The rapid growth of anti-Shi’ism in Egypt raises many questions. No other country, even Saudi Arabia, where Wahhabism was born and has been fed financially and ideologically, witnessed such a rapid anti-Shia growth. The trend increased even more after the beginning of the Egypt/Iran relationship since 2011. These countries did not have political relationships for last 30 years.
Shi’ism is not new in Egypt, but anti-Shi’ism is. Everyday more Egyptian Salafi clerks post their anti-Shia lectures and threats on YouTube and other social media outlets. Many Egyptian citizens believe Shia are not even Muslim. Some of them hold signs with anti-Shia messages and post their pictures on Facebook advocating for their opposition. Shia Muslims in Egypt do not feel safe. They have been arrested, expelled from school or threatened because of their faith. Many well known Salafi and Wahabbi clerics threaten to kill Shia Muslims and cut them in pieces. Media outlets invite citizens to report any Shia related activities they notice. Shia Muslims are viewed as “threat to nation’s security” although Shia Muslims have long history in Egypt and they never caused any dispute. It is critical to study roots of this increasing phenomenon and prevent Shia rights violations in this country.
One of the most common yet uneducated assumptions that some groups make is associating political region or government to Shia faith. If Egyptians dislike Iran, they should not associate this country with any faith, since Shi’ism has been practiced since the life of the Prophet of Islam. There are millions of Shia Muslims around the world. Shi’im is not limited to one country and Shia are free to hold any nationality.
In our diverse and media connected world it is not wise to associate any religion or faith to any political region or government.
Egyptians can choose to have or not to have political relationship with any country; however, they have no right to violate the basic human rights of Shia Muslims due to their political preferences.
SRW invites all, especially Egyptians, to stop human rights violations toward Shia Muslims. Human rights are inalienable and no one has the right to violate them.
