Moroccan religious scholars back statement condemning Iran war
Several Moroccan religious scholars have joined a statement condemning the recent strikes on Iran by the United States and Israel, reports Yabiladi on 5 March.
The statement was issued by Mauritanian preacher Mohamed El Hassan Ould Deddou and has been endorsed by religious figures from Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia and Libya. It signals that, despite longstanding doctrinal differences, Sunni scholars are willing to come together in support of Shia-majority Iran. The declaration describes the strikes as Western aggression against a Muslim country.
Moroccan signatories include Hassan Kettani, president of the League of Maghreb Scholars, who was pardoned in 2011 after a terrorism conviction, as well as Sheikh Issam Bachir El Marrakchi and Hamza Kettani.
The statement calls the strikes an attack on a Muslim country and notes that Iran is home to important Islamic holy sites as well as significant economic resources. It criticises that the bombings targeted cities and civilians, in addition to military installations. It goes on to claim that the attacks are a clear example of the aggression and tyranny found within Western policy toward Islam and Muslims.
It adds that military bases established by Western countries in the Gulf contribute to regional tensions and could provoke retaliatory strikes. The links Iran’s missile and drone strikes on Arab countries in the region to the presence of those bases, arguing that they aim to provoke a wider conflict which would ultimately serve US aims.
Similar reactions were expressed by some Moroccan Islamist groups. The Al Adl wal Ihsane (AWI) movement condemned what it described as “American-Zionist aggression” against Iran and offered condolences to the Iranian people for victims of the strikes.
Morocco’s Justice and Development Party (PJD), however, took a different position. While condemning the attacks on Iran, it also criticised Tehran’s missile and drone strikes on Arab countries in the region.
Yibiladi, Maghrebi.org
Want to chase the pulse of North Africa?
Subscribe to receive our FREE weekly PDF magazine
