Iran

“Land of the Shiites”

By: Ebrahim Sasson

Narrated by: Virtual Voice

The Shah was expelled from Iran by the Persian Shiite majority in a violent uprising in 1979 based on antisemitism, anti-Americanism, anti-Arab, anti-European, and anti-Islamic extreme fundamentalist ideologies in which the state was overtaken by the hundreds of thousands of religious leaders, Mullahs, and the Ayatollah Khomeini became the supreme leader of the nation in which he was considered a living prophet by the followers of Shiism. The supreme leader issues fatwas, or interpretations of the Quran, that are seen as the word of God or Allah by followers of Shiism. Shiism has its origins in the 7th century AD following the death of the Prophet Mohammad, but the current practice of Shiism has nothing in common with Sunni Islam other than it uses the Quran as a religious text. The origins of the practice of contemporary Shiism can truly be traced to the late 16th century AD when Persia sought to consolidate power and fight against Sunni Muslims in control of the Ottoman Empire during its height. Shiism isn’t Islam as it’s not peaceful, and its followers are not Muslim as they submit to a living God, which is against the Sunnah and the Quran. In reality, Shiism has been mislabeled by international media as a result of Westerners not fully understanding the history of the Middle East and Islam. It is a disservice to Sunni Muslims to refer to Shiism and categorize it with the more than 1.7 million followers of Sunni Islam, as the practice of Shiism is interpreted by the Sunni Islamic umma as religious fundamentalism or apostasy. There isn’t an acceptable interpretation of the Sunnah or Quran that allows for living prophets, genocidal acts, the funding terrorism, attacking civilian targets, misuse of wealth to attack the neighbors and other allies throughout the world, and to commit human rights violations against religious and ethnic minorities in one’s nation. Iran means “Land of the Noble”, but in truth, there hasn’t been anything noble about the nation since the Shah was expelled in 1979. The country must be immediately demilitarized, fatwas must be made illegal, all of its airspace must be deemed international, and an international oversight committee must be placed in and have full access to every location in the country for the next century. Iran has a place in the world community and should be allowed to grow within a framework that is acceptable to its neighbors in the Middle East, Sunni Muslims globally, and the rest of humanity that it shares our Earth with. The genocidal acts and ideologies, in conjunction with the terrorism and development of weapons of mass destruction, must be immediately stopped for the safety of the Iranian people, its neighbors in the Middle East, and the rest of the civilized world!

“I consider Khomeini's position dangerous. He does not have the right to pass judgment-that is not the Islamic way.” -Naguib Mahfouz