| Sheikh Yasser Al-Habib | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1979 Kuwait |
| Religion | Twelver Shi'a Islam |
Sheikh Yasser al-Habib (Arabic: الشيخ ياسر الحبيب) is a Shia cleric from Kuwait. He was born in 1979 in Kuwait and migrated to England in December 2004. He was arrested in November 2003 to one year's imprisonment by the Kuwaiti government on charges of cursing Abu Bakr, Umar and Aisha; in connection with an audiotape recording of a private closed lecture.
In February 2004 he was released under an annual pardon announced by the Amir of Kuwait on the occasion of the country's National Day, but his rearrest was ordered a few days later. Sheikh al-Habib had then fled Kuwait before he was sentenced in absentia to 10 years' imprisonment.[1]
In September 2010 Sheikh Yasser al-Habib angered the Sunni Muslims by calling Prophet Muhammad's wife Aisha, "an enemy of God" which led Kuwait to revoke his citizenship accusing him of trying to stir up discord among Muslims ...[2][3][4]
In October 2010 Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei tried to calm tensions between Shias and Sunnis by issuing a fatwa against insulting Prophet's companions and wives.[5]
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Sheikh al-Habib believes that Abu Bakr and Umar along with their daughters Aisha and Hafsa were involved in a number of heinous crimes amongst which was assassination of Prophet Muhammad and his daughter Fatima al-Zahra.
He recorded two lectures in English titled: "Who killed the Prophet Muhammad" and "Why do Shiites hate Umar Ibn al-Khattab".[6] Al-Sha'ab newspaper described Sheikh al-Habib as traitor and apostate in its main page (in the picture), at the time that Al-Habib had cursed Abu Bakr and Umar.[7]
Yasser al-Habib said:
| “ | Wahhabism is a criminal and violent ideology, founded by a mentally ill man named Muhammad Ibn Abdul-Wahhab about three centuries ago. Its main principle is that all Muslims who perform Tawassul by Awliya’ Allah (Prophets, Imams and the pious ones) and visit their graves are regarded as apostates and infidels. Therefore, the seizure of their life, property and women would, like that of the infidels, be religiously lawful and permissible![8] | ” |
Sheikh al-Habib refers to Sunnis as Bakris. He says that the real Sunnis (Ahlul Sunnah) are the ones who follow the Sunnah of the Prophet Muhammad but Sunnis today rather follow the Sunnah and teachings of Abu Bakr since apparently Suunis nowadays have rejected Ali ibn Abi Talib and Ahlulbayt (even though Sunnis hold Ali to very high regard). He explained in one of his lectures titled " Bakris think they are Sunnis, but in reality are not" that when people wanted to distance themselves from the Shia, and follow Muawiyya, they started calling themselves the Jama’ah. He clarified that “Ahlul Sunnah” title was given to those who followed the Sunnah of Muawiyya, which 'was the cursing of Imam Ali'. This cursing was stopped after much pressure from the Shia of the time. But the “Sunnah” title stayed and was used in a different form.
He also refers to those personalities who claim that they belong to Shiite Islam but reconcile with the Bakri sect as Batris. Batris are originally a group of reconcilers who created a sect which claimed that Abu Bakr and the like just made a mistake when they laid the foundations for the Bakri faith.
He described Mohammad Hussein Fadlallah (the Lebanese marja who died in 4 July 2010)[9] as Batri. Al-Habib said that Fadlallah who has died recently, left a great number of doctrinal deviations, ignorant views and bad conduct which he introduced to the religion of Islam.[10]
After Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei issued the fatwah outlawing the insult of Sunni Dignitaries (Aisha, Abu Bakr and Umar ibn al-Khattāb), Yasser Al-Habib responded by calling the Islamic Republic of Iran "oppressive". He continued by referring to Ayatullah Khamenei as "so-called Ali al-Khamenei – who pretends to be a Shia scholar". His reasoning for naming the Iranian government as "oppressive" was because the "regime in Iran today unjustly arrest anyone who celebrates the occasion of Farhat-ul-Zahra and prevent people from visiting the tomb of Abu Lulu" (the man responsible for killing the second Calif Umar).[11]
Senior Iranian cleric Grand Ayatollah Naser Makarem Shirazi has referred to Al-Habib as a "hired agent or a mad man".[12]
He described the Egyptian state security apparatus as notorious after arresting the Egyptian shiite cleric Hassan Shehata.[13] He and his organisation which is called 'Khoddam al-Mahdi Organisation' (Arabic: هيئة خدام المهدي) gathered outside the Egyptian embassy in London to support the Shiite converters who were unjustly arrested by the Egyptian police. They are headed by Hassan Shehata. The Egyptian police also expressed protest against the absurd charges made against Hassan Shehata and the other Shiites, some of which were:
Recently in June 2010 Sheikh al-Habib moved to a new office in london. The new office includes:
as well as it includes offices of members of:
Sheikh al-Habib after he has been deprived of his Kuwaiti citizenship: “May the peace of Allah be with my homeland and those who live in it” </ref>[16][17][18]