Egyptian Ministry of Endowments bans Shias from practicing Arbaeen rituals
November 30, 2015
305 1 minute read
The Egyptian Ministry of Endowments plans to launch an investigation
The Egyptian Ministry of Endowments plans to launch an investigation with some Egyptian satellite channels for broadcasting what they called “Shia celebration on the occasion of Arbaeen,” Arab and International news outlets reported. Al-Bawwaba Newspaper, citing a statement of the Endowments Ministry, said that holding Ashura and Arbaeen rituals inside mosques have raised worries of Ahmed al-Tayeb, the grand Imam of al-Azhar, within the existence of what they described organized campaign to attract Sunni Egyptians to Shiisim. The Ministry will not allow Shia rituals to be performed in its mosques in different cities along with banning holding symposiums for the youth, it added. Egypt’s Shia minority has long been subject to ongoing oppression both from religious and state figures, who have encouraged distrust of the community. Sectarian incitement reached an increase in June 2013, when a group of Salafi sheikhs led the brutal mob lynching of four Shia men in a village outside Cairo.