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| Wahhabi muftis, Israel behind Shia killing in Egypt: Iranian cleric |
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“Such crimes have always existed and will continue to exist, but today we are faced with a criminal phenomenon which kills people in the name of Islam and ... in the form of Takfiri Wahhabism,” Ayatollah Seyyed Ahmad Khatami said in the holy city of Qom on Thursday.
He also described the perpetrators of such crimes as “simple-minded people who have been brainwashed” and believe that their murderous acts are service to God.
The cleric also denounced Wahhabi muftis for ordering Shia Muslims killed by calling them infidels, while the Holy Quran has clearly noted that those who believe in the essentials of Islam cannot be considered infidels.
Ayatollah Khatami, however, made a distinction between Wahhabism and Sunni Islam, pointing out efforts made by Sunni scholars to shed light on the nature of the extremists.
“Wahhabism started with murder and crime from day one and is a brainchild of the British colonialism,” he noted.
Ayatollah Khatami further condemned Israel for sowing discord among Muslims in order to tarnish the image of Islam and portray it as cruel and violent.
On June 23, several hundred Takfiris attacked and surrounded the house of Shia cleric, Sheikh Hassan Shehata, in the village of Abu Mussalam in Giza Province near the capital Cairo. The Takfiris killed the cleric and three of his followers and dragged their bodies on the streets.
The grisly murder drew strong criticism from Egyptian politicians and promoted Amnesty International to demand Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi to address the violence against Shias in the country.
Amnesty’s Deputy Director for Middle East Programs Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui called on Cairo to immediately order an independent and impartial probe into the incident.
“Egyptian authorities must ... send a clear message that carrying out attacks and inciting violence against Shia Muslims will not be tolerated,” Sahraoui urged.
(Source: Press TV)
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