New Owners: Golders Green Hippodrome

Research into the Hippodrome’s new owners reveals extremism and antisemitism.

Executive Summary

• The Hussainiyat Al-Rasool Al-Adham is a Shia community based in the iconic Golders Green Hippodrome on North End Road, London NW11 7RP UK
• It is a community whose spiritual guide / marja is entirely voluntary and this Hussainiya group has chosen as their guides the Shirazi Clan of Karbala / Iraq based in Qom / Iran
  

Penetration

The Shirazis have a worldwide penetration for their ideology via 19 satellite channels broadcasting in Persian, Arabic, English and Turkish like Shia waves in English, Khadija TV based in Peterborough UK and Al-Zahrah in Harrow UK

Extremism

The Shirazis are extremists by any standard and collaborators with designated groups such as Hezbollah as well as with the Khomeini regime.

Antisemitism and radicalisation

 There is evidence that the Shirazis are radicalising the Shia in Britain

1. entrenching both traditional and modern hatred of Jews
2. promoting conspiracy theories and antisemitic tropes
3. nurturing the perception of non-Muslims as ‘impure’
4. advocating extreme self-flagellation rituals including bloodletting
5. stoking distrust and hatred of Britain

Research

There is now research that supplies the first study of the background to the Shia Hussainiya purchasers of the Golders Green Hippodrome.

The Shia in Britain are small in number, and vastly outnumbered by the Sunnis. But the extremism and worldwide reach of the Shirazi spiritual guides signals that they will not remain quiescent for long.

Markaz El-Tathgheef El-Eslami /  Hussainiyat Al-Rasool Al-Adham

In July 2017, the Golders Green Hippodrome Theatre was sold to a Shia organisation at auction by an evangelical organisation named the El Shaddai International Christian Centre. El Shaddai had bought the lease of the Grade II Listed building from the BBC for £5m in 2007.[1] According to a theatre guide:[2]

“An orthodox Jewish group were interested to convert the building into a place of worship and another bid came from a company who wanted to use the venue for IT and media purposes. Both bids failed as the planning applications at that time stipulated the building should be retained for entertainment use… A condition of the sale was that some live entertainment should be provided. Unfortunately, that never happened and they did not take care of the building and it began to fall into a state of disrepair. In the summer of 2017 the church had vacated the building and it was ‘For Sale’. In October 2017 plans were proposed to convert the theatre into a mosque which didn’t go down well with the local population in this mainly Jewish area.”

The Shia purchasers operate a charity, madrassa and Islamic centre, under three names:

Charity:
Markaz El-Tathgheef El-Eslami (Centre for Islamic Enlightening).[3] The charity was registered with the Charity Commission in 1989 (number 328364).

Madrassa:
Anjuman-E-Farogh-e-Aza,[4] which is an affiliate of the Muslim Council of Britain.[5]

Islamic centre:
Hussainiyat Al-Rasool Al-Adham. [6]  A Hussainiya, named after Imam Hussain, is a Shia congregation hall. This Hussainiya was first set up in a flat in Edgware Road in 1986, until a warehouse in Cricklewood Lane was purchased a decade later.[7] It is operated by the Jaafari Shia Twelver sect.[8] ‘Twelver’ refers to its adherents’ belief in twelve divinely ordained imams, and their belief that the last Imam lives in occultation and will reappear as the promised Mahdi. An archived Hussainiya website states that its community is “comprised primarily, but not exclusively, of Middle Eastern Arabs and a smaller ratio of Iranians”, and provides programmes for youths and seniors, a library, and other activities.[9]

(The centre will henceforth be referred to as the Hussainiya.)

Hussainiya: websites
The Hussainiya in Cricklewood Lane operated two websites under different names — both of which have been merged and now switch automatically to the new centre in Golders Green. The previous websites are available on the archives:

• Archived pages available from 2015: http://rasoolaladham.com

https://web.archive.org/web/*/http://rasoolaladham.com

• Archived pages available from 2005: karbala-london.com

https://web.archive.org/web/20050215000000*/www.karbala-london.com

E-mail: Karbala_london@hotmail.com

• Current Hussainiya one-page website: https://rasoolaladham.com/

Hussainiya charity: statutory inquiry opened by Charity Commission
In June 2014, the Charity Commission opened a statutory inquiry into Markaz El-Tathgheef  El-Eslami. The Charity Commission said it would investigate regulatory concerns about transactions between the Hussainiya and a company which operates a TV station and was in voluntary liquidation. The inquiry is expected to examine the Hussainiya’s financial administration, governance, and compliance with charity law.[10]

The Hussainiya had donated £290,000 to the Ahlebait TV Network (a non-charitable company), in addition to loans. The Hussainiya’s September 2009 accounts provide details of loans to Ahlebait and say that Hashim Raza, the director of Ahlebait, is the son of the Hussainiya trustee Hassan Raza.[11]

Hussainiya charity: accounts and purchase of new property in Golders Green
The Hussainiya’s September 2016 accounts show that it received £76,881 in donations (p 3).[12] The Hussainiya’s main asset was a property at the “rear of” 120 Cricklewood Lane, Willesden Green, London NW2 2DP,[13] which the Hussainiya valued at £470,905 (p 8).[14]

The Hussainiya said the “freehold property” was sold in January 2017 for £4,508,000, nearly ten times the stated value in September 2016 (p 9).[15] (The title deed number of the Hussainiya property in Cricklewood Lane is AGL62589.)

In July 2017, the Hussainiya purchased the Golders Green Hippodrome in North End Road, London NW11 7RP, [16] for £5.25m,[17] and released a promotional video of the new centre.[18]

The Hussainiya’s Cricklewood site was purchased by Cricklewood Developments Limited.[19] In December 2014, Cricklewood Developments Limited also purchased 120-132 Cricklewood Lane (comprising 19,150 sq ft) for £3.5m.[20] It should be noted that a council planning document dated 1 February 2016 document refers to a larger property, 112-132 Cricklewood Lane, and not 120-132 Cricklewood Lane.[21]

Hussainiya’s new centre: Golders Green Hippodrome

 

Mosque or Islamic centre?
The Hussainiya spokesman, Ahmad Alkazemi, said the £4.5m generated from the sale of their Cricklewood centre, along with their reserves, enabled them to purchase the Hippodrome building at auction for £5.25m;[22] he noted that they have a shortfall of £400,000 – after taking into account legal expenses and the cost of minor renovation work.[23]

Ahmad Alkazemi maintains that the Hippodrome building is not a mosque but an Islamic centre, as the term ‘mosque’ confers restrictions on who could use the building,[24] and on who may enter the building and the type of events which can be held.[25] However, in a fundraising video, Ahmad Alkazemi himself said: “We have different projects for this place, as a community, as Al-Rasool Al-Adham mosque centre, a religious centre and so on”.[26] He added that they have “some shared programmes” with the Afghan community.

A Hussainiya member has said the Hippodrome will be “amongst the largest mosques in Europe”;[27] and the Guardian asserts that the Hussainiya submitted a planning application to Barnet council for the venue to be used as a Muslim community centre and mosque.[28]

In a fundraising video, a Hussainiya official says that the Hippodrome will be “a school, a propagation of true Islam, and to teach people about the great revolution of Hussain”.[29] According to a young Hussainiya member, “we were hitting a wide white audience just through this one place”.[30] A senior cleric says other Shia centres also commemorate Muharram and other occasions, but the success of the Hussainiya was due to the fact that it was “the only centre which would focus and practice all of the Hussaini rituals fully”.[31]

Number of worshippers:
Ahmad Alkazemi said the number of worshippers he expects at major religious festivals will vary: “For Ramadan or Eid it could be between 300 and 500 people, but most of the time it won’t be that many.”[32] In the fundraising video, he boasted that the Hippodrome has “600 seats on the first balcony; 600 seats on the second balcony; and on the ground floor here, all in all, around 2000 seats we can put in here in this place.”[33]

Planning application:
On 13 September 2017, Razi Zadeh, a Hussainiya trustee, submitted an application to Barnet Council to vary the conditions of use at the Hippodrome.[34] He asked for changes to two conditions:

1. Extension of hours of opening by one hour from 8:00am – 11.30pm to 8:00am – 12.30am on any day of the week.
2. Alter the wording of use of the building to read ‘place of worship’ instead of ‘church’.

Hussainiya’s track record:
Barnet Council planning documents (paragraph 5.3) reveal that the Hussainiya trustees had not obtained planning permission to use the former warehouse building in Cricklewood Lane as a place of worship; although the use had “become lawful through the passage of time, having operated continuously for a period of over 10 years.” [35]

Hussainiya: spiritual guides:
There are no sermon videos or articles by the Hussainiya trustees / managers, since they do not preach, and there is little of substance on Hussainiya websites. Information can only be gleaned from videos of speakers at the Hussainiya’s events; and by studies of their spiritual guides — the Shirazi clan.

The Shirazi clan are a distinguished religious family based in both Karbala (Iraq) and Qom (in Iran), and have produced many scholars and Marja Taqlids. A Marja is a ‘source of emulation’, and denotes a cleric who has the authority to declare fatwas and decrees on all matters of Islamic jurisprudence. In Shia Islam, what matters is who people follow as their Marja. Although Shia clergy are hierarchical, Shia Islam does not require universal recognition of leadership; hence allegiance to any particular cleric is voluntary. National boundaries do not correlate to religious loyalty, and some Iraqi Shias follow Iran-based clerics.[36]

The complete identification of the Hussainiya with the Shirazi clan is beyond doubt, and both the late and living members of the clan are the centre’s chosen spiritual guides:

• Two large photographs are prominently displayed at the Hussainiya in Golders Green – of the late Grand Ayatollah Sayid Mohammad ibn Mahdi al-Hussaini al-Shirazi (aka Mohammad Shirazi), and his younger brother and successor, the Qom-based Grand Ayatollah Sayid Sadiq al-Hussaini al-Shirazi (aka Sadiq Shirazi).
• Sadiq Shirazi’s website lists the centres in seven Muslim states, in addition to Canada and Britain, which are associated with his “Works” (the word likely refers to his network or affiliates). One of the centres is ‘Rasool Al-Adham Husaneya, London’.[37]
• Sadiq Shirazi’s representative in Europe, Sheikh Abdul Rahman Haeri, is also the director of the League of Scholars, [38] a Hussainiya-based initiative which addresses worshippers’ questions on Jurisprudence, social matters and Islamic law. In 2015, Marjaeyat TV reported that “Following the orders of the Grand Ayatollah Shirazi for expanding communications with Shias around the world”, Sheikh Abdul Rahman Haeri “made a trip to Germany and met different Shia groups in this country.”[39]
• The Hussainiya relies on Sadiq Shirazi’s dates for Ramadan and Islamic festivals. (These dates are a matter of great contention in both Shia and Sunni Islam.) For example, a link from the rasoolaladham.com website stated: “For the followers of Ayatollah Sayed Al-Shirazi, it has been confirmed Eid is tomorrow.”[40] Another page linked to a video about his prayer times,[41] which can be viewed on youtube.[42]
• In a fundraising video, a cleric places great emphasis on the extent to which the Hussainiya follows the strictures of the Shirazi clan to the letter. The cleric says that “regarding this Hussainiya”, “we refer to Al-Marja Ayatollah Sayid Mohammed al-Shirazi [who died in 2001], as he would constantly encourage the establishment of Hussaini centres across the world. Especially in non-Islamic countries, and thus would encourage people to travel and reside in western countries”.[43] The cleric also says that a hall was set up for women in the Cricklewood Hussainiya, “which is crucial, as Ayatollah Sadiq Shirazi [the current head of the clan] and his father would reaffirm the requirement of attendance of women”.

Key members of Shirazi clan: political activism and relations with Iranian regime

Sadiq Shirazi was born in Karbala in 1942, and teaches in the Seminary of Qom. He acquired a “distinguished degree of Ijtihaad” (independent reasoning), and promotes the teachings of Ahlul Bayt, by “disseminating their culture, and defending their sacred teachings and the laws of Shari’ah”.[44] Sadiq Shirazi became the leader of the Shirazi school of thought after his brother, Mohammad Shirazi, died in 2001.[45] Sadiq Shirazi is opposed to the current regime in Iran under the supreme leader Khamenei, and in 2014 he gave a lecture in which he criticised Khamenei for his ‘oppressive policies’.[46]

Mohammad Shirazi (1928-2001), Sadiq Shirazi’s older brother, one of the most important political ideologues in Shia Islam in the 20th century. He was sent into exile in Lebanon by Iraq’s Baathist regime,[47] and later moved to Kuwait, where he became influential in the rise of religious radicalism. He was in conflict with other Shias in Najaf, including the most prominent religious leader of the time, Grand Ayatollah Abu Qasem al-Khoei.[48] During the 1990s, Mohammad Shirazi was the spiritual guide of the Movement of Vanguard Missionaries,[49] an umbrella group for Islamist paramilitaries. Mohammad Shirazi was placed under house arrest by Khomeini.[50]

Taqi Modarresi, a nephew of Sadiq Shirazi, is one of the most senior Shia Marja in Iraq, only slightly junior to Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani. Ali al-Sistani, who is opposed to vilayat-e-faqih, is the most followed religious authority amongst Shias.[51] Taqi Modarresi, the architect of the Shiraziyyin movement (followers of the Shirazi clan) in Bahrain, established the Islamic Front for the Liberation of Bahrain (IFLB), and his brother, Hadi Modarresi, was appointed to run the operation. [52] Taqi Modarresi also directed the Shia Islamist paramilitary organization, the Islamic Action Organization (IAO), throughout the 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq War.[53] The IAO was responsible for numerous attacks in Iraq during that war.[54]

Hadi Modarresi, Sadiq Shirazi’s nephew, led the Shiraziyyin to prepare for an armed struggle against Bahrain’s ruling Sunni Khalifa family during the 1970s. In 1974, Hadi Modarresi applied for and was granted Bahraini citizenship.[55] Hadi Modarresi and the Shiraziyyin distributed recordings of Khomeini’s inciting speeches, organised revolutionary cells in Bahrain, and dispatched their cadres to undertake military training in ‘Palestine Liberation Organization’ refugee camps in Lebanon. They often passed the Bahrainis off as Iranians from the Khuzestan region, to avoid alienating Gulf supporters of the Palestinian cause.[56]

 After the 1979 revolution, Iran’s regime assisted the Shia in neighboring countries to overthrow their Sunni rulers and established the ‘Office of the Liberation Movements’ to ‘export the revolution’. Khomeini himself warned Bahrain’s Shia against ‘foreigners’ who divide the Muslim ‘ummah’ (community of believers) into states.[57] In August 1979, Khomeini appointed Hadi Modarresi as his personal representative to Bahrain. He was expelled to Teheran, where he operated the Arabic section of the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting. His broadcasts incited Bahrain’s Shias to revolt against the Sunni rulers. In December 1981, the Bahraini authorities arrested 300 people who sought to overthrow the ruling family by the Hadi Modarresi–led IFLB, and violently quelled the ensuing rallies. [58]

Shirazi feud with Khomeini/Khamenei: current status

Shia Islam has traditionally been apolitical and their clerics have avoided politics. The mixing of politics and religion is one of the most controversial innovations that Grand Ayatollah Khomeini (1901-1989) made. Khomeini had the support of the Shirazi clan in this innovation, although it was rejected even in Iran by prominent clerics. But whereas Khomeini insisted on rule by a single cleric, the Shirazis advocated a council of scholars governing Iran.[59] Khomeini required sincere and full allegiance to him as the religiously legitimate leader and vilayat-e-faqih (guardianship of the jurist), while Mohammad Shirazi rejected vilayat-e-faqih – opting instead for a council of jurists, which entailed his own participation in the government.[60] There were, of course, several other reasons behind the Khomeni-Shirazi feud, but despite the feud, the two sides have collaborated in various arenas to advance Iranian interests.

Since Grand Ayatollah Khomeini and, subsequently, Ayatollah Khamenei claimed ultimate authority in Iran, any sign that Iranians followed other clerics became not a sign of traditional doctrinal diversity, but rather outright insubordination. The presence of rival sources of emulation, like Ali al-Sistani in Iraq, continues to strain the Iranian social fabric. Iranian authorities have sought to silence potential religious rivals within Iran by keeping them under house arrest and restricting their activities, but they have not been able to impose their will on rival clerics in Iraq.[61] From time to time, the offices of the Shirazis (and of other Grand Ayatollahs) are shut down by Iran’s regime.[62] Yet the regime has failed to quash the Shirazis’ power, thanks to their international networks. Most of the Shirazis’ funding comes from followers in Karbala, Bahrain, Kuwait and the UAE. [63]

The Iranian government has been conducting a media offensive against the Shirazi movement, which runs a broadcasting network to spread its message. In a speech about Iran’s ‘enemies’ in 2013, Iran’s Supreme Leader Khamenei added US and London-based ‘Shiite satellite channels’ to the usual suspects, such as America and Israel. The Iranian regime operates a regularly updated news website specifically aimed at exposing the ‘British Shiites’ or ‘MI6 Shiites’ as they are also known.[64]

At a major event in Qom, the keynote speaker Ayatollah Mohsen Araki attacked the ‘Londoner Shiites’ for their practice of tatbir (self-flagellation), in which mourners strike themselves on the head with a sword to draw blood – to commemorate Imam Hussain’s death in the Battle of Karbala in 680 AD. Mohsen Araki said the organisers of such ceremonies are funded by western intelligence agencies intent on bringing Shia Islam into disrepute, and equated them with Islamic State. Mohsen Araki was targeting the followers of Sadiq Shirazi — whose network oversees 19 satellite channels, broadcasting in Persian, Arabic, English and Turkish.[65] Most of the outlets are based in Karbala, but some broadcast from Britain. For example, Khadija TV is based in Peterborough, and Al-Zahrah in Harrow. [66]

Hussainiya: evidence of extremism

The Hussainiya officials have avoided revealing signs of extremism on their websites. However, their extremism is clear both from the nature of the activism of their Shirazi spiritual guides, and from the lectures given by invited speakers.

1. Instilling fear into worshippers

While it is rare to find expressions of extremism in their written material, a page on an old website provides an insight into the way the Hussainiya instills fear into its worshippers:[67]

“It is related that the person who recites Surah-al Yaseen before going to bed & Namaaz -e -Lailatul Raghaib will be saved from the terror of the grave.”

2. Syed Mustafa Qazwini: “ISIS Is The Production Of Israeli Intelligence”

Syed Mustafa Qazwini was invited to speak at the Hussainiya on 22 May 2015.[68] In June 2017, Imam Dr. Sayed Moustafa Al-Qazwini delivered a sermon at the Islamic Educational Center of Orange County, California:[69]

 “All of you know who established ISIS, Al-Qaeda, and all of these terrorist organizations. You know very well. You know who paid for them, who financed them, who helped them, who purchased weapons for them, who even trained them, who protected them. You know that. This is not the production of Islam. Islam is not responsible for ISIS. There are certain agencies and governments, who established… They put hand in hand to establish ISIS, to demolish Islam from within… I said: ‘ISIS is the production of the Israeli intelligence.’ The Israeli intelligence… Most of their officers were trained in Israel, including Abu Bakr Al-Baghadi, who went to hell, I think, two or three days ago.” 

3. Sayed Ali Khalkhali: laws of najasat

A frequent Hussainiya speaker, Sayed Ali Khalkhali,[70] explained the laws of najasat (impurities)[71] on a Shia channel called Ahlulbayt TV. He said najasat can be intrinsic or acquired, and he listed ten items which are intrinsically najis (singular) — urine, faeces, blood, semen, corpse, pigs, dogs, alcohol, intoxicating agents, and kafirs.[72] If there is contact with any of these intrinsically najasat items — then the person or object which comes into contact with it acquires the state of najis and must be made tahir (pure) by using one of 12 purifying agents, of which water is the most common. Sayed Ali Khalkhali explained the law further in a second video,[73] adding for example that the corpse of a Muslim becomes tahir after it is washed.

4. Sayed Ali Al-Nawab: expressions of historical and modern anti-Semitism

The Hussainiya spokesman Ahmad Alkazemi told the Jewish News:

“We will never tolerate any form of hate speech on our premises, and we stand completely opposed to and will firmly address extremism, anti-Semitism and all forms of hatred.” [74]

Yet the casual way in which anti-Semitism is expressed in the course of one lecture at the Hussainiya indicates that it has been normalised in the centre’s discourse. Sayed Ali Al-Nawab told his audience about a Jewish village in the era of the prophet called Fadak in Arabia. He says there were 900 Jews in Medina, and maintained that Jews:[75]

“Controlled its markets, similar to today how they control the markets, especially the financial, the oil, the gold, the currencies. They did the same in the city of Medina. They controlled the markets.”

Shirazi clan: evidence of extremism

Mehdi Khalaji,[76] a Shia theologian by training, who is now a senior fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, used to visit the Shirazis’ home when he was a seminary student in Qom. He describes them as “very extremist”, and observes that the Shirazis’ narrative is appealing because they are “focused on exotic rituals” such as self-flagellation to draw blood,[77] and hence “attract the most conservative Shia layers”. Mehdi Khalaji thinks groups like the Shirazis have no future in Iranian society because of their “anti-modern and anti-civil” behaviour — noting that Shirazi satellite channels do not feature a single woman or broadcast music. [78]

Mohammad Shirazi: evidence of extremism

Attack against Israel and Jews
Mohammad Shirazi, the late spiritual leader of the Hussainiya, and whose photograph is prominently displayed in the new centre in Golders Green, gave a lecture to explain why “some of the Muslims are faced with evil”. In the course of doing so, he characterised Israel as “the worst of people”, and quoted the Quran (2.61) as saying that “humiliation and wickedness were stamped upon them”.[79]

Mehdi Khalaji, a senior fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, has spoken about the depth of anti-Semitism in Iran.[80] In 2015, he wrote that although anti-Judaism is well known in Iranian Islamic tradition and literature, this is fundamentally different from modern anti-Semitism, which was imported into Iran by leftists and Islamists before and after the 1979 revolution. Mohammad Shirazi also played a prominent role:[81]

“Secular intellectuals were heavily influenced by anti-Semitic trends in Europe and the Soviet Union, while Islamists were influenced by the Muslim Brotherhood and other Arab anti-Semitic writers. In addition, some Iraqi Shia clerics transmitted anti-Semitic literature from the Arab world to Iran. For instance, Sayyed Muhammad Shirazi — head of the Shirazi family, who are known for their ultraconservative tendencies and run dozens of satellite television networks, websites, organizations, and mosques in the United States, Europe, and the Middle East — published several anti-Semitic books in the 1960s. One of these, titled The World As Jews’ Plaything, was translated by Sayyed Hadi al-Modarresi, an Iraqi cleric who is now a Shiite religious authority (marja).”

Sadiq Shirazi: evidence of extremism

The extremism of the current spiritual guide of the Hussainiya, Sadiq Shirazi, whose photograph is prominently displayed in the new centre in Golders Green, is evident in various spheres – from his ideology to his collaboration with a designated terrorist group.

1. Hostility towards Britain

Sadiq Shirazi’s ‘Marjeayat Global Network’ produced some videos titled ‘Shirazis, the Saviors of Islamic Territories’. The videos were used merely to generate hostility towards Britain.

• In one video, an ancestor of Sadiq Shirazi was said to have driven the British out of Iran. He “rescued Iran from being colonized by Britain and it was when the Great Britain was number one colonizer and the most powerful empire in the world. In the late 19th century big numbers of British colonizers tormented the cultural figures and Muslim experts and politicians with different excuses…”.[82]
• Another video says that in the early 20th century, Sadiq Shirazi’s uncle rescued Iraq — which was “colonized by the only superpower of that time, the England”. The uncle “issued a Fatwa against English occupants and declared the decree of Jihad”. Under the leadership of the uncle and other clerics, “courageous nomads” then “made the English army leave Iraq helplessly”.[83]

Hostility towards Britain is also constantly kept alive amongst Iraqi Shias. In January 2016, Iraqi tribesmen met Sadiq Shirazi at his home in Qom, and acknowledged the “role of Mirza Shirazi during the 2th [sic] Revolution and his stances against the British colonialization”.[84]

2.  Condemnation of non-believers

 During the Iranian government-sponsored ‘Week of Unity for Shiites and Sunnis’, the Shirazi satellite channels declared a ‘Week of Bera’at’, named after a Quranic concept that requires Muslims to condemn non-believers.[85] The Salam channel, supported by the Shirazis and operated by the California-based Mohammad Hedayati (who has often appeared on VOA as a ‘dissident cleric’),[86] promotes a purist Islam, not unlike Salafism. [87]

3. Islamist ideology

In his 938-page work titled ‘Islamic Law, Books One and Two, Handbook of Islamic rulings on Muslim’s duties and practices’,[88] Sadiq Shirazi provides details of hundreds of Islamic rulings which dictate what a Shia Muslim must or must not do — encompassing every aspect of life. Several of these rulings illustrate the range of obstacles which hamper both integration in the West and interfaith relations. Other rulings are incompatible with life in a western liberal democracy. A few samples of such rulings are set out below.

1. a) Some questions and answers are indicative of the limits on harmonious interfaith relations placed by Shia Islam on its adherents:

“Q: Is it permissible to perform salah in Christian churches or Jewish synagogues?
A: Yes it is permissible, with the consent of their owners. (Unless praying there constitutes promotion for them, in which case it would be haram.)”[89]

“Q: Is it permissible to initiate the salam greeting to a non-believer, and, if he initiates the salam what is the ruling for returning his greeting?
A: Yes it is permissible, though makrooh,[90] and is also permissible to return the greeting, although one should keep the answer to a minimum such as ‘alayk.”[91]

1. b) The laws on najis (impure, singular) and najasat (impure, plural) have a direct impact on kafirs (unbelievers). Sadiq Shirazi lists the ten categories of inherently najis items as follows: urine, faeces, semen, carcass, dog, pig, kafir, wine and beer. He adds an eleventh category as a precaution, ‘jallal animal sweat’,[92] which he defines as an animal which consumes human faeces. The following extract from Sadiq Shirazi’s book relates to the najis status of kafirs:

“The unbeliever (kafir) is najis. The unbeliever is one who denies the existence of God, or associates a partner for Him, or denies the Prophethood of the Seal of the Prophets, Muhammad, peace be upon him and his pure family. Furthermore [an unbeliever is] anyone who denies any one of indispensable aspects of the religion such as the [obligatory] prayers and fasting, which the Muslims consider as part of the religion, provided that he knows that these are indispensable aspects of the religion, and provided that his denial leads to the denial of Allah’s Messenger, peace be upon him and his pure family. This is also applicable if one denies the resurrection and the great sins such as adultery and drinking of wine. All of the Kafir’s body is najis, including hair, fingernail, and moisture, on the basis of an obligatory precaution.” [93]

The najis status may also affect the children of kafirs, unless they have at least one Muslim antecedent:

“If the father of a non-adolescent child, and his grandfather, mother and grandmother were all unbelievers, then the child would follow them in being najis too. However, if one of them is a Muslim, then the child would follow that Muslim and is tahir.” [94]

Sadiq Shirazi also labels certain categories of Muslims as najis:

“The opponent and the blasphemer against the Ahl al-Bayt: If any of the Muslims blasphemed against the Noble Prophet peace be upon him and his family, or Fatima al-Zahra’ peace be upon her, or one of the 12 Imams peace be upon them, or showed animosity towards [any one of] them, he would be najis.”[95]

Finally, Sadiq Shirazi explains how tahir (pure) things become najis (impure):

“If the najis object came in contact with a tahir object, and both, or one of them were moist such that the moisture of one could seep to the other, the tahir thing would become najis. However if the moisture was too little such that it could not seep through to the other, the tahir object would not become najis.” [96]

1. c) Elsewhere, Sadiq Shirazi explains the rulings concerning Muslims who fight in ‘non-Islamic’ wars – which would affect Shias who join the armed forces in a western state. He also informs Muslims how and when to employ the Shia concept of taqiyyah (dissimulation), which allows Muslims to lie to those they deem enemies.[97] Sadiq Shirazi wrote:

“If a soldier is compelled to participate in an un-Islamic war, then it is obligatory that he does not kill anyone, nor injure a human being; but instead he should fire in the air and suchlike. Also it is imperative that he does not damage property, and if the commander orders him to plunder the property of the people, it is mandatory that he does not do so, and in extreme circumstances he should do the minimum possible. However, there is no such permission in the case of shedding blood, in which case there is no dissimulation (taqiyyah) for it.” [98]

4. Collaboration with a terrorist group and other militias

Despite the ongoing Shirazi feud with Iran’s regime, they still share the same goals for Iran, and back the same terrorist and militia groups which are active in Iraq and Syria. Sadiq Shirazi himself has been collaborating with, as well as funding, a number of these militias – as his frequent meetings with their leaders demonstrate.

1. a) Islamic Action Organization (IAO)

 In March 2017, it was reported that Sadiq Shirazi sent a representative, Sheikh Mustafa Ma’ash, alongside Sheikh Alaa al-Asadi, the director of the Beliefs Department in the Islamic Action Organization (IAO), to visit those injured in the bombings in Damascus.[99] According to Marjeayat TV, a Sadiq Shirazi-affiliated channel, “Islamic Action Organization is dependent to the Grand Ayatollah Shirazi Office and is dedicated to provide financial and moral supports to the Iraqi Volunteer Forces, especially the brigade of Ansar Al-Husayn [Hussein] in Saladin province.”[100]

The IAO (also known as Islamic Amal) started as a Shia Islamist paramilitary organization led by Sadiq Shirazi’s nephew, Taqi Modarresi, throughout the 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq War.[101] The IAO was responsible for numerous attacks in Iraq during that war. [102]

1. b) Kata’ib Hizballah (KH), designated by the US

 In March 2017, Sadiq Shirazi was filmed in his central office in Qom, greeting the Secretary-General of the Iraqi Hizballah Battalion, Sheikh Majid al-Ansary. Sadiq Shirazi “emphasized educating the youth with Islamic morals and beliefs. His eminence also hinted that youth at schools, universities, official departments are targeted by the enemies of Islam.” [103]

Iraq’s Hizballah is known as Kata’ib Hizballah (KH). Set up in 2003, it is supported by Iran, and it has been called ‘Iran’s Hizballah franchise in Iraq’.[104] In 2009, [105] the US Deputy Secretary of State designated KH as a Foreign Terrorist Organization, and it was identified as “an Iraqi terrorist organization responsible for numerous terrorist acts against Iraqi, US, and other targets in Iraq since 2007.” The statement continued:[106]

“Kata’ib Hizballah (KH) is a radical Shia Islamist group with an anti-Western establishment and jihadist ideology that has conducted attacks against Iraqi, U.S. and Coalition targets in Iraq. KH has ideological ties to Lebanese Hizballah and may have received support from that group. KH gained notoriety in 2007 with attacks on U.S. and Coalition forces designed to undermine the establishment of a democratic, viable Iraqi state. KH has been responsible for numerous violent terrorist attacks since 2007, including improvised explosive device bombings, rocket propelled grenade attacks and sniper operations. In addition, KH has threatened the lives of Iraqi politicians and civilians that support the legitimate political process in Iraq.”

1. c) Asa’ib Ahl al-Haq (AAH, League of the Righteous)

In March 2017,[107] Sadiq Shirazi’s representatives met Qais al-Khazali, Asa’ib Ahl al-Haq (AAH) Brigade commander. They discussed the advances of Popular Mobilization Units (PMUs, aka Hashd al-Shaabi) in the Battle of Mosul. The PMUs are militias formed to fight Islamic State in Iraq. A month earlier,[108] Sadiq Shirazi PR office announced that it “continues its logistic support” for the PMUs in their “holy war against ISIS terrorists”. The support included “medical aids, foods, beverages, clothes, and other necessities that benefit the fighters”.

A study by Stanford University’s ‘Mapping Militant Organizations’,[109] said that Qais al-Khazali was recruited by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) to lead AAH in 2006. AAH continues to be under the personal supervision of Qassem Soleimani, the commander of Quds Force within the IRGC. AAH relies heavily on Iranian funding, training, and logistical support, and in return has acted as an Iranian proxy in Iraq, carrying out its agenda and promoting its interests. Iraqi intelligence officials estimate that AAH receives between $1.5-$2 million a month from the Iranian regime. New AAH recruits are often trained either in Iran or Hizballah training camps in Lebanon. Elements of AAH fought alongside Hizballah in the 2006 Israel-Lebanon War.

In 2010, General Ray Odierno, the top US commander in Iraq, said Iran was supporting three extremist Shia groups in Iraq that were attacking US bases — which he identified as Kata’ib Hizballah (KH), Asa’ib Ahl al-Haq (AAH), and the Promise Day Brigade.[110] Between 2006 and 2011, AAH claimed responsibility for over 6,000 attacks on US forces in Iraq. During 2011-2014, AAH was known for its commitment to use violence on behalf of the Nouri al-Maliki government and for stoking sectarian violence.

AAH entered the Syrian civil war in 2011, initially fighting alongside Hizballah to prop up the pro-Iranian Assad regime. Despite past hostilities, AAH was open to limited cooperation with America in 2013 in order to fight Islamic State. However in March 2016, AAH threatened to attack US personnel in Iraq if they did not withdraw. [111]

Iraqi Shiite Militia Leader Qais Khazali: The True Enemies of the Imam Mahdi are the Jews, Israelis, and Zionists”, 20 December 2017.[112]

Qais Khazali, Secretary-General of the Iraqi Shiite Asa’ib Ahl Al-Haq militia, said that his recent visit to South Lebanon was intended as a message to the Israelis more than to the Lebanese. “In the event of a military confrontation with the Israeli entity and its entire host of supporters, we will prevail,” he said, speaking on the Iraqi Media Network (IMN) on December 20. From the Shiite perspective, he said, “the true enemies of the Imam Mahdi are the Jews, Israelis, and Zionists.”

Qais Khazali: During my visit [to South Lebanon], I was wearing a uniform, but I did not carry a gun. This visit was a message to the Israelis more than to the Lebanese. […]

In the event of a military confrontation with the Israeli entity and its entire host of supporters let me suggest a question that may not have occurred to you: What do we Iraqis have to do with Palestine? My answer is this: First of all, we are Muslims, and [Palestine] is part of our identity and our faith. Second, we are Arabs. Third, from a Shiite point of view, the true enemies of the Imam Mahdi are the Jews, Israelis, and Zionists.

1.  d) Harakat Hizballah al-Nujaba, whose leader was designated by the US

In 2013, AAH collaborated with KH to establish Hakarat Hizballah al-Nujaba, a front organization used to channel fighters into Syria. In March 2017,[113] a delegation from Nujaba visited Sadiq Shirazi in Qom. (Nujaba means ‘the virtuous’.) The guests reported the latest developments in the fight against Isamic State, and listened to the advice of Sadiq Shirazi.

Nujaba is led by a cleric called Akram Kaabi; it has about 10,000 fighters, and is now one of the most important militias in Iraq. Though made up of Iraqis, it is loyal to Iran and is helping Tehran carve a road through Iraq to Damascus — and from there to Hizballah in Lebanon. In 2008, when Akram Kaabi was involved with another militia, the US Treasury designated him an individual who threatened the peace and stability of Iraq. The US blocked any assets he may have had under US jurisdiction and prohibited US citizens from dealing with him.

[114]Nujaba fighters are trained in southern Iraq or with Hizballah in Lebanon. In 2014, Nujaba released a song dedicated to Qassem Soleimani, the head of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards’ Quds Force, the branch of the group that oversees operations outside Iran’s borders. The video praises Qassem Soleimani for fighting the American military and Islamic State. Nujaba is already looking beyond the conflicts in Syria and Iraq, and in March 2017 it announced the formation of a ‘Golan’ brigade to push Israel out of the Golan Heights. An Israeli minister said the move “sharpens the threat posed by the presence of Iran and Hizballah in Syria in general, and on the Syrian side of the Golan Heights in particular”.[115] 

Exporting Shia Islamism, and entrenching its rituals

As the leader of an Islamist Shia group, Sadiq Shirazi is intent on spreading Shia Islam. In August 2014,[116] Sadiq Shirazi stressed the importance of a “global Shia cultural uprising”. In October 2015,[117] Sheikh Abdul Rahman Haeri, director of the Shia Clerics Association in London, visited the director general of Marjeayat TV in Karbala. They discussed the problems facing Muslims worldwide; and how preachers should promote the sciences and culture of Ahlul Bayt in the West, using Sadiq Shirazi’s directives.

The ritual with which Shia Islam is most associated is that of self-flagellation on the day of Ashura in the month of Muharram. Ashura commemorates the ‘martyrdom’ at Karbala of Muhammad’s grandson Hussain in 680 AD. The death of Hussain led to the split in Islam into two main sects – Sunnis and Shias; and to the Shia cult of martyrdom and their sense of betrayal and struggle against injustice and oppression.[6]Ashura is marked with mourning rituals and passion plays re-enacting Hussain’s death. Shias parade through the streets while chanting, and slapping their chests or using swords or chains to draw blood. Some Shia leaders discourage the bloodletting, but Sadiq Shirazi promotes all the rituals. In November 2015, two booklets containing Sadiq Shirazi’s full speeches were released by Al-Rasoul Alakram Cultural Institution: ‘Hussaini Victory and Globalization of Rituals’; and ‘Blood of Imam Hussain, peace be upon him, is the Value of Islam’s Existence’.[118] 

In 2016, Sadiq Shirazi said that Imam Hussain’s martyrdom is a “jurisprudential and universal cause”, and parents have the “greatest role in encouraging their children to practice these holy rituals”.[119] In keeping with the directives of their spiritual guide Sadiq Shirazi, there are several videos of self-flagellation events organised by the Hussainiya in London.[120]

      5.   Sadiq Shirazi’s London-based brother

The activities of the London-based Ayatollah Mojtaba Shirazi,[121] (brother of Sadiq Shirazi) and his Kuwaiti son-in-law Yasser al-Habib, are especially controversial. After being expelled from Kuwait for his anti-Sunni preaching in 2004, Yasser al-Habib began broadcasting Fadak TV from Britain. His most well-known book, ‘Prostitute: The other face of Aisha’,[122] is a sectarian attack against a wife of the prophet considered by Sunnis as the ‘mother of the believers’. Yasser al-Habib operates Al-Muhassin Mosque in Buckinghamshire.[123] Sadiq Shirazi’s media outlets have published criticism of Yasser al-Habib by Shiraziyyin,[124] but they have also praised Fadak TV.[125] Mehdi Khalaji said Shirazis are being opportunistic in distancing themselves from Yasser al-Habib, since they think along the same lines.

Labour MP Khalid Mahmood has warned that Sunni-Shia conflict was common in many Muslim countries, and that “In Pakistan in particular there have been explosions at mosques caused by the different factions, but it has not got to that stage in the UK. Sheikh Al-Habib is a very divisive figure. This could cause problems of the kind we have not had in the UK

Links

[1] Delegation of Iraq’s Hezbollah al-Nujaba meets Grand Ayatollah Shirazi, 9 March 2017.
http://shiawaves.com/english/marjaeyat/3902-delegation-of-iraq-s-hezbollah-al-nujaba-meets-grand-ayatollah-shirazi

[2] Babak Dehghanpisheh, The Iraqi militia helping Iran carve a road to Damascus, 22 September 2017. https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-mideast-crisis-iraq-nujaba-specialrep/the-iraqi-militia-helping-iran-carve-a-road-to-damascus-idUKKCN1BX11L

[3] Babak Dehghanpisheh, The Iraqi militia helping Iran carve a road to Damascus, 22 September 2017. https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-mideast-crisis-iraq-nujaba-specialrep/the-iraqi-militia-helping-iran-carve-a-road-to-damascus-idUKKCN1BX11L

[4] The Eminent Grand Ayatollah Sayed Shirazi, may Allah prolong his life, stresses the importance of global Shia cultural uprising, 28 August 2014.
http://shiawaves.com/english/marjaeyat/215-the-eminent-grand-ayatollah-sayed-shirazi-may-allah-prolong-his-life-stresses-the-importance-of-global-shia-cultural-uprising

[5] Director of Shia Clerics Association in London meets director of Marjaeya TV, 7 October 2015.
http://shiawaves.com/english/marjaeyat/1677-director-of-shia-clerics-association-in-london-meets-director-of-marjaeya-tv

[6] What is Ashura? 6 December 2011.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-16047713

[7] Two booklets released containing full-length Ashura speeches of Sayid Sadiq Shirazi, 19 November 2015. http://shiawaves.com/english/marjaeyat/1942-two-booklets-released-containing-full-length-ashura-speeches-of-sayid-sadiq-shirazi

[8] Grand Ayatollah Shirazi: Rulers of the Islamic nations should not stand against Husseini rituals, 13

October 2016. http://shiawaves.com/english/marjaeyat/3282-grand-ayatollah-shirazi-rulers-of-the-islamic-nations-should-not-stand-against-husseini-rituals

[9] Matamdari Hussainia Rasool e Azam Cricklewood, London (UK), 10 August 2014.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YHJ-_0QfKKI

Mulla Mohammed Yazdan – Hussainiyat Al-Rasool Al-Adham London – Part 1, 23 April 2017.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OON8RWbdIrw

[10] Sayed Mujtaba curses Khamenei, 9 May 2012.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rL9FSRvHWcE

[11]https://web.archive.org/web/20160308131348/http://www.alqatrah.net/pr/edara/index.php?id=18

[12] http://mosques.muslimsinbritain.org/maps.php#/mosque/1278

[13] https://web.archive.org/web/20160101185909/http://shia-online.ir/article.asp?id=36241

[14] http://www.ferghenews.com/fa/404

[1] Harriet Sherwood, Rabbi urges calm in row over plan to turn Golders Green landmark into a mosque, 15 October 2017. https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/oct/14/golders-green-hippodrome-mosque-plan-rabbi-urges-calm

[2] Hippodrome Theatre, 1 North End Road, London NW11 7RP.
http://cinematreasures.org/theaters/29969

[3]http://apps.charitycommission.gov.uk/Showcharity/RegisterOfCharities/CharityWithoutPartB.aspx?RegisteredCharityNumber=328364&SubsidiaryNumber=0

[4] http://www.madrassah.co.uk/madrassah-ratings/listing/anjuman-e-farogh-e-aza-willesden-green-barnet-london

[5] http://www.mcb.org.uk/about-mcb/affiliates/

[6] http://mosques.muslimsinbritain.org/maps.php#/mosque/1061

[7] Fundraising video, 2.20: https://www.facebook.com/RasoolAlAdham/videos/1889364107756703/

[8] http://mosques.muslimsinbritain.org/maps.php#/mosque/1061

[9] https://web.archive.org/web/20150707102555/http://rasoolaladham.com:80/about/

[10] Commission investigates relationship between Markaz El-Tathgheef El-Eslami and TV station, 17 July 2014. https://www.gov.uk/government/news/commission-investigates-relationship-between-charity-and-tv-station

[11] Sam Burne James, Regulator opens inquiry into Islamic charity over financial links to TV station, 17 July 2014. http://www.thirdsector.co.uk/regulator-opens-inquiry-islamic-charity-financial-links-tv-station/governance/article/1303995

[12] http://apps.charitycommission.gov.uk/Accounts/Ends64/0000328364_AC_20160930_E_C.pdf

[13] http://mosques.muslimsinbritain.org/maps.php#/mosque/1061

http://www.mosquedirectory.co.uk/mosques/England/London/barnet/willesden-green/hussainiyyat-al-rasul-al-adham-willesden-green-barnet/424

[14] http://apps.charitycommission.gov.uk/Accounts/Ends64/0000328364_AC_20160930_E_C.pdf

[15] http://apps.charitycommission.gov.uk/Accounts/Ends64/0000328364_AC_20160930_E_C.pdf

[16] https://rasoolaladham.com/

[17] Harriet Sharwood, Rabbi urges calm in row over plan to turn Golders Green landmark into a mosque, 15 October 2017.  https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/oct/14/golders-green-hippodrome-mosque-plan-rabbi-urges-calm

[18] 26 July 2017: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-roJnhXryI0

[19] Company registration number 09147974: 50 Lancaster Road, Enfield EN2 0BY.

[20] Title Number: NGL687451, The Land Registry, Wales Office, 18 AUGUST 2017.

[21] Planning application, 112-132 Cricklewood Lane, London NW2 2DP, 1 February 2016. https://barnet.moderngov.co.uk/documents/s31939/112-132%20Cricklewood%20Lane.pdf

[22] Ben Welch, Golders Green Islamic centre: ‘We aim to be good neighbours, 20 October 2017.
https://www.thejc.com/news/uk-news/golders-green-islamic-centre-we-aim-to-be-good-neighbours-1.446405

[23] Fundraising video, 19.20: https://www.facebook.com/RasoolAlAdham/videos/1889364107756703/

[24] Ben Welch, Golders Green Islamic centre: ‘We aim to be good neighbours, 20 October 2017.
https://www.thejc.com/news/uk-news/golders-green-islamic-centre-we-aim-to-be-good-neighbours-1.446405

[25] Ben Weich, Tension and concern as Islamic centre moves in, 19 October 2017.
https://www.thejc.com/news/uk-news/tension-and-concern-as-islamic-centre-moves-in-1.446241

[26] Fundraising video, 19.25: https://www.facebook.com/RasoolAlAdham/videos/1889364107756703/

[27] Fundraising video, 9.30: https://www.facebook.com/RasoolAlAdham/videos/1889364107756703/

[28] Harriet Sherwood, Faith leaders condemn ‘racist’ objections to Golders Green mosque, 6 November 2017. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/nov/06/hippodrome-golders-green-faith-leaders-condemn-racist-objections-mosque

[29] Fundraising video, 3.35: https://www.facebook.com/RasoolAlAdham/videos/1889364107756703/

[30] Fundraising video, 6.35: https://www.facebook.com/RasoolAlAdham/videos/1889364107756703/

[31] Fundraising video, 14.15: https://www.facebook.com/RasoolAlAdham/videos/1889364107756703/

[32] Ben Welch, Golders Green Islamic centre: ‘We aim to be good neighbours, 20 October 2017.
https://www.thejc.com/news/uk-news/golders-green-islamic-centre-we-aim-to-be-good-neighbours-1.446405

[33] Fundraising video, 18.30: https://www.facebook.com/RasoolAlAdham/videos/1889364107756703/

[34] https://publicaccess.barnet.gov.uk/online-applications/applicationDetails.do?activeTab=printPreview&keyVal=OW7YPPJIFRS00

[35] Planning application, 112-132 Cricklewood Lane, London NW2 2DP, 1 February 2016.
https://barnet.moderngov.co.uk/documents/s31939/112-132%20Cricklewood%20Lane.pdf

[36] Michael Rubin, Getting Religion Wrong. Three Decades of Misreporting Iran and Iraq, October 2008. (A chapter by Michael Rubin from the book Blind Spot: When Journalists Don’t Get Religion, NY: Oxford University Press, 2008.) http://www.meforum.org/2000/getting-religion-wrong#_ednref23

[37] http://www.english.shirazi.ir/works

[38] https://web.archive.org/web/20150707175358/http://rasoolaladham.com:80/about/league-of-scholars/

[39] Representative of the Grand Ayatollah Shirazi Meets Shia Groups in Germany, 23 December 2015.
http://news.marjaeyattv.com/en/archives/45

[40] For the followers of Ayatollah Sayed Al-Shirazi, 28 July 2014.

https://web.archive.org/web/20160605084718/http://rasoolaladham.com/eid-prayers/

[41] https://web.archive.org/web/20150707173251/http://rasoolaladham.com:80/page/2/

[42] Ramadan: Iftaar and Salah times according to Sayed Sadiq Al-Shirazi, 26 June 2014.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GF_pNZj9oRM

[43] Fundraising video, 10.00-13.00: https://www.facebook.com/RasoolAlAdham/videos/1889364107756703/

[44] http://www.english.shirazi.ir/biography

[45] https://web.archive.org/web/20020526121015if_/http://www.imamshirazi.com:80/

[46] The Marja Ayatollah Sayed Sadiq Shirazi speaks against Khamenei’s oppression, 22 October 2014.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OFYUw56hKdE

[47] Mohammad Yazdi, Biography of Grand Ayatullah Shirazi.
http://www.jafariyanews.com/july2k2/6shirazi_bio.htm

[48] Michael Rubin, Has Kuwait reached the sectarian tipping point? 14 August 2013.
http://www.aei.org/publication/has-kuwait-reached-the-sectarian-tipping-point/

[49] Brandon Wallace, Foreign Fighters Among the Hashd al-Shaabi, 22 August 2017.
http://www.washingtoninstitute.org/fikraforum/view/foreign-fighters-among-the-hashd-al-shaabi

[50] Mehdi Khalaji, THE FUTURE OF LEADERSHIP in the Shiite Community, February 2017.

http://www.washingtoninstitute.org/uploads/Documents/pubs/PolicyFocus152-Khalaji.pdf

[51] Mehdi Khalaji, THE FUTURE OF LEADERSHIP in the Shiite Community, February 2017.

http://www.washingtoninstitute.org/uploads/Documents/pubs/PolicyFocus152-Khalaji.pdf

[52] Brandon Wallace, Foreign Fighters Among the Hashd al-Shaabi, 22 August 2017.
http://www.washingtoninstitute.org/fikraforum/view/foreign-fighters-among-the-hashd-al-shaabi

[53] Brandon Wallace, Foreign Fighters Among the Hashd al-Shaabi, 22 August 2017.
http://www.washingtoninstitute.org/fikraforum/view/foreign-fighters-among-the-hashd-al-shaabi

[54] Graham E. Fuller, Islamist Politics in Iraq after Saddam Hussein, August 2003.

https://www.usip.org/sites/default/files/sr108.pdf

[55] Ali Alfoneh, Between reform and revolution: Sheikh Qassim, the Bahraini Shi’a, and Iran, 12 July 2012. http://www.aei.org/publication/between-reform-and-revolution-sheikh-qassim-the-bahraini-shia-and-iran/

[56] Militancy in Bahrain Part 1: Beginnings – 1950-1990, 4 June 2017. https://www.citizensforbahrain.com/index.php/entry/militancy-in-bahrain-part-1-beginnings-1950-1990

[57] Ali Alfoneh, Between reform and revolution: Sheikh Qassim, the Bahraini Shi’a, and Iran, 12 July 2012. http://www.aei.org/publication/between-reform-and-revolution-sheikh-qassim-the-bahraini-shia-and-iran/

[58] Ali Alfoneh, Between reform and revolution: Sheikh Qassim, the Bahraini Shi’a, and Iran, 12 July 2012. http://www.aei.org/publication/between-reform-and-revolution-sheikh-qassim-the-bahraini-shia-and-iran/

[59] Clashes in Shiite shrine unnerves Iran’s holy city, 11 August 2005.
http://www.iranfocus.com/en/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=3275:clashes-in-shiite-shrine-unnerves-irans-holy-city&catid=3:special-wire

[60] Mehdi Khalaji, THE FUTURE OF LEADERSHIP in the Shiite Community, February 2017.

http://www.washingtoninstitute.org/uploads/Documents/pubs/PolicyFocus152-Khalaji.pdf

[61] Michael Rubin, Getting Religion Wrong. Three Decades of Misreporting Iran and Iraq, October 2008. (A chapter by Michael Rubin from the book Blind Spot: When Journalists Don’t Get Religion, NY: Oxford University Press, 2008.) http://www.meforum.org/2000/getting-religion-wrong#_ednref23

[62] Iranian authorities close Shirazi office in Shiraz city, 4 September 2014.
http://shiawaves.com/english/marjaeyat/297-iranian-authorities-close-shirazi-office-in-shiraz-city

[63] Arash Azizi, Iran targets ‘MI6 Shiites’, 4 May 2015.
https://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2015/04/iran-shia-shirazi-movement-secterian.html

[64] Arash Azizi, Iran targets ‘MI6 Shiites’, 4 May 2015.
https://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2015/04/iran-shia-shirazi-movement-secterian.html

[65] http://persian.shirazi.ir/showpage.php?Id=88

[66] Arash Azizi, Iran targets ‘MI6 Shiites’, 4 May 2015.
https://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2015/04/iran-shia-shirazi-movement-secterian.html

[67] https://web.archive.org/web/20150926164259/http://rasoolaladham.com/lailatalraghaib/

[68] https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/hussainiah/33VjTqdbaKw

[69] Iraqi-American Shi’ite Imam Moustafa Al-Qazwini in Sermon at Islamic Educational Center of Orange County, California: ISIS Is the production of Israeli intelligence, 23 June 2017.

Video: https://www.memri.org/tv/iraq-american-imam-qazwini-isis-produced-by-israeli-intelligence

Transcript: https://www.memri.org/tv/iraq-american-imam-qazwini-isis-produced-by-israeli-intelligence/transcript

[70] 2013: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kM2_3c3Pb58

2015: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u1BoD0NRugQ

2017: https://en-gb.facebook.com/RasoolAlAdham/posts/1966245063401940

[71] Islamic laws of najasat: https://www.al-islam.org/ritual-and-spiritual-purity-sayyid-muhammad-rizvi/i-najasat-taharat#8-kafirs

[72] Sayed Ali Khalkhali, Islamic Laws: Explaining Najasat, 3 September 2013 (watch from 1.45).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7NK0e1QcJDc

[73] Sayed Ali Khalkhali, Islamic Laws: Physical Impurities, 3 September 2013.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kfh_KpnxsVM

[74] Almost 6,000 petition against Golders Green Hippodrome mosque, 19 October 2017.
http://jewishnews.timesofisrael.com/almost-6000-petition-against-golders-green-hippodrome-mosque/

[75] The inheritance of Fadak – Sayed Ali Al-Nawab | Fatemiyah 1436 (Night 3), 7 March 2015.

From 10.00: http://www.alshiatube.com/the-inheritance-of-fadak-sayed-ali-al-nawab-fatemiyah-1436-night-3-video_ca07c6c20.html  ;  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=741ivqT6GBk

[76] http://www.washingtoninstitute.org/experts/view/khalaji-mehdi

[77] Speakers in a video on the website of Sadiq Shirazi permit and encourage the whipping of backs with chains, and the self-flagellation of heads with hands, swords and blades.
Tatbir/Qameh Zani/Sword/Chest beating explained by Shia scholars, 18 October 2010. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pqUuxuIeU1w

[78] Arash Azizi, Iran targets ‘MI6 Shiites’, 4 May 2015.
https://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2015/04/iran-shia-shirazi-movement-secterian.html

[79] The Muslims and Israel – Ayatollah Muhammad Al-Shirazi, 24 September 2011.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0iwhbXHALxw&t=1s

[80] Mehdi Khalaji, “What Israelis should know about Iranians”, 18 April 2016.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-2L8IhMc57c

[81] Mehdi Khalaji, The Classic Blood Libel Against Jews Goes Mainstream in Iran, 21 April 2015.
http://www.washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysis/view/the-classic-blood-libel-against-jews-goes-mainstream-in-iran

[82]Shirazis, the Saviors of Islamic Territories (1), 5 August 2015.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bjzl7grjAHI

[83] Shirazis, the Saviors of Islamic Territories (2), 5 August 2015.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n8MXhbHQnQ4

[84] Grand Ayatollah Sayed Shirazi receives groups of Iraqi tribesmen, 26 January 2016.

http://shiawaves.com/english/marjaeyat/2301-grand-ayatollah-sayed-shirazi-receives-groups-of-iraqi-tribesmen

[85] https://web.archive.org/web/20130131173844/http://www.shia-online.ir/article.asp?id=27316

[86] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7E2GCeGO1Uc

[87] Arash Azizi, Iran targets ‘MI6 Shiites’, 4 May 2015.
https://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2015/04/iran-shia-shirazi-movement-secterian.html

[88] Sayyid Sadiq Husayni Shirazi, Islamic Law, Books One and Two, Handbook of Islamic rulings on Muslim’s duties and practices, 2013. http://www.english.shirazi.ir/books/Islamic_Law_2013_SecondEdition.pdf

[89] Ibid, page 143.

[90] Makrooh means undesirable, but not forbidden.

[91] Ibid, page 691. In other words, Shias are being advised to keep the greeting to an absolute minimum, by merely saying ‘to you’ instead of ‘salam (greetings) to you’.

[92] Ibid, page 24.

[93] Ibid, pages 23.

[94] Ibid, pages 23.

[95] Ibid, pages 23.

[96] Ibid, pages 25.

[97] Michael Rubin, Getting Religion Wrong. Three Decades of Misreporting Iran and Iraq, October 2008. (A chapter by Michael Rubin from the book Blind Spot: When Journalists Don’t Get Religion, NY: Oxford University Press, 2008.) http://www.meforum.org/2000/getting-religion-wrong#_ednref23

[98] Sayyid Sadiq Husayni Shirazi, Islamic Law, Books One and Two, Handbook of Islamic rulings on Muslim’s duties and practices, 2013, page 388.

http://www.english.shirazi.ir/books/Islamic_Law_2013_SecondEdition.pdf

[99] Grand Ayatollah Shirazi delegates visit the wounded in the recent Syria terrorist bombings, 21 March 2017. http://shiawaves.com/english/marjaeyat/3954-grand-ayatollah-shirazi-delegates-visit-the-wounded-in-the-recent-syria-terrorist-bombings

[100] Activities by Islamic Action Organization, 26 February 2017.
http://news.marjaeyattv.com/en/archives/3375

[101] Brandon Wallace, Foreign Fighters Among the Hashd al-Shaabi, 22 August 2017.
http://www.washingtoninstitute.org/fikraforum/view/foreign-fighters-among-the-hashd-al-shaabi

[102] Graham E. Fuller, Islamist Politics in Iraq after Saddam Hussein, August 2003.

https://www.usip.org/sites/default/files/sr108.pdf

[103] Secretary-General of Iraqi Hezbollah Battalion meets Grand Ayatollah Shirazi, 2 March 2017.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9PMqzn3Ne8o&feature=youtu.be

[104] Yousif Kalian, Iran’s Hezbollah Franchise in Iraq: Lessons from Lebanon’s Shiite Militias, November 2016. http://www.washingtoninstitute.org/fikraforum/view/irans-hezbollah-franchise-in-iraq-lessons-from-lebanons-shiite-militias

[105] Treasury Designates Individual, Entity Posing Threat to Stability in Iraq, 2 July 2009.

https://www.treasury.gov/press-center/press-releases/Pages/tg195.aspx

[106] Designation of Kata’ib Hizballah, Office of the Coordinator for Counterterorism, 26 June 2009.

https://www.state.gov/j/ct/rls/other/des/143209.htm

[107] Representative of Grand Ayatollah Shirazi meets Commander of Asaeb Al-Haq Brigade, 30 March 2017. http://shiawaves.com/english/marjaeyat/4001-representative-of-grand-ayatollah-shirazi-meets-commander-of-asaeb-al-haq-brigade

[108] Ayatollah Shirazi public relations office continues logistic support to PMU, 22 February 2017.
http://shiawaves.com/english/marjaeyat/3833-ayatollah-shirazi-public-relations-office-continues-logistic-support-to-pmu

[109] Asa’ib Ahl al-Haq, 24 March 2017.

https://web.stanford.edu/group/mappingmilitants/cgi-bin/groups/view/143

[110] Iran supports three insurgent groups in Iraq: US general, AFP, 21 July 2010.

https://web.archive.org/web/20140219161827/https://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jCA6iGhsEI3i-z4hAG8Z2Cu4kV3Q

[111] Asa’ib Ahl al-Haq, 24 March 2017.

https://web.stanford.edu/group/mappingmilitants/cgi-bin/groups/view/143

[112] https://www.memri.org/tv/%3Airaqi-shiite-militia-leader-khazali-south-lebanon-visit-message-to-israelis

Transcript: https://www.memri.org/tv/:iraqi-shiite-militia-leader-khazali-south-lebanon-visit-message-to-israelis/transcript

[113] Delegation of Iraq’s Hezbollah al-Nujaba meets Grand Ayatollah Shirazi, 9 March 2017.
http://shiawaves.com/english/marjaeyat/3902-delegation-of-iraq-s-hezbollah-al-nujaba-meets-grand-ayatollah-shirazi

[114] Babak Dehghanpisheh, The Iraqi militia helping Iran carve a road to Damascus, 22 September 2017. https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-mideast-crisis-iraq-nujaba-specialrep/the-iraqi-militia-helping-iran-carve-a-road-to-damascus-idUKKCN1BX11L

[115] Babak Dehghanpisheh, The Iraqi militia helping Iran carve a road to Damascus, 22 September 2017. https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-mideast-crisis-iraq-nujaba-specialrep/the-iraqi-militia-helping-iran-carve-a-road-to-damascus-idUKKCN1BX11L

[116] The Eminent Grand Ayatollah Sayed Shirazi, may Allah prolong his life, stresses the importance of global Shia cultural uprising, 28 August 2014.
http://shiawaves.com/english/marjaeyat/215-the-eminent-grand-ayatollah-sayed-shirazi-may-allah-prolong-his-life-stresses-the-importance-of-global-shia-cultural-uprising

[117] Director of Shia Clerics Association in London meets director of Marjaeya TV, 7 October 2015.
http://shiawaves.com/english/marjaeyat/1677-director-of-shia-clerics-association-in-london-meets-director-of-marjaeya-tv

[118] What is Ashura? 6 December 2011.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-16047713

[119] Two booklets released containing full-length Ashura speeches of Sayid Sadiq Shirazi, 19 November 2015. http://shiawaves.com/english/marjaeyat/1942-two-booklets-released-containing-full-length-ashura-speeches-of-sayid-sadiq-shirazi

[120] Grand Ayatollah Shirazi: Rulers of the Islamic nations should not stand against Husseini rituals, 13

October 2016. http://shiawaves.com/english/marjaeyat/3282-grand-ayatollah-shirazi-rulers-of-the-islamic-nations-should-not-stand-against-husseini-rituals

[121] Matamdari Hussainia Rasool e Azam Cricklewood, London (UK), 10 August 2014.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YHJ-_0QfKKI

Mulla Mohammed Yazdan – Hussainiyat Al-Rasool Al-Adham London – Part 1, 23 April 2017.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OON8RWbdIrw

[122] Sayed Mujtaba curses Khamenei, 9 May 2012.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rL9FSRvHWcE

[123]https://web.archive.org/web/20160308131348/http://www.alqatrah.net/pr/edara/index.php?id=18

[124] http://mosques.muslimsinbritain.org/maps.php#/mosque/1278

[125] https://web.archive.org/web/20160101185909/http://shia-online.ir/article.asp?id=36241

[126] http://www.ferghenews.com/fa/404

[127] Ruth Gledhill, Tamanna Ali and Omar Shahid, Jailed radical’s new mosque raises fears of Sunni-Shia conflict in Britain, 4 May 2013. https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/jailed-radicals-new-mosque-raises-fears-of-sunni-shia-conflict-in-britain-0mqjmbx0nj6