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Daily News Analysis

Sayyidah Zainab’s mosque damaged in blast

Crescent International

The US-zionist-Saudi-backed takfiris in Syria are determined to instigate sectarian warfare in the Ummah because they are so consumed by hatred. Their tactics include attacks on shrines of the Ahlul Bayt as well as Sahaba that supported them. What kind of people that call themselves Muslims would indulge in such behavior?

Washington DC,

July 26, 2013, 11:19 EDT

Several mortar shells were fired in the vicinity of the Shrine of Sayyidah Zaynab (ra) in Damascus, Syria on July 19. According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, the top administrator of Sayyidah Zainab’s shrine was killed during shelling at the holy site and others were injured. There has also been damage to the structure of the mosque. The shrine has become a center of Shia religious studies in Syria and a destination of mass pilgrimage by Shia Muslims from across the world. Approximately one million people visit the shrine every year.

Sayyidah Zaynab (ra), the granddaughter of the Prophet (saws) and the daughter of Hazrat Ali (ra) and Hazrat Fatima al-Zahra (ra), is believed to be buried at the site, one of the most beautiful mausoleums and mosque-complexes in the world. Since the outbreak of civil war in Syria, the Saudi and Gulf-affiliated rebels have targeted religious minorities and shrines of important personages tied to Prophetic history such as Sayyidah Zaynab’s shrine. In their takfiri interpretations of Islam, they are targeting the shrines of the Ahl-al-Bayt as a manifestation of Muslims committing shirk. These rebels are also guilty of heinous human rights crimes, such as targeting civilians and cutting open the corpses to chew on their hearts (which was captured on camera and submitted to Reuters). The rebels claim they are only attacking pro-Asad forces in the area, though many in their ranks use sectarian rhetoric against Asad’s Shia supporters.

There have been conflicting reports about damage to the shrine. The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights that promotes the rebels’ cause cited sources as saying the shrine’s blue-tiled sanctuary had been hit. But a local resident told Reuters the rockets landed outside the mosque. Many Shiite fighters in Syria have rallied around the shrine, numbering hundreds of fighters from Iraq and the Hizbullah group of Lebanon.

Hezbollah leader Sayyid Hassan Nasrallah has said protecting Sayyidah Zainab is vital for him, and has threatened “grave retribution” if any harm befalls the shrine. There have been widespread rallies of protest against the damage to the shrine, particularly in Pakistan. Tehran Times reported that thousands of people demonstrated in Pakistan’s southwestern city of Quetta to denounce the recent attack on the shrine, blaming the US, Israel, and Saudi Arabia for fanning the flames of unrest in Syria and sowing seeds of discord among Muslims.

At the beginning of May, the US-zionist-Saudi-backed takfiris desecrated the shrine of Hujr ibn Idi (ra) a companion of the noble Messenger (saws) who was murdered on the orders of Muawiya, the first monarch and dynastic ruler who subverted the Khilafah. Hujr ibn Idi (ra) was killed because he objected to abuse against Imam Ali (ra) and the Ahlul Bayt being hurled from the minbar in Kufa where Ziyad was governor. It is reported that Hujr ibn Idi’s (ra) body was still intact and the takfiri rebels took it away to an undisclosed location.

Ziyad was the illegitimate son of Abu Sufyan and while Muawiya considered him his brother and used him against Imam Ali (ra) and the Prophet’s (saws) family, Um Habiba (ra), the daughter of Abu Sufyan whom the Prophet (saws) married after she became a widow in Abyssinia, rejected any contact with Ziyad. Um Habiba (ra) refused to allow Ziyad to enter her house because she did not consider him her brother because of his illegitimate birth.

Last Sunday, rallies and protests against the attack were held in several cities across Pakistan, including Islamabad, Karachi, Peshawar, Tando Allahyar, Multan, Jhelum, and Mandi Bahauddin. Tomorrow (Saturday), Muslims will hold a rally in Toronto to denounce the sacrilegious attack and to warn Muslims against the dangers of sectarian warfare in the Ummah. Such divisions only serve the enemies of Islam. Thus, any Muslim that indulges in such behavior is directly aiding and abetting the enemies of Islam and Muslims and is, therefore, part of them, as Allah (swt) says in the noble Qur’an.

END


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