Ayatollah
Seyyed Safavi, founder of the Institute of Islamic Studies, wrote the
following letter to the editor of the Financial Times, which was published on
Monday 2nd 2015. Safavi has attended and spoken at various events
hosted by the Next Century Foundation (NCF):
" All Iranians, and indeed most of our friends in the West, are concerned by the
emergence of DAISH. Like both the
Taleban and al-Qa’ida, DAISH was established with the support of outside
players. However DAISH adds a new element to the mix in that it has the support
of Turkey.
Of course Turkey had no
role in the establishment of the Taleban. The Taleban was and is a local group
in an isolated country in central Asia. And Al-Qa’ida is predominantly Arab.
But DAISH is an international group. They have (according to our understanding)
more than 35,000 members. What makes DAISH different from the Taleban
and al-Qa’ida is that DAISH favours an Islamic caliphate, which is both reactionary
and dangerous. DAISH ideology stands in direct contrast to democracy, peace,
security, international stability and intellectual Islam.
Some in the Western media
call them IS (the Islamic State) giving them greater credibility than they
deserve. Are they Muslims? The key figures are Ba’athists. Ba’athism is a
combination of Marxism, socialism, and Arab nationalism. Ba’athists don’t
believe in any religion, whether it be Islam, Christianity or Judaism. The
soldiers think they are Muslim but their behaviour does not match any Islamic
standard of law, ethics or morality.
When Sunni Muslims refer to a caliphate, they
refer to the political successors of the prophet Mohammed who was the last
messenger of God; the kind of caliphate advocated by Daish is opposed by both
Shia Islam and Sufism.
Following the collapse of
the Abbasid caliphate (1258) at the hands of the Moguls, the Ottoman Empire
established a new caliphate in Istanbul that lasted for around 600 years to the
end of World War One. After the subsequent collapse of the Ottoman
Empire in 1918, the Islamic countries in the Middle East were divided by France
and Britain. Secularism then collapsed and dictatorship was established in many
parts of the Middle East. And now those dictatorships have been
challenged and find we have DAISH to cope with. This group is an umbrella
movement for many extremists from around the world, and they don’t believe in
any human rights.
Who will DAISH attack
next? After attacking Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Qatar, they will go for Egypt.
They have the support of ignorant extremists in Europe and America. In
Europe and the US, they will start to pressure the Muslim community. This will
lead to more support for DAISH and more will join them as soldiers. DAISH gives
Muslims a bad name and this will lead to more clashes between Muslims and the
West. This worries Iran the most. Their actions are
against basic human rights, morality and Islam. They are definitely not
representative of Muslim world and society. Their ugly behaviour towards women,
and indeed towards the minorities, particularly the Christians, is utterly
contrary to the Islamic values.
All peace activists,
politicians and the media should be concerned about how to deal with DAISH. Now
it is time. For the past five years Iran has advised the West and Arab
countries in the Persian Gulf not to support these extremist groups. Now you
see what is going on. Now you are calling for operation against them. Iran will
do what it can to help stop this extremist group. Arab countries and Turkey
should learn and follow our example. "
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