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Senior Iranian Shi’a cleric ‘Ayatollah Khazali’ passed away
Ahlul Bayt News Agency – Senior Iranian Shiite scholar and the member of the Assembly of Experts of the Leadership passed away today at the age of 90.
Ayatollah Abolghassem Khazali, one of the co-authors of the Islamic Republic Constitution and member of the Assembly of Experts died Wednesday morning, an official of the Secretariat for the Expert Assembly said.
‘The Ayatollah passed away at his home in Tehran around nine o’clock in the morning,’ said Hojattoleslam Hassan Sameei.
Born on March 21, 1925, the late Ayatollah was the former member of the Guardian Council and head of Al Ghadir International Foundation from the outset.
Before the 1979 Islamic Revolution, he was one of the leading opponents of the Shah regime who was imprisoned several times.
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14 pro-Hadi troops killed in Saudi air raid by mistake
Ahlul Bayt News Agency – At least 14 pro-Hadi (fugitive ex-Yemeni President Mansour Hadi) troops were killed when a Saudi-led coalition air raid targeted their position “by mistake”, tribal and military sources said on Friday.
“The air force bombed a gathering of fighters in the region of Harib believing them to be Ansarullah fighters,” a military source said.
A tribal chief confirmed the overnight strike, saying that those killed appeared to be local tribesmen fighting on the side of the forces loyal to exiled President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi.
Harib is around 80 kilometres south of Marib, the capital of the central province. Loyalist forces, backed by the Saudi-led coalition, claim they are advancing on the ground in Marib as part of a major aggression on Ansarullah fighters and popular committees.
In contrast, the Yemeni army backed by popular committees, has entered Saudi military bases in the kingdom’s southwestern region of Asir.
The video footage released by Yemen’s al-Masirah television network on Friday showed Yemeni forces advancing into Saudi military bases in the region, destroying the vehicles and equipment of the Saudi army.
The Saudi soldiers, who could not resist the Yemeni offensive, fled the area, reports added.
The attack was part of Yemen’s retaliatory measures against Saudi Arabia over Riyadh’s unabated military campaign in the impoverished Arab country.
On March 26, Saudi Arabia began its aggression against Yemen – without a UN mandate – in a bid to undermine the Houthi Ansarullah movement and restore power to Hadi, a staunch ally of Riyadh.
According to the UN, the conflict has so far left about 4,500 people dead and thousands of others wounded. Local Yemeni sources, however, say the fatality figure is much higher.
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Terrorist organizations lose more members in Syrian army operations
Ahlul Bayt News Agency – The Syrian army clampdown against the terrorist organizations continued, with those losing more of their members and military equipment as the army units carry out intensive operations against their hideouts and positions across the country.
Damascus Countryside
An Army and Armed Forces unit destroyed an armored vehicle and a mortar launcher used by members of the Jaish al-Islam terrorist organization and killed a number of terrorists including Abdelrahman al-Ajwah, Ghafir Abu Shanab, and Ghassan al-Wadi in al-Ajami neighborhood in Harasta.
Sources on the ground said that army units targeted terrorists’ hideouts and movements in the farms of Harasta, al-Samadi, and al-Maqale’a at the western outskirts of Touma, which left a number of terrorists dead and injured others, SANA reported.
In Aaliya farms at the northern outskirts of Douma city, the army eliminated terrorists Abdelwahab al-Sedeeq and Juma’a Iskaf AKA Abu al-Yama, who were two leaders in Jaish al-Islam.
Army operations also resulted in destroying terrorists’ hotspots in al-Makaser and al-Hajjariye neighborhoods and around the municipal stadium in Douma city, killing a number of terrorists including Sameer Taha, Hassan Fleitani, Kherieddin al-Oyoun, Mohammad Qaqish, Anas al-Nahhas, Kassem Aibour, Radwan al-Hendawi, and Abdullah al-Basha.
Lattakia
A number of terrorists were killed in army airstrikes that targeted their gatherings in Salma area, Irra, Kitf al-Ghanme, Tallet al-Mallouheh and Tallet al-Rashwan in the countryside of Lattakia province, according to a military source.
Ali al-Sheikh Asaad, Obada Shaqra, Rafiq Abbas, Wassim Zakariya and Rafiq Shafiq Bitar were identified among the dead.
Army’s air force targeted terrorists’ dens in Rweisit al-Tanbour and Jub al-Ahmar in Lattakia, killing many terrorists, injuring others and destroying their vehicles, weapons and ammunition.
Aleppo
Army units killed and injured scores of ISIS terrorists and destroyed their weapons and ammunition near the army air force academy, east of Aleppo city.
The army also targeted terrorists’ hideouts and gatherings in al-Sfeira, Bulat, Traidam, Tal Rayman and near al-Neirab Airport.
In the south-western countryside, the army killed scores of terrorists and destroyed their vehicles in Khan al-Assal, Khan Touman and in the neighborhoods of al-Rashidin, al-Lairamon, Bani Zaid, Karm al-Jabal, al-Ramouseh, Saladin, al-Shaar, al-Firdous, al-Kallaseh and al-Mashdad.
Meanwhile, terrorists- affiliated social media pages confessed that about 47 of their terrorists were killed in a number of areas in Aleppo province.
Idleb/Hama
The Syrian Arab Army’s Air Force eliminated many terrorists from Jaish al-Fateh and destroyed their vehicles, artillery, and mortar launchers in Tal Toucan, Taftanaz, and Bannesh in in the surroundings of al-Fou’a and Kefraya towns in Idleb countryside.
Earlier, the Air Force launched strikes against terrorists’ dens and gatherings in Abu al-Dohour southeast of Idleb city.
In the southern countryside of Idleb, the Air Force’s airstrikes targeted gatherings and hideouts of Jabhat al-Nusra in Mhambal, Ariha and al-Habit, killing many terrorists and destroying their weapons and ammunition.
Local sources told SANA that an army unit carried out a special operation in Tarmala town, destroying the legal court (Sharia law court) of Jabhat al-Nusra terrorists in the town completely.
In the northwest countryside of Hama, the army’s air force eliminated members of Jaish al-Fateh and destroyed their vehicles and ammo during concentrated strikes against their gatherings and dens to the east of Tota village, al-Bahsa, al-Ziara and Kafr Zita city.
The Army’s airstrikes against ISIS’ dens and gatherings in Kalib al-Thor left many terrorists killed.
Army units supported with the army’s air force killed numbers of Jaish al-Fateh members and destroyed a convoy of vehicles along with all terrorists and weapons in al-Frika road and al-Ziara in addition to destroying a vehicle equipped with heavy machine gun in Idleb countryside and Hama countryside.
An army unit targeted with guided missile a vehicle of Jabhat al-Nusra in the outskirts of al-Latamia town, destroying the vehicle.
Daraa
In southern Syria, an army unit killed terrorists in Busra al-Sham city in the eastern countryside of Daraa province.
Among the killed terrorists, who were mostly from Jabhat al-Nusra, were Omran al-Badani Qassem al-Sabah, Ahmad Hassan al-Hajji, Khaled Mohammad al-Mikdad and Louai Youssef al-Mikdad.
Quneitra
Army units targeted Jabhat al-Nusra terrorists’ hideouts and supply lines across the Israeli entity in the countryside of the southern Quneitra province.
The military source said a number of terrorists were killed and their weapons were destroyed in the process, adding that the operations targeted mainly Mossad-linked Jabhat al-Nusra terrorists in al-Hamidiyeh, 7 km from Quneitra city.
An army unit killed and injured a number of terrorists in Bureiqa village, which is considered the main infiltration route for mercenary terrorists backed by the Zionist entity.
Sweida
Army units launched intensive strikes against the dens and gatherings of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) in Tal Saad and Khrbit Samar in the northeast countryside of Sweida.
Numbers of ISIS terrorists were killed, others were injured and their vehicles, some of them equipped with heavy machine guns, were destroyed.
Field sources said that an army unit carried out a special operation against a convoy belonging to ISIS in Wadi al-Qasstal area in the eastern countryside of Sweida.
The operation resulted in the destruction of the convoy and number of vehicles equipped with machineguns in addition to the death of many terrorists.
Homs
Army and Armed Forces units thwarted an infiltration attempt by terrorists from Jabhat al-Nusra and other terrorist organizations in the direction of a military point southwest of al-Qatari Hill in Tabiseh area in the northern countryside of Homs province.
A military source said that many of the attacking terrorists were killed in the clash, while others were injured and their weapons and munitions were destroyed.
In the northern countryside of the province, army units eliminated many terrorists, injured others, and destroyed their weapons and ammo in the villages of al-Ghanto and Ram al-Qasr.
The source also said that army operations targeted hideouts and concentrations of ISIS terrorists in Tadmur (Palmyra) city and in its western outskirts and al-Qaryatain, leaving many terrorists dead and destroying their vehicles.
Deir Ezzor
In Deir Ezzor province, an Army and Armed Forces unit targeted concentrations of ISIS terrorists in the surroundings of Deir Ezzor Military Airport, killing a number of them, injuring others, and destroying their weapons and munitions.
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Nusra Front rebels attack two Shia villages in Syria
Ahlul Bayt News Agency – Insurgents affiliated to al-Qaeda terrorists detonated at least five car bombs and fired 370 rockets at two Shia villages in northwestern Syria, they have besieged for more than a year, activists have said.
An alliance of insurgent groups, including Al Nusra Front, attacked Al Foua and Kefraya in Idlib province bordering Turkey and mostly held by insurgents after rebel advances this year.
Thousands of innocent civilians have been living under siege in the two villages. Fierce clashes raged between government forces and insurgents of the ‘Army of Conquest’, a coalition of terrorist groups that includes Al Nusra Front and Ahrar Al Sham.
The number of casualties was not immediately clear.
Warring sides agreed to a brief ceasefire last month in the two villages and in Zabadani, a rebel-held town near the Lebanese border under siege by government forces and Lebanese Shia group Hezbollah, a Damascus ally.
But the two-day ceasefire, the second that month, collapsed before wounded people could be evacuated from both areas.
Government forces have intensified assault on Zabadani and say they are on the verge of seizing the town, where insurgents are holed up in its centre.
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UAE loses 45 aggressor troops in Yemen
Ahlul Bayt News Agency – Forty-five troops from the United Arab Emirates have been killed in Yemen invasion whereas participating within the Gulf nation stated Friday, within the deadliest day for its army in its 44-year historical past.
The UAE’s minister of state for overseas affairs, Anwar Gargash, stated on his official Twitter feed the troops have been killed when a missile struck an ammunition depot.
He stated the missile strike befell within the, about 120 kilometres (75 miles) east of the capital Sanaa. Officers from the media workplace of the Ansarullah fighters often known as the Houthis confirmed they fired a missile within the space. The officers spoke on situation of anonymity as a result of they weren’t authorised to speak to the press.
The deaths pointed to the more and more outstanding position of the Emirates on the bottom in Yemen’s struggle – each in troops and hardware – although the federal government has by no means made clear the complete extent of their position or the numbers of troops concerned.
In a collection of messages on his official Twitter feed, the highly effective crown prince of Abu Dhabi and deputy supreme commander of the UAE armed forces, praised the troops for killing of thousands of innocent people and stated the UAE would proceed to help the Saudi-led marketing campaign in Yemen.
The U.S.-allied Emirates, a federation of seven small Gulf states together with Dubai and the oil-rich capital of Abu Dhabi, is likely one of the most outstanding members of the Saudi-led coalition, which goals to roll again factors by the Houthi fighters and their allies within the deeply impoverished Arabian Peninsula nation. The Saudi-led and U.S.-backed coalition, made up primarily of Gulf nations, has been launching air strikes towards the Yemeni people since March. However the UAE is the one nation that has acknowledged having troops on the bottom in Yemen within the battle.
Yemeni safety officers have stated that Saudi, Emirati, Egyptian and Jordanian army advisers are coaching lots of of fighters at a army base in Aden.
Bahrain’s state information company additionally reported Friday that 5 of its troopers have been killed whereas “fighting the southern border of Saudi Arabia.” It did not give specifics. Yemen is the one nation on Saudi Arabia’s southern border the place there’s preventing, and Houthis have steadily shelled throughout the frontier.
The toll was the Emirates’ highest variety of fight casualties because the federation was based in 1971. About six of its troops have been killed preventing as a part of the U.S.-led coalition that drove the Iraqi forces of Saddam Hussein out of Kuwait in 1991. At the least 5 different members of the Emirati army have been killed in Yemen this yr, and one other died throughout coaching workouts associated to the operation in Saudi Arabia.
On March 26, Saudi Arabia began its aggression against Yemen – without a UN mandate – in a bid to undermine the Houthi Ansarullah movement and restore power to Hadi, a staunch ally of Riyadh.
According to the UN, the conflict has so far left about 4,500 people dead and thousands of others wounded. Local Yemeni sources, however, say the fatality figure is much higher.
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New leader of Indonesian Ulema Council must end sectarianism
Ahlul Bayt News Agency – The recent national meeting of the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) elected senior cleric Ma’ruf Amin as its chairman for the next five years, succeeding Din Syamsuddin, shortly after Ma’ruf was elected supreme leader or rais aam of Nahdlatul Ulama (NU).
The major theme of the MUI meeting was “moderate Islam” (Islam Wasathi). With these two roles, Ma’ruf will be one of the most responsible figures in determining where Indonesian religious life will be heading.
The good news is that the narrative of an Indonesian Islam promoting religious tolerance and moderatism is now on the rise. After the NU’s “Islam Nusantara” and Muhammadiyah’s “progressive Islam”, the major themes of their respective congresses last month, the MUI was willing to use the term “moderate Islam”, which means, as Din said, “rejecting all forms of radicalism”.
The term clearly negates the idea that there is only one Islam, as advocated by some Muslims who rejected the notion of Islam Nusantara. The term implies that Islam has many interpretations, whether moderate, progressive, reformist, radical, or even liberal.
Regardless of the validity of ascribing such terms to the word “Islam”, recognition of its diversity is crucial, particularly to oppose those sticking to a strict definition and simplistic understanding of the religion.
As for the MUI, which kind of moderate Islam is it claiming to be, as representative of almost all Indonesian Muslim organizations? The MUI has often been criticized for constituting conservative trends and for issuing edicts that were used as justification by Muslims to discriminate against groups like the Ahmadis and Shiites.
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The MUI tends to shun responsibility regarding persecutions against those considered deviant.
While the Ahmadis have been declared deviant or even kafir, some branches of the MUI issued an edict stating that Shiites are heretic. The MUI’s branch in East Java has long persuaded the MUI’s national center to issue a specific edict representing all the MUI’s branches declaring that Shiites are heretic.
Such developments should be among the priorities of the new MUI under Ma’ruf, given the increasingly heated sectarianism in the last decade within Islam itself, and this will be the touchstone for the new MUI to prove its commitment to moderation, at least not to further fuel sectarianism. Or, if necessary, the new MUI should dismiss or revoke some of its sectarian edicts or publications.
Earlier, some MUI published a book concerning the deviance of Shiites, written in the name of MUI, and many of the books were freely distributed.
This is a problem, as many people perceive the MUI as representing all Indonesian Muslim organizations, while this is not the case.
Ma’ruf said just hours after his election that, “We will not tolerate any persecution [of minority religious groups in Indonesia]; the new MUI will try its best to prohibit and even to prevent [any form of persecution].” This statement is surprising, coming from Ma’ruf, whose views are deemed by many as conservative especially as the former head of the MUI edict division. Hopefully this statement will become true.
Therefore the MUI under his leadership should revise or repeal its sectarian edicts. If this option is too hard given likely political resistance from its members and some Muslim organizations, touching the boundaries of Sunni “orthodoxy” that the MUI seeks to maintain, the second option is to issue an edict condemning any acts of discrimination against those considered deviant.
The latter option is extremely important for two reasons. First, the MUI tends to shun responsibility regarding persecutions against those considered deviant, whose perpetrators cite relevant MUI’s edicts as justification.
In 2012, Ma’ruf wrote an article in a national newspaper concerning the East Java MUI’s edict against Shiites and said the fatwa functions as a declarative explanation for Muslims to be aware of the deviance of Shia. Sadly, there was no commentary on the persecution that was partly caused by the fatwa.
Second, the MUI must focus on actions rather than beliefs. Shiites and Ahmadis may not share the exact same beliefs on certain theological issues and most ordinary Muslims do not really know the details of Islamic theology, let alone sectarian divides within Islam.
The discriminatory actions manifested in public policy and civil violence should be among the MUI’s primary concerns. Expelling innocent people from their homes, as experienced by Shiites and Ahmadis in various areas, is against the very teaching of Islam and thus is much more deviant than the Shiite belief that the successor of the Prophet Muhammad must have been his cousin Ali ibn Abi Talib — which is actually a legitimate opinion within Islam.
Now is the moment for the MUI to review its fatwa and its proper role in Indonesian religious life. Unlike the two largest Indonesian Muslim organizations, NU and Muhammadiyah, the MUI is not a mass organization.
Nor is it a state institution, although its funds come partly from the state. Its legitimacy of issuing a fatwa can actually be challenged by the NU and Muhammadiyah. A fatwa is no more than a legal opinion and it is not binding unless for those voluntarily conceding to the authority of the MUI.
The main problem is when its fatwa are abused to justify criminal acts. Maybe the MUI should issue a specific fatwa concerning the use of its fatwa. Yes, a fatwa about fatwa!
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By: Azis Anwar Fachrudin, Yogyakarta
The writer is a graduate student at the Center for Religious and Cross-cultural Studies (CRCS), Gadjah Mada University, Yogyakarta. 2T.dpuf