The corrupt ‘Ulama’

In addition to the organisations we have already mentioned, the government has other ways and means of spreading its line of thought amongst the Ahlus Sunnah. One of these ways is its patronisation of the corrupt ‘Ulama’.

History is witness to the presence in every age and time of persons connected with religion and religious knowledge, who serve oppressive and tyrannical rulers and grovel at their feet. Men such as these could be motivated by any of a number of reasons: fear of the rulers, hope of attaining the riches and glamour of this world, greed for high positions and social status, or a craving for fame and honour. These things can be had only through false praise, by submission and obedience to tyranny, by supporting the system and encouraging to do likewise. After all, in their particular view of the matter, the government is that legitimate authority against whom no one may protest and whose laws none may disobey.

I fail to understand the rationale behind this defence of the government. Have they then no fear of Allah? Are they not afraid of His punishment? Are these people who call the Sahabah—Abu Bakr, ‘Umar, ‘Uthman, Muawiyah and ‘Aisha—kafir, who curse and revile them, who believe in the interpolation of the Qur’an, who regard their Imams as infallible, and believe that they too, receive divine revelation (to mention only a few of their beliefs)—are these people the rightful and legitimate rulers of the Muslims? How could that ever be? In which religion? With what kind of logic or reason? Why should there not be resistance to a government of this nature, that stands in the way of the propagation of truth, that kills those who call towards truth day and night, that detains their children, insults their honour and does whatever its desire dictates?

Yes, this is what is happening in Iran today. We see men of religious knowledge being raised to various positions, where the government is able to use them to its own advantage. Sometimes, verdicts are extracted from them which declare other Sunni ‘Ulama’ and Sunni youth kafir on charges like being Wahhabis. Some of them even write books in which they pronounce men like Imam Ibn Taymiyyah and Muhammad ibn ‘Abdul Wahhab to be murtad. These are some of the ways in which the government uses these corrupt ‘Ulama’ for the task of spreading its own ideology and creed.

At times, some of them are chosen and appointed as imams in Masjids in order that they may spy for the intelligence agencies of the government. In some areas, there were young Sunni ‘Ulama’ who were graduates of local madrasahs. They used to give the khutbahs and lead the Salah in the Masjids and teach the people their religion. As soon as the government realised the threat these young ‘Ulama’ presented to its own interests, they became the targets of various accusations, like that of being Wahhabis, for example. They were thrown out of their Masjids and their places were taken by corrupt ‘Ulama’ from whom the government had nothing to fear and who would instead serve the interests of the government. As a result, many of the people in these Sunni regions, and especially the religiously conscious youth, stopped attending the Masjids, since they refused to be led by traitors and spies.

So pitiful did the state of the traitors become, that their sermons are prepared and sent to them in written form by the government, for them to read it out to the people. They cannot add or subtract a word, no matter what objectionable statements these prepared sermons may contain, like “Khomeini is the leader of the Ummah world-wide” “the Iran-Iraq war is a Jihad being fought for the elevation of the word of Allah”, “the Wahhabis—who call towards tawhid and correct ‘aqidah—are out of the fold of Islam”.

Another function of the traitors is to make supplication for the prosperity, longevity, success and victory of the rulers. In doing so, they deceive the public and mix truth with falsehood.

Some of the corrupt ‘Ulama’ are chosen by the government as representatives for the Sunni regions. They are then given the necessary support to ensure that they enter parliament. At the moment, there are more than eight persons who fall in this category. They come from various regions, like Kurdistan, Baluchistan and Turkmen-Sahra, and serve in parliament as representatives of the Ahlus Sunnah. They have been set up as puppets with whom the government is able to deceive people into believing that Sunnis in Iran have a role in the Revolution and in government.

We will use an actual example here to demonstrate whether these “representatives” truly work for the Ahlus Sunnah and the defence of their rights, or whether they are mere puppets of the government. When one of our sincere ‘Ulama’ was detained in Salehabad, Khorasan, a group of people together with some other ‘Ulama’ went to the house of the Sunni member of parliament for Sarvan, Baluchistan, in Tehran. They told him, “You are a member of parliament and a deputy of the prime minister for the Ahlus Sunnah, as you people say. We ask you to demand the release of this scholar from Khorasan who has been detained.” His response was, “We cannot speak to the heads of government concerning those detained on charges of being Wahhabis, because if we were to do so, they will no longer trust us or rely upon us and we will be relieved of our work.”

Yes, this is the way the traitors worked. They invariably stand by the side of the government, never fearing Allah and never ashamed before the people. They betray the true religion of Allah and they peddle away the din of Allah for a miserable price. Evil and despicable is that which they purchase.

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