Grand Ayatollah Nasser Makarim Shiraz issued a fatwa calling on Muslims around the world to retaliate. (Photo credit: Ayatollah Marekem Shirazi via X)
After the United States and Israel killed Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Grand Ayatollah Hussein Nouri Hamedani and Grand Ayatollah Nasser Makarim Shiraz issued fatwas calling on Muslims to seek revenge.
One of two Iranian Shia religious leaders who issued fatwa after the death of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei had received a £15,000 “religious tolerance” grant from the Brent Council.
On Sunday, Grand Ayatollah Hussein Nouri Hamedani and Grand Ayatollah Nasser Makarim Shiraz issued a fatwa calling on Muslims around the world to retaliate after the United States and Israel assassinated Khamenei.
Hamedani responded in writing to the request of the Presidium of the Congress of Students and Scholars of Qom Theological Seminary, stating that “revenge for the martyrs of the revolution is the obligation of all Muslims.”
“There is no doubt that the criminal United States and the bloodthirsty Zionists have reached the end of their road, and this time powerful armed forces will respond decisively and unforgettably,” he warned.
Shiraz issued a fatwa calling Israel and the United States “the most evil enemies of mankind” and “the main perpetrators of this crime.”
“The people of Iran and the Islamic world are the bloody avengers of the martyrs of the revolution,” he said, adding that “it is the religious duty of all Muslims around the world to seek revenge so that the evil of these criminals can be eradicated from the world.”
Brent Council receives alert from IRGC link
Shiraz, one of Iran’s most important religious figures, established a representative office in 2008 in Harrow Road, London, called the Babur Murad Centre.
Through the centre, Shiraz also set up a charity in the UK called International Islamic Links, which received a £15,000 grant in 2009 from London’s local government agency Brent Council to promote “religious tolerance”.
After being alerted to the IRGC link, Brent Council said it “did not commission the project” [charity] Since then, there have been no future plans to fund them. “
Prior to his investigation by the Charity Commission, Shiraz had several pages on his own website describing his belief that the Holocaust was a myth created by Jews to gain support for the Zionist project.
Trustees of the International Islamic Connection claim there are currently no links to Shiraz, but organizations such as the Middle East Forum dispute this.