An effective way employed by the imperialist world’s intelligence services, especially of British MI6, US CIA, and Zionists’ Mossad to weaken Islam has been sowing discord among Islamic denominations. Establishment and support of extremist Sunni groups, so-called Wahhabi-Takfirist groups along with the same plan for Shia extremists inside Iran, Iraq, and other countries in the region has been among the many approaches in line with the anti-Islamic master plan.
The Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran has criticized the trend; “we would not recognize as genuine a Shia circle with roots in London; this is not the Shiism the Imams (sa) propagated and supported its growth; a Shiism which hinges upon the sectarian strife, and which paves the grounds for Islam’s enemies is not Shiism proper, but a heresy,” the Leader had told in an occasion.
To give our readers a better view of Ayatollah Sadiq Shirazi’s circle and its British script of the denomination, Mehr News Political Service asked Ayatollah Mohsen Araki. He has criticized Ayatollah Shirazi’s circle, which garnered angry response by the media supporting and advocating Shirazi’s reading of the Shia teachings.
“I told the media my criticism of the circle out of a sense of duty, and I predicted such hostile reactions; however, for a cleric with 45 years of presence in the frontlines and who had had his life exposed to grave threats in this path, such reactions would not matter even a bit,” told Ayatollah Araki to Mehr News.
“Shirazi’s circle is a well-organized political party which seeks specific objectives; it presents its political objectives in a coating of popular religious propaganda, and in this path, it has behind itself the support of the forces beyond the region; I would provide the incontrovertible evidence for this claim, which our intelligence machinery had recorded; the evidence would be divulged anytime the expediencies rule,” he added.
Ayatollah Araki ensured that the evidence showed Saudi Arabia provided support for Shirazi’s circle; “we have precise evidence that Sunni majority Saudi Arabia, which is a self-avowed enemy of the Shiism, has its own special network which act as mediators between Shirazi’s circle and the kingdom,” he asserted.
Ayatollah Araki however downplayed the prestige and popularity of the circle among the seminary school students; “despite all the resources and lavish payments, the circle has completely failed to educate a scientific figure which would be called, in the tradition of the seminary schools, a qualified person by standards of fiqh,” he told Mehr News.
Former head of London Islamic Center then elaborated on the theoretical and practical foundations of the circle; “on both theory and practice, the circle’s teachings are diagonally opposed to the very concept of unity of Muslims; the circle has its own specific positions on grand issues of the Islamic world including the issue of Palestine and recognition of Zionist state; the circle’s major concerns lies not in fighting with the Britain, the US, and their vassal states in the region; rather, they see the situation and the status quo natural and favorable,” Ayatollah Araki said.
“Seyed Sadiq Shirazi himself lacks the qualities and the scientific requirements of a figure who would be of specific opinions in Islamic fiqh; his seminary education belies his calling as a mujtahid (one who analyzes the whole sunna and the scriptures to arrive at specific solutions); their very feat has been to collect a heterogeneous mixture of figures who are of only modest claim in Islamic seminary lore, but who are very adept in rituals and arising the pathetic feelings of the masses,” Ayatollah Araki asserted.
Ayatollah Araki believed that his critiques leveled against the circle had found reverberations beyond the immediate borders of Iran and proved effective in shedding some light in the dark and unknown parts of Shirazi’s circle; “the group is only a disparate and isolated group among the multitude of the pious believers; the indications that they depend on foreign sources are too manifest and would need not much examination; they act according to British policies to the point; since long, the British had been active in creating fake denominations out of the belly of other major denominations; for example, they supported and fostered Bahá'í sect, who found Palestine a proper place for their headquarters when the land was a British protectorate,” he detailed.
“Wahhabism is also such a product by the British to further weaken Islam; quite recently, the British has brazenly supported and provided resources for Ahmad Hassan al-Yamani, the new pretender to be Messiah; we have also evidence showing that other intelligence agencies, that is, CIA and Mossad, also are very active; the mercenary underground groups of these intelligence giants have extensive networks, who wields strong leverage across Iraq,” Ayatollah Araki added. “When in Britain, I received reports of the mercenary group’s successful recruitment of Shia and Sunni young people for their intelligence operations; it was obvious that the government was supporting specific groups in university mosques and other worship places; this is carried out according to a systematic plan; this is the very nature of British Shiism; it is supported and managed by the government intelligence machinery; other Shias also live in Britain, who actually find it implantable when they see some circles have government support behind themselves,” he said.
“Of the circles now under the auspices of the British, to which belong Shirazis, Yasser al-Habib, and Allahyari (little known however), only Shirazi’s circle enjoy organization and systematic work; both Shia and Sunni Islam suffer two issues; extremist factions inside Shia and Sunni traditions; the second issue relates to their deployment in line with foreign objectives; the latter is more dangerous, and is a venue the British and the US scored some level of success; a parallel is evident in ISIL being covertly supported by the same intelligence systems; this accounts for the fact that ISIL has been more dangerous among the host of many cruel extremist Sunni factions operating in Syria and Iraq; a cabal of 10 but well-organized people would prove more dangerous than tens of loose groups lacking systematic hierarchy,” he added.
“Shirazi’s circle has poor social status; however, a number of factors makes it of a grave threat; first is the media empire which serves the circle; of the so-called Congress-approved millions of dollars allocated to fighting groups with the Islamic Republic, Shirazi’s circle enjoyed lump sums to establish and run its media network; the US officials once had admitted supporting extremist groups from inside Shia communities; the circle now runs more than 20 satellite-broadcast TV networks along with social network accounts; the second is their discipline and accuracy in action; and the third is unlimited financial sources it receives,” Ayatollah Araki detailed about the group.
“Shirazi’s circle has little influence in the seminary schools; young seminary students would little know the group, and could potentially be exposed to the theoretical line of the group; our caveat serve this cohort of seminary students,” told Secretary-General of WFPIST. “The first indication is their roundly opposing Muslim unity; for example, they hold a Week of Disavowal of Pagans instead of Week of Unity, or Seyed Sadiq Shirazi was said issuing a statement where he demanded that in this year’s Ramadan, support the Shrine of Shia 9th and 10th Imams (Asgariyein) instead of supporting or rallying for Quds; these clearly belie their highly dissenting line of thought,” Ayatollah Araki told Mehr News.
Interview by: Sina Sanjari
End of Part One
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