Shia Commission Agrees with Taliban to Cancel Eid al-Fitr Prayers Amid Concerns of Religious Erasure
According to some media reports, members of the Supreme Shia Commission and certain members of the Shia Scholars Council have reached an agreement with the Taliban to refrain from holding Eid al-Fitr prayers.
They stated that if there is a disagreement between the government and the Shia community over the sighting of the Shawwal crescent moon, it has been decided in the interest of the country’s higher welfare that Afghanistan’s Shia community will avoid performing the Eid al-Fitr prayers.
In fact, the higher interest of the country is for Afghan Shias to be free to practice their religious rituals according to their own jurisprudence. However, if the claims attributed to these two bodies by the media are true, it can be said that what they have stated, whatever it is, does not serve the supreme interest of the Shias or the country.
If the Eid prayers are suspended in the name of expediency, the next target will be the religion itself. This path is one of elimination, not the preservation of religion and its followers; and anyone who cooperates with the Taliban regime in this path is not only unrepresentative of Afghan Shias but part of a project to erase them, regardless of whether they have joined this path from a political position or from a religious authority.
From the inception of the Supreme Shia Commission, which was created with the design and financial support of Taliban intelligence, it was expected to become a tool for erasing Shias; but it is astonishing that the Scholars Council, which in the past four years has claimed to fight for Shia rights, has chosen to follow such a path.
The Taliban do not hide their aim to transform the belief system of Shias. They have been advancing step by step toward this goal for a long time. This transformation has progressed from limiting Muharram mourning rituals and banning Shia jurisprudence education and collecting related books to now preventing the Eid prayers. The ineffective and misguided members (if not traitorous and self-interested) of these two bodies have cooperated step by step with the Taliban in this transformation.
While Shia Islam, as a profound and deeply rooted ideology within Islam and the household of the Prophet, leads the struggle for justice and resistance against oppression, the subservience of commission and council members to the Taliban brings nothing but disgrace.
Shia Iran, having sacrificed martyrs comparable to Imam Khamenei (may his soul be sanctified) and with its brave resistance against Zionism and imperialism, has become an honor to the Islamic world and the freedom-loving nations worldwide. Yet, simultaneously with these achievements and honor, some who claim to be Shia are tarnishing the reputation of Shia Islam.
Throughout history, Shias have distanced themselves from cowardly and timid individuals who have submitted to any humiliation for survival. They continue to do so now.
