Senior Iranian Sunni cleric Mowlana Abdolhamid has written to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei and President Hassan Rohani to protest the demolition of the Sunni prayer house in the Poonak neighbourhood of Tehran. In his letter, the Friday Mass Imam of Zahedan decries the lack of a building permit to allow the construction of […]
Tag: Mowlana Abdolhamid
Zahedan Friday Mass Imam receives human rights award
Iran’s Human Rights Defenders have given this year’s Human Rights Activist award to Zahedan’s Friday Mass Imam, Mowlavi Abdolhamid Esmail Zehi. The Human Rights Defenders Centre website reports that the Sunni leader was awarded the prize on Tuesday December 23 for “his relentless efforts to promote conciliatory relations among different religious and ethnic groups […]
Plan for Sunni prayer centre to proceed in Zahedan
A senior Iranian Sunni leader and Zahedan Friday Imam has announced that after 12 years of waiting, a piece of land has been granted for the construction of a Sunni prayer centre. Mowlana Abdolhamid referred to the land as “a gift from the Islamic government to the people” and expressed gratitude to provincial officials […]
Sunni leaders speak out against assassinations
Mowlavi Abdolhamid, Zahedan’s Sunni Friday Mass Imam, and a number of other senior Sunni leaders have condemned recent assassinations in the cities of Rask and Sarbaz in Sistan-Baluchistan Province. Sunni-on-line reports that Mowlavi Abdolhamid, as well as the management of the Zahedan seminary and the Society of Sunni Clergy of Zahedan, have issued separate […]
MP praises role of Sunni leaders in hostage release
Iranian MP Ali Motahari said in Parliament that the role of Sunni religious leaders and elders in negotiating the release of the abducted border officers should not be overlooked. “On the issue of release of the border officers, certainly security and intelligence officers had a fundamental role, but this should not deny the part […]
Border officials held hostage now back in Iran
Four Iranian border officials abducted by the Sunni group Jeysh-ol-Adl arrived in Iranian territory on Sunday April 6, the Iranian interior ministry confirmed. In February, the group took five Iranian border officials hostage and in March they announced that they had executed one of them. Mowlavi Abdolhamid, a senior Sunni cleric in Sistan-Baluchistan, has […]
Prisoners slam government for keeping Imam from conference
Sunni prisoners in Rejaishahr, Evin and Qezel Hessar Prisons have issued a statement protesting the government’s decision to ban the Friday Mass Imam of Zahedan from traveling abroad to attend the World Islamic Conference. Mowlavi Abdolhamid Esmail Zehi, the senior Sunni Muslim leader in Zahedan, was prevented from attending the World Islamic Conference in […]
Sunni cleric calls for end of violence in Sistan-Baluchistan
Senior Sunni cleric and Zahedan Friday Mass Imam Mowlavi Abdolhamid has called for an end to kidnappings and violence in region. According to local websites in the southeastern province of Sistan-Baluchistan, Mowlavi Abdolhamid said: “Those who provoke you are not your well-wishers, they are just trying to use you to satisfy their complexes. Beware […]
Senior cleric pleads case of Sunni Muslims on death row
Senior Sunni cleric Mowlavi Abdolhamid has written to Iran’s Supreme Leader urging him to stop the execution of “26 Sunni men in Karaj’s Rejai Shahr Prison” who’ve been sentenced to death. Mowlavi Abdolhamid’s website reports that in a letter dated September 19, 2013, the Friday Mass Imam of Zahedan addresses Ayatollah Khamenei, writing: “In […]
Lack of Sunnis in cabinet irks religious leader
Mowlana Abdolhamid, the senior leader of the Sunni community in Zahedan, says he’s disappointed that no Sunni ministers were included in Hassan Rohani’s proposed administration. Mowlana Abdolhamid’s press office reports that in the Fetre Eid mass prayers, the Sunni Imam told worshippers that there are several “powerful and eligible” Sunni leaders that could have […]