RNA – In a meeting with Ján Kubiš, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for the United Nations Assistance Mission in Iraq, and his delegation, Ayatollah Sayyed Mahmoud Hashemi-Shahroudi emphasized that the fight against terrorism and ISIL is not possible except with a deep understanding of the reasons for the emergence of this phenomenon.
Ayatollah Hashemi-Shahroudi explained that some of the horrible crimes committed in Iraq, Syria and other Islamic countries by Takfiri extremist groups in the name of religion and Islam and the Quran have been caused two fundamental factors – religious extremism and political motivations.
He said that religious extremism in the Islamic world is due to the Wahhabi thought established by Muhammad ibn Abdul-Wahhab in the 18th century and added that after World War I, this ideology entered the religious geography of the Islamic world and left its evil effects, including the development of violence and inhumane behaviour and attributing such behaviour to Islam and the Quran, creating oppression and spreading public fear, severe repression, deadly opposition and numerous other crimes.
The Iranian cleric pointed to the intensification of the foul political activity by the Saudi government and the leaders of the Wahhabi ideology after the victory of Iran’s Islamic Revolution. “Iran’s sacred system of government is an indication of Shi’ism and Shi’a thought, which is completely against Wahhabi thought and the Islam that emerged from this system is an Islam of rationality and democracy,” he said.
Ayatollah Hashemi-Shahroudi said that the opposition of the Wahhabi ideology is due to a global tendency towards Imam Khomeini's theory of Islamic governance and Shi’ism, which is an Islam of rationality.
He said that since the Islamic Revolution, the Wahhabis have sought to prevent the development of Shi’a revolutionary thought by supporting the imperial powers in order to confront Iran’s strategic influence in the world and the region.
111/112