TEHRAN, Iran (Reuters) - Iranian philosopher Abdolkarim Soroush is testing the limits of freedom of expression in the Islamic republic by declaring that no one, including the ruling Muslim clergy, should be above criticism or the law.
Soroush, 46, has been fired from his job, banned from lecturing and beaten up by hardline Islamic militants for daring to question the Iranian form of Islamic government. But he is sticking to his guns and told Reuters in an interview he was optimistic in the long term.
"There is no single God-given shape for Islamic government. You can have many other forms," he said, challenging what he called one of Iran's many taboos just as Muslim leaders arrived in Tehran for an Islamic Conference summit.
Soroush said the system of "velayat-e faqih," rule by a supreme religious legal scholar, introduced for Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini after the 1979 Islamic revolution, is an anachronism which should evolve over time toward a sort of constitutional monarchy.
"I don't mind who is the leader. All I am concerned about is that the leader should not be above criticism," he said, fiddling with green worry beads in his office overlooking a leafy garden at the Iranian Philosophical Society.
"Nothing is sacred in human society. All of us are fallible human beings. Though religion itself is sacred, its interpretation is not sacred and therefore it is criticizable, modifiable, refinable, redefinable," he said.
"All I am saying is that the clergy, the intellectuals, the learned men who understand and interpret religion -- their understanding is not above criticism. They are not prophets, they are not God."
Such outspoken views have triggered physical attacks by street gangs of the extreme-right Ansar-e Hezbollah (helpers of the Party of God) on Soroush and his supporters.
Last month, the militants prevented him from lecturing at Tehran's Amir Kabir University and beat up students who had invited him to speak.
"I am living in limbo with no job, no right to speech and no security," he said.
Soroush distinguished between his own views and criticism of supreme Islamic leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei by veteran Ayatollah Hossein-Ali Montazeri, who was the chosen successor of Khomeini until he fell from grace after criticizing human rights abuses.
"Montazeri is a supporter, a creator, indeed an initiator of velayat-e faqih. His main objection is not to the concept but to the person," the dissident philosopher said. "My question is not the who but the how."
"I'm not saying the constitution has to be rewritten but the dominant tendency in society is toward limiting velayat-e faqih in practice. I think that by-and-by, people will ignore it. The office of leader will become more restricted and observe the law rather than be above it," he said.
After studying at London University, Soroush returned to Iran after the revolution and was appointed by Khomeini to the Council for Cultural Revolution, serving for four years. He says his views on Islamic government have matured since then.
He said that despite good intentions, freedom of expression had improved little since the landslide presidential election victory of a relatively liberal clergyman, Mohammad Khatami, in May.
Soroush called Khatami a friend but said "I avoid him and he avoids me, and we had better not be seen in public. It might harm him."
A few more newspapers and magazines have been authorized, but universities were still under the thumb of the conservative clergy and lecturers' opinions and personal background were thoroughly vetted before they could get a job.
"In this country, we have a band of fascists who call their enemies liberals. Well, if being liberal means not being a fascist and believing in social and political liberties, yes, I am a liberal," Soroush said.
"There may well be a second repression, but in the long run they will not succeed, because we have the election behind us."
Although banned from campuses, radio and television, he continues to publish articles in a monthly magazine and philosophy books which average 20,000 copies sold -- a huge circulation by academic standards in Iran.
The authorities forced him to insert an article criticizing his views in his last book as a condition for publication. "It is like an illegitimate child in the womb of my book," he complained.
While he remains outspoken, Soroush says he is taking increasing precautions for his own safety, varying his working hours and his route to work.