Despite periods of open conflict between Sunnis and Shias in countries such as Lebanon and Iraq, the two groups are not all that different in terms of religious beliefs and commitment. On some religious issues, including whether it is acceptable to visit the shrines of Muslim saints , the differences between the sects are more apparent. For some, the divide is even exclusionary. Fresh data delivered Saturday mornings. It organizes the public into nine distinct groups, based on an analysis of their attitudes and values.
Even in a polarized era, the survey reveals deep divisions in both partisan coalitions. This practice continued during the year, with at least 30 persons reportedly charged, convicted, and sentenced to death for moharebeh since January According to credible nongovernmental organization NGO reports, at least 10 individuals were executed on charges of moharebeh during the year, including brothers Mohammad and Abdollah Fathi on May Since the Islamic Revolution, the government has killed more than Baha'is, although there were no reports of Baha'i executions during the year.
In Christian pastor Youcef Nadarkhani was convicted of apostasy and sentenced to death, pending confirmation by the Supreme Court. The sentence has yet to be confirmed or carried out after the Supreme Court requested the local court to conduct an investigation into Nadarkhani's religious history. The government continued to imprison and detain Baha'is based on their religious beliefs. The government arbitrarily arrested Baha'is and charged them with violating Islamic penal code articles and , relating to activities against the state and spreading falsehoods, respectively.
Often the charges were not dropped upon release, and those with charges pending against them reportedly feared arrest at any time. Most were released only after paying a large fine or posting high bail. For some, bail was in the form of deeds of property; others gained their release in exchange for personal guarantees from a "guardian" that the offender would appear in court, or the granting of a work license. Government officials reportedly offered Baha'is relief from mistreatment in exchange for recanting their religious affiliation, and if incarcerated, made recanting their religious affiliation a precondition for release.
At least 60 Baha'is were arbitrarily arrested during the year, some of whom were released. At least 95 Baha'is were imprisoned and Baha'i cases were still active with authorities at year's end, according to human rights groups. In September, at the conclusion of her four-year sentence, the government released Raha Sabet, one of three Baha'is arrested in for their involvement in projects focused on teaching literacy and social skills to children.
Authorities released her two colleagues in Although the courts originally sentenced the leaders to 20 years' imprisonment in June for "espionage for Israel, insulting religious sanctities, and propaganda against the Islamic Republic," the courts reduced the sentence to 10 years in September At year's end, all remained in detention and the government had not allowed any of the seven leaders access to their attorney, Abdolfattah Soltani.
In May authorities detained at least 30 members of the Baha'i Institute for Higher Education, raided their homes, and took cultural items. Ultimately authorities arrested 16 persons for failing to meet the entrance requirements to the university and for being members of an "illegal cult with anti-human rights activities. In October courts found the other seven — Kamran Mortezaie, Ramin Zibaie, Mahmoud Badavam, Farhad Sedghi, Riaz Sobhani, Vahid Mahmoudi, and Nooshin Khadem — guilty of "membership in the deviant Baha'i sect, with the goal of taking action against the security of the country, in order to further the aims of the deviant sect and those of organizations outside the country," according to unofficial transcripts of the trial.
Courts sentenced them to four to five years in prison. At year's end, all remained in prison. Their trials were conducted without a senior member of their legal team, Abdolfattah Soltani, who was arrested days before the trials began. On September 10, security agents arrested Soltani without a warrant and took him to an unknown location; at year's end Soltani reportedly was being held in Ward of Evin Prison in Tehran.
Harassment and arrests of Sufis also continued during the year. In September, 60 Sufis were arrested after confrontations with security forces; authorities released 15 but sent the other 45 to prison with no access to attorneys or family members. Authorities later arrested three lawyers — Gholam Reza Shirazi, Amir Islami, and Afshin Kharampour — when they attended meetings with government officials with the intent to negotiate the release of those arrested.
Also in September authorities arrested approximately 15 Sufi webmasters and journalists who reportedly still were being held at year's end.
In April police rearrested eight Sufis on charges of disrupting public order, for which they already had served sentences of flogging and imprisonment. In March authorities ordered Gonabadi Sufis to appear in court to face allegations of insulting Iranian officials; the outcome of the order was not reported. At least arrests of Christians were reported during the year. The status of some of these cases was not known at year's end.
Authorities released some Christians almost immediately, while they held others in secret locations without access to attorneys. During the year, authorities also arrested several members of "protected" Christian groups such as Armenian Apostolics and Assyrians. According to media reports, security officials attacked Pastor Sabokrouh's Assembly of God church in Ahvaz during the weekly prayer service. Security forces arrested all church members present, including children, while plainclothes agents confiscated mobile phones, audio-visual equipment, and copies of Christian books.
Authorities released congregants after questioning, but they were not allowed to travel. Charges against Pastor Sabokrouh were not announced, nor were family members permitted to see him. Sabokrough had been arrested previously. They were released on bail in February. In March they were found guilty of "crimes against national security," although the verdict was appealed. In April this sentence reportedly was commuted to one year in prison for "crimes against the Islamic Order," when prosecutors failed to produce evidence of apostasy.
Sadegh-Khandjani reported to prison in November to serve his sentence, along with Khalaj and Beliad. On May 14, the Revolutionary Court in Bandar Anzali acquitted 12 Protestant Christians on the charge of "forming a society with the intent of disrupting national security. However, his family had no information on his whereabouts or the charges against him. Haghnejad previously had been arrested in His condition was unknown at year's end.
There were numerous incidents during the year of Muslim converts to Christianity facing harassment, arrest, and sentencing. Many arrests took place during police raids on religious gatherings, during which religious property also was confiscated.
For example, security officials arrested four Ahvazi Arabs in October for having converted from Islam to Christianity. Officials raided her home and seized personal belongings, including Christian literature. Mohammadi was charged with, among other crimes, "insulting sacred figures. Following his October arrest, Youcef Nadarkhani, a pastor of a house church in Gilan, received a death sentence for apostasy.
His case was appealed and later reports indicated that officials had offered to release him if he recanted his Christian faith and made a statement about the Prophet Muhammad. According to news sources, Nadarkhani had refused to make such a statement and a final decision on his case had not been made by the year's end.
Zoroastrians also reported detentions and harassment. In late October ministry of intelligence agents reportedly arrested Yashin Jamshidi, a Zoroastrian in Karaj. According to NGO reports, agents later went to his home and confiscated his personal belongings. There was no information onon his whereabouts at year's end. There were reports of arrests and harassment of Sunnis. In October courts handed down prison sentences totaling years for 54 Sunni clerics from the provinces of Azerbaijan and Kurdistan.
In June a revolutionary court sentenced Sunni cleric Mamousta Sediq Hassani to 14 years in prison on charges of "cooperating with a dissident group. Shia religious leaders who did not fully support government policies or the supreme leader's views also faced intimidation and arrest.
For example, in December authorities arrested Hojatoleslam Abdollah Shahani, a religious opposition leader and blogger. Shahani previously had been banned from teaching at a local religious college. Also in December, ministry of intelligence authorities arrested opposition cleric Hasanali Mostafaei, a disciple of the late reformist cleric Ayatollah Montazeri, at his home.
There was no further information on the Shahani or Mostafaei cases or their whereabouts at year's end. Family members told HRW a cellmate tried to kill Boroujerdi, who has often been critical of the government, and that prison authorities had denied him proper medical care outside of prison.
Boroujerdi, who was attacked twice previously in prison, also suffered from failing eyesight, diabetes, Parkinson's disease, and high blood pressure. In August media in the country reported the rearrest of religious scholar Ahmad Ghabel, who had been sentenced in for "propaganda against the regime" and released on bail in June.
He has preached throughout the world, including during several visits to the United States, Lebanon, Mali, Senegal, Saudi Arabia, and other countries. Al-Nabulsi announced his support for the Syrian revolution in a July sermon. On August 17, , al-Nabulsi wrote a letter to Dr. Muhammad Said Ramadan al-Buti, a staunch defender of the Assad regime, urging him to reconsider his support for the Syrian president.
He is a traditional Sunni who adheres to the Hanafi school of jurisprudence. In , he earned a doctorate-equivalent certificate in Islamic law from al-Azhar University in Cairo. From —, he taught Islamic law and culture in secondary schools in Aleppo. He has written dozens of books on Islamic law and has a episode television show on Quranic exegesis. Sabouni made a statement saying that supporting the peaceful protests against Assad was a religious obligation for all Muslim scholars.
He also issued fatwas calling upon all protesters to stand firm and fight against tyranny and forbidding soldiers in the Syrian army from fighting their brethren. He was assassinated in what appeared to be a suicide bombing attack on al-Iman Mosque in Damascus on March 21st by unknown perpetrators.
Al-Bouti was known as a staunch defender of the Assad regime. He has criticized the protesters for causing disturbances and accused them of being backed by external powers. He had stated that fighting in the Syrian army for Assad was a religious obligation.
Born in on the Turkish island of Butan, al-Buti immigrated to Damascus with his father when he was four years old. Since , al-Buti had held various positions at the University of Damascus—professor, vice dean, dean, and as chair of the Theology Department. He is a prolific writer and has published several books on religion, philosophy, and Arabic literature. He had also written extensively against the Salafi interpretation of Islam. Hassoun has outspokenly condemned opposition forces and voiced his support for the regime since the start of the Syrian crisis.
On October 1, , his twenty-two-year-old son, Sariya, was killed near Ebla University on the highway connecting Idlib and Aleppo. Moreover, he claimed in a public address aired on Syria News TV that he would command suicide bombers to attack in the United States and Europe if these foreign powers were to militarily intervene in Syria. Born in Aleppo in , Hassoun holds a degree in Arabic literature as well as a doctorate of jurisprudence from the renowned al-Azhar University in Cairo.
He was a member of the Syrian parliament from to to He was appointed mufti of Aleppo in and is a member of the Grand Council of Fatwas as well as preacher at the Rawda Mosque in Aleppo.
He was promoted to the position of grand mufti by President Bashar al-Assad in July Sheikh Sattar al-Sayyed has supported the regime since the beginning of the Syrian uprising in March Born in Tartus in , al-Sayyed obtained a degree in economics and trade in from the University of Damascus as well as a PhD in Islamic Studies in He served as director of Religious Endowments and mufti of the Tartus Governorate from until He was then appointed deputy minister of Religious Endowments for Religious Affairs before becoming minister in Sheikh al-Sayyed has participated in several Islamic conferences and delivered a number of lectures.
Zuhayli is a prominent Islamic legal philosopher and jurist and one of the most well-known Syrian Islamic scholars. He has not taken a clear public position against the regime nor has he spoken out in favor of it.
Muhammad Habash is an Islamic scholar, preacher, and thinker in Damascus and has been an independent member of the Syrian parliament since Habash was director of the Institute of the Holy Quran in Syria from to and has been a preacher at al-Zahra Mosque in Damascus since Orthodox Christian Holidays, Trending Here are the facts and trivia that people are buzzing about.
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