Showing posts with label Shia Islam. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Shia Islam. Show all posts
Sunday, August 06, 2017
Sarah Haider: Ex-Muslim
Saturday, January 02, 2016
Saudi Execution of Shia Cleric Sparks Outrage in Middle East
The Iranian government and religious leaders across the Middle East have condemned Saudi Arabia’s execution of a prominent Shia cleric and warned of repercussions that could bring down the country’s royal family.
In a serious escalation of religious and diplomatic tensions in the region, councils and clerics in Iran, Yemen and Lebanon said the killing of Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr would prompt widespread anger.
Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman, Hossein Jaber Ansari, accused Riyadh of hypocrisy. “The Saudi government supports terrorists and takfiri [radical Sunni] extremists, while executing and suppressing critics inside the country,” he told the Iranian state news agency. » | Nicola Slawson | Saturday, January 2, 2016
Middle East condemns Saudi execution of Shia cleric - live »
Friday, September 11, 2015
Netanyahu in Britain: Mideast Crumbling in Face of Radical Islam
The Middle East is disintegrating in the face of extreme Shi'a radicalism embodied by Iran, and extreme Sunni extremism incarnated by Islamic State, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said at the outset of a meeting Thursday in London with British Prime Minister David Cameron.
Netanyahu said that this – and how to “roll back the tide of militant Islam both in the Middle East and North Africa” – was one of three main issues he wanted to discuss with Cameron.
The second “no less important” issue, he said, was peace. (+ video) » | Herb Keinon | Thursday, September 10, 2015
Thursday, November 06, 2014
Sectarian Tensions Running High, Say Australian Muslim Leaders
"The tensions are very high and will continue to be high," said Jamal Daoud, a Shia community leader in Sydney, where a 47-year old Shia leader was shot in the shoulder early Monday morning, as worshipers observed the Shia ritual of Ashura.
He said Rasoul Al Mousawi, a leader in the Shia community focused around the Islamic center in Greenacre, south-west Sydney, had been released from hospital on Tuesday and was doing well.
The attack was only one incident in a string of attacks and threats against Shia Muslims by Sunni extremists who sympathized with ISIS, he claimed, and had followed an incident where a group of men had driven past the Islamic center, yelling comments such as "IS lives forever" and "Shia dogs" in Arabic.
A security guard had also been attacked by a group of men who appeared to be followers of the austere Wahhabi tradition of Sunni Islam on Friday, he said.
"There's high tension between Sunni and Shia, but these extremists, they threaten and attack Sunnis too," he said.
"Anyone who speaks against the fighting in Syria and advocating the government to take action against people in Iraq and Syria -- they are threatened and attacked."
Jamal Rifi, a Sydney-based GP and Sunni community leader, agreed, saying sectarian tensions were at an unprecedented level as a result of the brutal Syrian conflict, and the appeal of ISIS to radicalized Sunni youth in Australia. » | Tim Hume, CNN | Thursday, November 06, 2014
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Tuesday, November 04, 2014
Australia: Shooting Sparks Fear of Muslim Sectarian Violence
The attack, on a 47-year-old father of five at a Shia establishment, happened in front of his family on one of the holiest days of the Shia Muslim calendar.
The man, identified as Rasoul Al-Musawi, was standing outside the prayer hall in Greenacre, in Sydney’s southwest about 1.15am when he was struck in the face and shoulder with pellets. He was expected to undergo surgery. His injuries are not considered life-threatening. » | Anthony Klan | Journalist | Sydney | Tuesday, November 04, 2014
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Friday, February 21, 2014
Wednesday, February 19, 2014
Sunday, January 20, 2013
Sunday, February 26, 2012
CASMII*: Sean Ali Stone, son of the renowned Oscar winning director Oliver Stone, who has recently converted to Islam in Iran underlined that the western countries' claims about the threat facing them from Iran's nuclear program are mere "lies".
"My issue, really, is I don't want to see our country go to war, and, you know, if it's going to be over the potential threat that Iran is to Israel, I would say that's a complete lie," Stone explained in an interview with the CNN television network on Thursday.
"We are in a very dangerous situation - precarious situation - right now, if Israel gets the green light, and attacks preemptively Iran, the way that we preemptively attacked Iraq. That's what I'm most concerned about," he added.
Stone recently converted to Islam while in Iran, and has had meetings and discussions with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
When asked why a man of Jewish upbringing would be interested in spending time with a leader who calls the Holocaust a "big deception," Stone replied, "Regardless if he believes it or not, it does not justify - to our thinking at least - the occupation of the West Bank, and the fact that the Palestinian situation has not been resolved in that region.
"I don't care if he believes in the Holocaust. I don't want to see our country go to war." » | Source: FARS News Agency | Saturday, February 25, 2012
* CASMII stands for ‘Campaign Against Sanctions and Military Intervention in Iran’
Thursday, February 23, 2012
The ceremony was held in Isfahan, where he is researching a documentary. He now goes by the name of Sean Christopher Ali Stone.
He told Page Six: “I’ve already experienced the reverse of anti-Semitism, having people within the film industry express a reluctance to work with me now that I have said a simple prayer, ‘There is no God but God, and Mohammed is his messenger.’ I am sure I have [bleeped] off some powerful people.” Speaking over dinner at Barrio 47, Sean told us, “Having read the Koran and having been around the Islamic culture, especially in Iran, I do believe that Mohammed is a prophet of the same god worshipped by other religions.
“I am of a Jewish bloodline, a baptized Christian who accepts Christ’s teachings, the Jewish Old Testament and the Holy Koran. I believe there is one God, whether called Allah or Jehovah or whatever you wish to name him. He creates all peoples and religions. I consider myself a Jewish Christian Muslim.
“What I am trying to do is open up a dialogue about religion. There is such Islamophobia in the West. Islam is not a religion of violence any more than Judaism or Christianity is.” Read on and comment » | Monday, February 20, 2012
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
Sean was born with the middle name of Christopher, which means “bearer of Christ.” He has now, however, changed his name to Sean Ali Stone, because he has converted to Islam. In what seems a nod to family tradition, he did not just convert to Islam, he did it in a country run by the kind of tyrants his dad loves, namely Iran.
Young Sean explains his new faith in good old-fashioned addled-celebrity style. On the one hand: “I have said a simple prayer, ‘There is no God but God, and Mohammed is his messenger.’” On the other:
“I am of a Jewish bloodline, a baptized Christian who accepts Christ’s teachings, the Jewish Old Testament and the Holy Koran. I believe there is one God, whether called Allah or Jehovah or whatever you wish to name him. He creates all peoples and religions. I consider myself a Jewish Christian Muslim.” It will be diverting to see how young Mr. Stone’s new Muslim friends will respond to his theological insights.
It is also worth noting that Sean’s conversion, according to him, followed hard upon his reading of the Koran. He claims to have learned from his study of that volume that “Islam is not a religion of violence any more than Judaism or Christianity is.” He must somehow have missed the many passages in the book that vilify those who, like him, have a “Jewish bloodline.” Continue reading and comment » | Bruce Bawer | Wednesday, February 22, 2012
Bruce Bawer is a Shillman Journalism Fellow at the Freedom Center and the author of “While Europe Slept” and “Surrender.” His new Harper Collins e-book, "The New Quislings," about the Norwegian Left's exploitation of the July 22 mass murders in Norway, is now available.
Related »
The honoring ceremony took place at Tehran’s Azadi Cinema with Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance Mohammad Hosseini, Deputy Culture Minister for Cinematic Affairs Javad Shamaqdari and secretary of the festival Mohammad Khazaei attending.
Stone converted to Islam at the office of Shia cleric Ayatollah Mohammad Nasseri Dowlatabadi in the city of Isfahan last week.
On receiving his award, Stone expressed his thanks to Iranians and hoped to make joint films to help improve relations between Iran and the United States, the Persian service of ISNA reported on Friday.
He also explained about his reasons for accepting Islam and said that as a student of history, he had studied different religions and it was because of his personal interest that he chose Islam; adding that actually, it was Islam that had invited him. » | RM/YAW | Friday, February 17, 2012
Related »
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
Related »
”[My conversion] to Islam means I have accepted Mohammad…” »
Monday, February 20, 2012
GUARDIAN – SHORTCUTS BLOG: The director has become a Shiite Muslim. And Julia Roberts announced her conversion to Hinduism in 2010. Are stars more prone to religious conversions than the rest of us?
Related »
Sean Stone, 27, became a Muslim last week in a ceremony in the Iranian city of Isfahan and has adopted the Islamic name Ali.
In the past, the documentary maker has spoken of his support for Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and the country's nuclear programme.
Following Mr Stone's conversion, he told a news conference: "It's a mistake to believe that Islam is antagonistic towards Judaism and Christianity.
"What we need is to understand each other's beliefs and to establish dialogue."
Asked how his conversion would be reported in America, Mr Stone said he was not famous and it would have little effect on his life back home.
"The most important thing is I hope I can help Americans to understand the true nature of Islam," he said.
"I feel good when I enter a mosque. I believe there is only one God and with this view it is not important whether you are Muslim, Christian or Jewish."
Iranian media has widely covered Mr Stone's conversion and his Iran-friendly comments. » | Monday, February 20, 2012
Related »
REUTERS.COM: Sean Stone, the son of Oscar-winning director Oliver Stone son and a defender of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, converted to Islam on Tuesday while filming a documentary in Iran, he told Agence France Presse.
"The conversion to Islam is not abandoning Christianity or Judaism, which I was born with. It means I have accepted Mohammad and other prophets," Stone, whose famous father is Jewish and mother is Christian, told AFP. He underwent the ceremony in the city of Isfahan.
The 27-year-old did not say why he converted. Iran's Fars news agency said he had become a Shiite and taken the Muslim first name Ali.
In an interview with TheWrap at the Toronto Film Festival in September, he supported Iran’s right to a nuclear program as a defense against threats from Israel. He said criticizing the Iranian government is “like someone coming to your house and saying the father shouldn’t hit the kids,” he said. “Who are we to tell them how to rule their country?” » | Timothy Molloy at The Wrap | Tuesday, February 14, 2012
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
Thousands of Iraqi Shia have just finished an annual pilgrimage to a Baghdad shrine.
Under Saddam Hussein, Iraq's previous leader, the Shia were religiously and politically oppressed.
The fall of Hussein's regime in 2003 empowered the country's long-crushed majority.
Now, their renaissance is having an impact on the country's politics.
Al Jazeera's Rawya Rageh reports from Baghdad.
Friday, November 12, 2010
THE SUNDAY EXPRESS: ISLAMIC fanatics are mutilating themselves at a British mosque in a bloody ceremony carried out only yards from a busy high street.Shia Muslims use a five-bladed chain called a Zanjeer to whip their own backs and make cuts in their foreheads with razor blades in homage to their faith.
Bare-chested men were left bleeding heavily during the ritual known as Matam – self-flagellation – which a witness described as being “like a scene from a horror film”.
The Sunday Express found that up to 800 men performed the bloody ceremony in secret at the Imamia Mosque in Forest Gate, east London, last year.
The Matam takes place during the annual Shia Ashura ceremony and commemorates the death of Husayn, a grandson of the prophet Muhammad. It is practised largely in Pakistan, Iran, Iraq and India as well as Yemen and Afghanistan but this is the first time it is known to have taken place in Britain.
Huge wooden screens were put up around the mosque to keep the event secret and prevent passers-by on busy Romford Road seeing the bloodletting.
The Sunday Express visited the mosque last week and learned that the ceremony took place last December and is due to be repeated next month. One man who witnessed the ceremony last year was so alarmed by what he saw he nearly passed out. He said: “There was blood everywhere. There were pools of blood on the ground and my clothes were splattered with blood. It was very scary. >>> David Jarvis and Shekhar Bhatia: Exclusive | Sunday, November 07, 2010
HT: Pastorius >>>
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