 | |
| Abbreviation | SMF |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2020 |
| Type | 501(c)(3), [1] Public Charity |
| 86-1914327 | |
| Purpose | Shia Advocacy, Civil Rights |
| Location | |
Executive director | Rahat Husain |
| Website | shiamuslimfoundation |
The Shia Muslim Foundation is a registered non-profit organization founded in 2020. The foundation is dedicated to supporting the civic rights of American Shia Muslims and advocating on social and political issues. [2]
The SMF works globally to promote the rights and welfare of Shia Muslims. Through various initiatives and programs, it addresses challenges faced by the Shia Muslim community, fostering understanding and appreciation of the Shia faith. Its primary focus is the raising awareness of crises, conflicts and persecution of Shia Muslims in countries like Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Iraq, advocating for Shia Muslim rights and providing aid to those affected, including refugees and bereaved families. In the United States, the foundation promotes understanding and acceptance of the Shia faith, educating the public about Shia beliefs and practices. It also endeavors to build cooperation between Shia and Sunni communities. Through its initiatives, the Shia Muslim Foundation seeks to contribute to the betterment of Shia Muslims worldwide and advocates for a just and peaceful society for all.
The SMF was founded some time in 2020.[ when? ]
In May 2021, Joe Biden, president of the United States, reinstated the White House's tradition of celebrating Ramadan and Eid al-Fitr. This event, held on May 1, was historically meaningful for Muslim Americans, symbolizing recognition and inclusion. The Shia Muslim Foundation was among the organizations that attended the celebration, reflecting the rich diversity of the Muslim American community. [3]
On March 5, 2022, the SMF provided over $2,500 worth of food and groceries to about 30 Afghan refugee families in Landover, Maryland. The dire situation of the refugees was highlighted by the story of a young girl who approached the volunteers for food, indicating her family's desperate need. Throughout the day, similar stories emerged, showcasing the refugees' severe hardships, yet they remained hopeful and supportive of one another. The SMF planned to continue their support with another donation drive before Ramadan in April 2022, calling for community contributions to aid these efforts. [4]
In August 2022, following the killings of Muslim men in Albuquerque by a serial killer, the SMF participated in a joint press conference with the Council on American–Islamic Relations (CAIR) and other Sunni and Shia organizations. The conference was a response to the arrest of a Sunni man accused of committing the murders out of anti-Shia sentiment. [5] Rahat Husain of SMF highlighted the unity between Shia and Sunni Muslims in the US, emphasizing the importance of love and friendship amidst the crisis. He called for addressing any form of anti-Shia hatred while maintaining the solidarity that exists within the Muslim community in America. The incident spurred efforts from both Sunni and Shia communities in the US to foster better understanding and prevent such divisions and hatred from taking root. The SMF's involvement in the press conference underscores its commitment to combating Islamophobia and sectarian hatred, and to promoting unity among Muslims in the US.
In September 2022, concerns about the immigration challenges facing visiting Imams were raised by the Shia Muslim Foundation. The SMF highlighted the increasing difficulties these religious leaders encountered when entering the U.S., which impacted the Shia community's ability to practice their religion freely. The Foundation has called for immediate action to address these issues and requested a meeting with officials to discuss resolutions.
On April 20, 2023, the SMF announced the donation of numerous laptops to Shia Muslim community members in Washington, D.C., focusing on those impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. This initiative aimed to address the digital divide and support education, employment, and connectivity for individuals lacking these critical resources. The recipients, particularly those experiencing financial difficulties, job loss, or educational barriers, welcomed the laptops with gratitude, acknowledging the potential positive changes in their lives. A spokesperson for the SMF reaffirmed the organization's dedication to assisting community members, especially in challenging times, with hopes that the technology will aid in long-term success and communication. [6]
In May 2023, the Shia Muslim Foundation was represented at a White House listening session on Islamophobia. The session, hosted by Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff and other senior administration officials, was part of the Biden-Harris administration's efforts to counter Islamophobia and related forms of bias and discrimination within the United States. The foundation's president participated among other Muslim community leaders to discuss challenges and share recommendations for confronting hate and bigotry. [7]
On a Wednesday in April 2023, the White House conducted a listening session on Islamophobia. High-level officials from the Biden administration, including Second Gentleman Douglas Emhoff and other senior figures, met with American Muslim community leaders to address the issue of Islamophobia. The SMF was among the participating organizations. [8] The session aimed to gather insights on the challenges faced by Muslim communities and explore recommendations to combat Islamophobia and bigotry. The Biden-Harris administration expressed appreciation for the leadership shown by the participants and reaffirmed the President's commitment to countering Islamophobia. An incident involving the Muslim mayor of Prospect Park, New Jersey, Mohamed Khairullah, who was prevented from attending the White House celebration, highlighted ongoing concerns about Islamophobia within federal agencies. [9]
The SMF has actively addressed concerns regarding the persecution of Shias in Pakistan, particularly in light of recent amendments to the blasphemy laws. In October 2023, the SMF's Executive Director penned a letter to Pakistan's ambassador to the United States, expressing the distress of the Pakistani Shia community in the US over the "Tauheen E Sahaba" bill. [10] The letter articulated the Shia community's respect for the Sahaba while expressing apprehension about the bill's potential for misuse. It drew parallels between the proposed law and the existing blasphemy laws, which have been used to target minority religious places and individuals.
Azam Tariq was a Pakistani politician and cleric who was the leader of Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan (SSP), a Sunni Islamist organization, which was officially banned by the government of Pakistan in August 2001.
The situation of Human Rights in Pakistan is complex as a result of the country's diversity, large population, its status as a developing country and a sovereign Islamic democracy with a mixture of both Islamic and secular law.
The Sipah-e-Sahaba (SS), also known as the Millat-e-Islamiyya (MI), is a Sunni Islamist organisation in Pakistan. Founded by Pakistani cleric Haq Nawaz Jhangvi in 1989 after breaking away from Sunni Deobandi party Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (F), it was based in Jhang, Punjab, but had offices in all of Pakistan's provinces and territories. It operated as a federal and provincial political party until it was banned and outlawed as a terrorist organization by Pakistani president Pervez Musharraf in 2002. Even though it has been banned by the Pakistani government on numerous occasions, the Sipah-e-Sahaba has continued to operate under a different name throughout the country; it has significant underground support in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The organization was also banned by the United Kingdom, where there is a significant Pakistani diaspora population, in 2001.
Sectarian violence in Pakistan refers to violence directed against people and places in Pakistan motivated by antagonism toward the target's religious sect. As many as 4,000 Shia are estimated to have been killed in sectarian attacks in Pakistan between 1987 and 2007, and thousands more Shia have been killed by Salafi extremists from 2008 to 2014, according to Human Rights Watch (HRW). Sunni Sufis and Barelvis have also suffered from some sectarian violence, with attacks on religious shrines killing hundreds of worshippers, and some Deobandi leaders assassinated. Pakistan minority religious groups, including Hindus, Ahmadis, and Christians, have "faced unprecedented insecurity and persecution" in at least two recent years, according to Human Rights Watch. One significant aspect of the attacks in Pakistan is that militants often target their victims places of worship during prayers or religious services in order to maximize fatalities and to "emphasize the religious dimensions of their attack".
After the death of Prophet Muhammad in 632, a group of Muslims, who would come to be known as the Sunnis, believed that Muhammad's successor as caliph of the Islamic community should be Abu Bakr, whereas a second group of Muslims, who would come to be known as the Shias, believed that his successor should have been Ali ibn Abi Talib. This dispute spread across various parts of the Muslim world, which eventually led to the Battle of Jamal and Battle of Siffin. Sectarianism based on this historic dispute intensified greatly after the Battle of Karbala, in which Husayn ibn Ali and some of his close partisans, including members and children of Muhammad's household, were killed by the ruling Umayyad Caliph Yazid I, and the outcry for revenge divided the early Islamic community, albeit disproportionately, into two groups, the Sunni and the Shia. This is known today as the Islamic schism.
Syed Arif Hussain Al Hussaini was an Twelver Shīʿā Muslim scholar, Islamist ideologue, Islamic Jurist, and Islamic Revolutionist leader of Shia Muslims in Pakistan. He is also known as Khomanei-e-Pakistan for his activities which earned him the reputation of being one of the most prominent advocates for the Shia population of Pakistan. He viewed the ideas of secularism, nationalism, liberalism and socialism as evil, which he understood to be the influence of Western and Soviet imperialism.
Shia Islam was brought to the Indian subcontinent during the final years of the Rashidun Caliphate. The Indian subcontinent also served as a refuge for some Shias escaping persecution from Umayyads, Abbasids, Ayyubids, and Ottomans. The immigration continued throughout the second millennium until the formation of modern nation states. Shi'ism also won converts among the local population.
Islam is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion teaching that there is only one God (Allah) and that Muhammad is His last Messenger.
The Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, is a Deobandi supremacist, terrorist and militant organisation based in Afghanistan. The organisation operates in Pakistan and Afghanistan and is an offshoot of anti-Shia party Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan (SSP). The LeJ was founded by former SSP activists Riaz Basra, Malik Ishaq, Akram Lahori, and Ghulam Rasool Shah.
Hazara Town is a lower- to middle-income area on the western outskirts of Quetta, Pakistan, of which an almost all the residents are ethnic Hazaras, with a small population of Pashtuns and Baloch.
The persecution of Hazaras in Quetta, is a series of ethnic or religious motivated attacks on Hazaras in Quetta, Pakistan.
Anti-Shi'ism is hatred of, prejudice against, discrimination against, persecution of, and violence against Shia Muslims because of their religious beliefs, traditions, and cultural heritage. The term was first used by Shia Rights Watch in 2011, but it has been used in informal research and written in scholarly articles for decades.
The Pakistan Ulema Council (PUC) is a Muslim umbrella group and organization in Pakistan whose members include Islamic clerics and legal scholars from a range of Islamic traditions. Maulana Tahir Mehmood Ashrafi is its current chief. The organization was established initially to support a Christian girl who was charged with blasphemy.
On 16 February 2013, at least 91 people were killed and 190 injured after a bomb hidden in a water tank exploded at a market in Hazara Town on the outskirts of Quetta, the capital city of Balochistan, Pakistan. Most of the victims were members of the predominantly Shia Twelver ethnic Hazara community, and authorities expected the death toll to rise due to the large number of serious injuries. The Lashkar-e-Jhangvi group claimed responsibility for the blast, the second major attack against the Shia Hazaras in a month.
The 1988 Gilgit massacre refers to the state-sponsored mass killing of Shia civilians in the Gilgit District of Pakistan who revolted against military dictator Zia-ul-Haq's Sunni Islamist regime, responsible for vehement persecution of religious minorities as part of its Islamization program.
Majlis Wahdat-e-Muslimeen is a Pakistani Shi'a Islamic political organization. Its headquarters are in Islamabad. MWM Pakistan works to establish an Islamic democratic welfare state, particularly emphasising Shi'a-Sunni unity.
Anti-Sunnism is hatred of, prejudice against, discrimination against, persecution of, and violence against Sunni Muslims.
The Madhe Sahaba Agitation was a civil disobedience movement launched by Deobandi Muslims of Lucknow in the first half of the twentieth century to counter the commemoration of the tragedy of Karbala during Muharram. It resulted in a widespread Shia–Sunni conflict between the years 1906–1909 and turned violent in 1936–1939. The conflict spread to other parts of British India.
In Albuquerque, New Mexico, four Muslim men were killed between November 2021 and August 2022 in a series of ambush shootings.
Faith-Based Violence and Deobandi Militancy in Pakistan is a book released in 2016 by Palgrave Macmillan, which explores the connection between Deobandi ideology and acts of violence and terrorism based on faith in Pakistan. The book consists of 18 chapters, presenting an easily understandable analysis. It also delves into the presence of Deobandi groups in Western nations and other countries, discussing the involvement of their radical factions in incidents of violence and terrorism on an international scale.