Grand Mufti Abdulaziz Al Sheikh was quoted on Tuesday, September 6, 2016, by Makkah newspaper as saying that Ali Khamenei’s accusations are “not surprising” because Iranians are descendants of Zoroastrians and are therefore “not Muslims”. He says their “enmity to Islam, especially the Sunnis, is very old”.
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The handling of this incident escalated the already inflamed relations between the Shi’a republic of Iran and the Sunni Saudi Arabia, and led to a series of exchanged accusations for nearly a year.
The ayatollah made the allegation on the anniversary of the stampede, which killed at least 2,426 people, including 464 Iranians, according to an unofficial count.
The Hajj Board has said it will refund monies to all pilgrims who could not be airlifted to Saudi Arabia.
Its prestige was damaged by the 2015 disaster, in which Riyadh said 769 pilgrims were killed – the highest haj death toll since a crush in 1990. “This step showed apparent hostility towards the Iranian Islamic Republic”, Khamenei wrote.
The Iranian leader claimed that the Saudis had “locked up” the wounded with corpses during the…
Iranians are predominantly Shi’a Muslim.
“Because of these rulers’ oppressive behavior toward God’s guests, the world of Islam must fundamentally reconsider the management of the two holy places and the issue of hajj”, Mr. Khamenei said Monday in a challenge likely to worsen hostile relations between the two political and religious powers days ahead of the start of this year’s hajj to Mecca. But the fact remains that for the first time in 25 years, Iranians will not be able to participate in the Hajj and the Grand Mufti has also offended many Muslims across the world by saying that Iranians are not Muslims.
The kingdom’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Nayef reiterated those concerns on Monday night after reviewing a parade of hajj security forces.
In January, the primarily Sunni Saudi Arabia broke off diplomatic ties with Iran, amid a row over the Saudi execution of a prominent Shia Muslim cleric.
Khamenei accused Saudi Arabia’s ruling family, who are the custodians of Islam’s holiest sites in Mecca and Medina, of politicising the pilgrimage, and turning themselves into “small and puny Satans who tremble for fear of jeopardising the interests of the Great Satan (the United States)”.
In May, Iranian authorities announced that citizens would not take part in this year’s hajj, complaining that talks with Saudi officials had failed to resolve differences over arrangements for the Iranian visitors in Mecca.
Lower-ranking Iranian officials have questioned Saudi Arabia’s stewardship of the holy sites before.
Police have said that their true nationalities became obvious when they were unable to converse in any of the native Philippines languages.
Saudi Arabia is said to have introduced electronic identification bracelets for all pilgrims to Mecca.
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But Riyadh said Tehran had made “unacceptable” demands, including the right to organize demonstrations “that would cause chaos”.
