Shi’ah Scholar from Saudi Arabia:

Anyone who criticizes Al Saud will be severely punished

Rasa - Hujjat al-Islam Ahmad al-Rajazi said the Saudi government imposes great pressure in order to curb freedom of expression in the kingdom and added that even criticizing Saudi policies on social media networks can be severely punished by the government.

News ID: 425764

Date: 15 December 2016 - 17:53

RNA – Speaking at a conference held at the University of Qom which examined the human rights from the perspective of criminal law in Saudi Arabia, Hujjat al-Islam Ahmad al-Rajazi referred to the importance of Saudi Arabia and the Persian Gulf region to the world and said the primary reason for the importance of Saudi Arabia is that the country is “the land of revelation” where Islam originally spread from.

The Saudi Shi’ah scholar and said that since Salman became the King of Saudi Arabia in 2015, the situation of Shi’ahs has become worse in Saudi Arabia, explaining that due to his extremist Wahhabi beliefs, King Salman has applied all of his force to fight against Shi’ahs, especially those who support the Iranian Islamic Revolution.

“Since 1979, Saudi Arabia has done whatever possible to prevent the Islamic Revolution,” he stressed.

Hujjat al-Islam al-Rajazi stated that after the victory of the Islamic Revolution, all of Saudi Arabia’s cultural activities, media propagation and school textbooks published have been against Shi’ahs.

“In this regard, they propagate that Shi’ahs are infidels and that killing Shi’ahs is lawful,” he said.

His Eminence said the Saudi government imposes great pressure in order to curb freedom of expression in the kingdom and added that even criticizing Saudi policies on social media networks can be severely punished by the government although any minister who is not a member of the Al Saud can be criticized.

He added that Saudi Shi’ahs are considered second-class citizens and are not allowed access to important jobs, such as those in the security fields and in the army. Shi’ahs are treated unfairly because Saudi Arabia is based on two pillars – the monarchy and the Wahhabi clergy and if one side is weak, the other side is also weak and vice versa.

Hujjat al-Islam al-Rajazi explained that pressure against non-Wahhabi beliefs is so rampant in the Wahhabi kingdom that even Sunni Muslims from the Shafi’i and Hanafi schools of thought don’t have the right to discuss their beliefs and theology and scholars cannot print their books and the Shi’ahs face even greater pressure than this.

He stated, “Wahhabis consider Shi’ahs as their enemies and say that Shi’ahs are worse than Jews. Because the relationship between Shi’ah lay people and their religious authorities is very good and they don’t abandon them, the Saudi government states that they either must abandon their scholars, leave Saudi Arabia or be killed.”

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