In a letter written in Arabic, Qom Seminary professor Ayatollah Jafar Sobhani vehemently condemned the killing of Egyptian Shi’a cleric Sheikh Hassan Shahate and three of his followers earlier this week “…at the hand of takfiri bands connected to the Great Satan America and the Zionist regime, which took place with the goal of expanding sedition and division in the Islamic community and also expanding chaos and destruction in Islamic societies…” He then criticized Salafi clerics for issuing fatwas that incite violence against Shi’as and warned that their silence will “…open the doors of wickedness among the [Islamic] community, which are impossible to close.”

(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) - In a letter written in Arabic, Qom Seminary professor Ayatollah Jafar Sobhani vehemently condemned the killing of Egyptian Shi’a cleric Sheikh Hassan Shahate and three of his followers earlier this week.

“Al-Azhar religious pundit and clerics should unmask Salafis,” Grand Ayatollah Sobhani demanded Al-Azhar religious scholars.

Ayatollah Jafar Sobhani in his recently released message to the well-versed religious scholars of Al-Azhar urged them to take urgent steps to subdue Salafi groups in committing misdeeds.

Standing against extremist groups should be high on the agenda and “it is duty of religious scholars especially Egyptian nation and Al-Azhar scholars to unveil Salafis' plots and extremist Fatwas,” the message reads.

To Ayatolalh Sobhani, what these groups are after is indeed targeting the Islamic values and sanctities, defiling them in the Islamic world and among Muslims.

He then criticized Salafi clerics for issuing fatwas that incite violence against Shi’as and warned that their silence will open the doors of wickedness among the [Islamic] community, which are impossible to close.

Recently, the Shia community in different countries including Egypt and Syria is being targeted by Salafis, with the support of a number of countries, especially Saudi Arabia and Qatar.

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