Rasa News Agency – In a written statement, Grand Ayatollah Naser Makarem-Shirazi compared the protests and anger against the government which are going on in Saudi Arabia as a warning to the Saudi ruling family that they should be careful of their behaviour, and most importantly, they should take into consideration the pure sentiments of the Shi’ites and the followers of the school of the Ahlul-Bayt, so they do not enrage them.
His Eminence’s statement is as follows:
In the Name of God, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful
The terrible news regarding the treatment by the Saudi authorities toward the Shi’ites of the regions of al-Ahsa and al-Qatif has reached us. A number of the grand scholars there have been sentenced as guilty for seeking freedom and have thrown in prison for holding religious gatherings. Many restrictions have been imposed on them and the most terrifying of them have been the death sentence on the great scholar of this region, Shaykh Nimr Baqir an-Nimr.
We send a warning to the Saudi authorities that these kinds of actions quickly harm the [religious] sentiments of all the Shi’ites and followers of the school of the Ahlul-Bayt (A) in the world and will have negative repercussions.
The Saudi rulers must instead of fermenting violence must listen to their hearts. The people want their lost rights. They demand freedom to perform their religious rites. They are interested in [the wellbeing] of their country. Which logic and reason permit these legitimate rights to be violated?
We are surprised that the human rights organizations of the world have remained silent in the face of the human rights violations by these dominant governments! But if a slight incident occurs in a country that is not in agreement with them, they protest loudly!
We repeat that this death sentence on a great scholar cannot be considered unimportant for the Shi’ite authorities and the scholars of the school of thought of the Ahlul-Bayt (A) and all those who are interested in their case throughout the world.
“May peace be upon him who follows guidance!” [The Holy Quran 20:47]
Naser Makarem-Shirazi
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