Iranian senior cleric: Enemies afraid of the spread of Shi’ism in Africa

The head of al-Mustafa International University stated that the recent tragic events in Nigeria are a sign of the enemies’ fear of the spread of the discourse and thought of the Ahlul-Bayt in Africa, adding that Shaykh al-Zakzaky was educated in the discourse of the Islamic Revolution and is one of the great scholars of the Islamic world.

In a meeting with the research directors and secretaries of the Education Department at al-Mustafa International University, Ayatollah Ali-Reza Arafi responded to the recent terrorist attacks which has killed a large number of Shi’ites belonging to the Islamic Movement of Nigeria in the northern city of Zaria, saying that Hujjat al-Islam Ibrahim al-Zakzaky is one of the great scholars of Islam and the school of the Ahlul-Bayt (AS) and our sensitivity crosses all borders.

On December 13th, Nigerian forces arrested Nigeria’s highest Shi’a cleric after carrying out a deadly raid on his private residence. Activists and local residents said that a large number of soldiers torched and destroyed several parts of Shaykh al-Zakzaky’s house before arresting the cleric.

The head of Qom’s al-Mustafa International University considered this tragedy as revenge from Takfiri terrorist groups for the massive presence of millions of Nigerian Shi’as in the recently held Arba’een march in Zaria, saying: “By the grace of God, this event will become a wave for the Shi’a discourse [in Nigeria] and will be more expansive than in the past.”

His Eminence said that al-Mustafa International University is an international institution and is targeted by the enemies’ plots, and added that what we are seeing in Nigeria today is that the pure Islam of the Ahlul-Bayt has found power in the most populous and the most important country in Africa, and there are now more than 15 million Shi’as in this country.

Ayatollah Arafi said that Shaykh al-Zakzaky was trained by al-Mustafa International University and by the discourse of the Islamic Revolution, adding that a seminarian is like the world because he can change his city, country and the world. “By paying attention to this point, the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Sayyed Ali Khamenei, said that we are facing a "historical twist" and that training such people is very important,” he said.

In regard to this historical twist, he said that after World War II, the Allies divided the world in which the main actors took their share of the world and those that were not present, suffered and we are still affected by this same global order.

Ayatollah Arafi stressed that we believe that the world should be influenced by the divine message and Islamic religious teachings and this is our essence and through our missionary work and publications, we have shown this message to the world.

He added that the world is ready for this message and if we do not strengthen our intellectual base, this opportunity will be lost and the enemies will eliminate these opportunities.

The head of al-Mustafa International University pointed out that we live in a world filled with turmoil and unrest, thus we cannot rest because our job is the promotion of religion and that which we promote is very valuable. Because of this, we need a revolutionary and Basiji movement.

Ayatollah Arafi said that the focus of our discourse is the Islamic Revolution which is a discourse of approximation between various religious groups and sects and Islamic solidarity and not everyone who claims to follow the Ahlul-Bayt accepts this and we separate ourselves from this and we consider the Mi6 Shi’as in the United Kingdom as our red line.



/257