Plight of Malaysian Shias

The Malaysian Constitution guarantees freedom of religion, but when it comes to Islam, the country’s official religion, only the Sunni sect is permitted. Other forms, including Shiite Islam, are considered deviant and are not allowed to be spread.
Mr. Mohammad was one of 130 Shiites detained by the religious authorities in December as they observed Ashura, the Shiite holy day commemorating the death of the Prophet Muhammad’s grandson Ali, in their prayer room in an outer suburb of Kuala Lumpur.
There are no official figures on the number of Shiites in Malaysia, but Shiite leaders estimate that there could be as many as 40,000, many of whom practice their faith secretly.
While sectarian divisions are associated more with countries such as Iraq and Pakistan, Islamic experts say Malaysia is a rare example of a Muslim-majority country where the Shiite sect is banned. They say the recent raid reflects the religious authorities’ reluctance to accept diversity within Islam, and was part of the authorities’ continuing efforts to impose a rigid interpretation of the religion.
Although there had been some earlier arrests of Shiites since the National Fatwa Council, the country’s top Islamic body, clarified that Sunni Islam was the official religion in 1996, the December raid on the prayer room occupied by the Lovers of the Prophet’s Household was the first in recent years, according to the Shiite group’s Iranian-trained leader, Kamil Zuhairi bin Abdul Aziz.......Full Article

A million Iraqi Shiites pray in Samarrah

As many as one million pilgrims prayed in the Iraqi holy city of Samarra on last Friday.

Samarra, a Sunni-majority city 80 miles (125 kilometres) north of the capital and a former hotbed of Iraq's insurgency, houses a major Shiite mausoleum blown up by suspected Al-Qaeda forces in 2006.

Sadr, head of the Mahdi army, last month urged the faithful to restore a traditional pilgrimage halted since the 2003 US-led invasion and to pray at Samarra's golden-domed shrine to commemorate the death of the 11th imam, Hassan al-Askari, at his mausoleum.

The commemoration falls this year on March 6.

Iraqi television stations reported the gathering swelled to more than a million.

"About 800,000 pilgrims arrived in the city," said Samarra governor Hamad Homoud al-Shagti well before midday as crowds continued to pour in.

"The security situation is good and there have not been any security violations so far," he told reporters. "Iraqi forces are deployed along the roads."

"Iraqi and US air forces are hovering over the area" in helicopters, Shagti said.

Police Major General Rasheed Flayeh said cars had been banned from the city to prevent bombings.

No serious incidents had been reported by mid-afternoon.

Tens of thousands of people died in violence sparked by the destruction three years ago by alleged al-Qaeda Sunni extremists of the dome of the revered Al-Askari mosque, built in 944. The golden dome was added in 1905.

Although security has improved in Iraq recently, dozens of Shiites were killed last month in bomb blasts as they headed into the holy city of Karbala, south of Baghdad, for a major religious ceremony.

AFP - 6 march 2006

A Letter to King Abdullah by a Shia Cleric

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia - A prominent Shiite cleric in Saudi Arabia appealed to King Abdullah to put an end to "extremist practices and insults" by members of the religious police against Shiite pilgrims following a series of incidents at a revered cemetery.
Sheik Hassan al-Saffar's posted the appeal on his Web site Monday, following reports of several incidents of confrontations between Shiites and riot police at the al-Baqee Cemetery in Medina, Islam's second-holiest city.
The confrontations aggravate the friction between the overwhelmingly Sunni population and the Shiites, who say they make up 10-15 percent of Saudi Arabia's 22 million people.
Saudi Arabia follows the severe Wahhabi interpretation of Sunni Islam that considers Shiites infidels. Shiites routinely complain of discrimination, including being banned from joining the religious police.
Shiite witnesses said the first clash took place Friday evening after members of the religious police filmed female Shiite pilgrims outside the cemetery, which contains the graves of several revered imams.
When five male relatives of the women demanded the police turn over the tapes, there was a scuffle and the men were arrested, according to a witness who refused to be identified for fear of being punished.
After the arrest, hundreds of pilgrims gathered outside the cemetery, demanding their release. Riot police used batons to disperse the crowd, said the witness.
According to Medina's police, however, the five were arrested and charged with causing a disturbance at the gate of the cemetery after being told visitation hours were over.
On Monday night, another confrontation took place when the religious police banned female Shiite pilgrims from visiting an area reserved for them outside the cemetery that overlooks the graves, according to the same witness.
Women in Saudi Arabia are banned from visiting graves.
The witness said police used batons against the angry Shiite crowd, which he estimated at 3,000-4,000. Sunni onlookers also joined the fray, attacking Shiite pilgrims.
On Tuesday, when police once again prevented people from entering the cemetery, the pilgrims drew knives and attacked, injuring two policemen, according to a security official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to speak to the media.
A member of the crowd was taken to the hospital, the official said.
The Al-Madina newspaper on Tuesday quoted Medina's governor, Prince Abdul-Aziz bin Majed, as saying that authorities are questioning "those behind the chaotic events" in al-Baqee. He didn't mention their identities or numbers.
Yasser al-Matrafi, head of public relations at the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice which runs the religious police, told Al-Madina that the religious police had no part in al-Baqee events.
In his appeal, al-Saffar said the treatment of Shiite visitors near the al-Baqee Cemetery violates "Islamic morals and human rights" and the tolerant measures called for by the interfaith conferences hosted by the king a few months ago.
When contacted by The Associated Press, al-Saffar's office confirmed the authenticity of the statement on the cleric's Web site.
"Visitors are generally harshly treated ... and prayer books are confiscated," said al-Saffar, adding that this makes pilgrimages and religious visits "subject to sectarian tensions.

(thanks to Mr. S. E Hasan)