye har Maa-ba'd-ot-tabi'e-ye Aayande ke be onvaan-e yek Elm Arze Shavad, a translation of Immanuel Kant's Prolegomena to any Future Metaphysics, Iran University Press, Tehran, 1988. Nazariye-ye Ma'refat dar Falsafe-ye Kaant, a translation of Justus Hartnack's Kant's Theory of Knowledge, Fekr-e Rooz, Tehran, 2000. Translation of Quran He translated Quran to Persian. The translation of the Quran by him lasted for 9 years. He tried to use all new and old translations and consult with other scholars of the Quran during the translation. The book has been exhibited in the nineteenth international fair of the Quran in Iran. He tried to pave the way for a more easy understanding of the Quran for all. The translation of Quran according to Hadad is based on the conceptual translation. He pointed out that since many Persian people could not read very well Arabic language then he undertake the task.

In 2019, he published a travelogue titled I Went to the Desert and Found a Downpour of Love. Haddad-Adel describes his personal memories and experiences during the 2017 Arba'in trip in this book. Additionally, he provides a report on this spiritual journey, the emotions of those present at the annual ritual, and the mawkib keepers and organizers who host and assist those traveling to Imam Hussein's (AS) shrine in Karbala for the Arbaeen celebration.

Awards and recognition In 2019 the organizers of The 17th Golden Pen Awards honored Gholam-Ali Haddad-Adel as the Literary Figure of the Year.