As news of Ayatollah Ali Hosseini Khamenei’s killing emerged on Sunday, protests broke out in cities and towns across the country with a Shia Muslim presence — from Kashmir Valley and Ladakh to Uttar Pradesh and Karnataka.
For Shias, including those in India, Khamenei was not just a political leader who was the “Supreme Leader” of Iran, but also a religious leader. Shia clerics said Khamenei’s importance for the community could be compared to what the Christians have for the Pope.
While a sizable number of South Asian Shia Muslims follow Ali al-Husayni al-Sistani, the dean of the Hawza in Najaf, Iraq — the oldest Shia seminary in the world — Khamenei also had a substantial following in the Indian subcontinent.
When the centre of Shia Islam was Najaf, political interventions from the Shia leadership were negligible. However, all that changed with the Islamic revolution in Iran in 1979 and Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini’s ascendence to power. Khomeini popularised this concept of “Vilayat-e Faqih (Guardianship of the Islamic Jurist)”, the Shia political doctrine that holds that top religious scholars should rule in the absence of the 12th Imam, whom the Twelver Shias believe will reappear at the end of time. Popularised by Khomeini, the concept forms the basis of Iran’s Constitution, placing supreme political and military power in the hands of a cleric.
“Since 1979, the project that the Iranian government embarked on through its embassies was almost missionary and very proactive … Ruhollah Khomeini (the ‘Supreme Leader’ of Iran till 1989) and his successor Khamenei have been looked at as an integral part of the Shia faith. It has almost always been religious and not political. But there also continue to be Shias in India who prioritise Najaf, not Qom (one of Iran’s theological centres),” said West Asia expert Bashir Ali Abbas, who is Senior Research Associate at the Council for Strategic and Defense Research.
Iran’s project to make itself more significant among Shia Muslims yielded dividends and now many among Indian Shias look at Iran as an authority on religion. Iran taking on the combination of Israel and the US over Palestine has also led to it being viewed as a “lone crusader” against western imperial powers, increasing its influence on Muslims across the world sympathetic to the Palestinian cause.
Shias in India
Shia Muslims, specifically in parts of Kashmir, Kargil, and Lucknow, hold Khamenei in great reverence. The Rizvi Syeds of Lucknow and the Awadh region in UP trace their lineage to Iran. During the 18th Century, the nawabs of Awadh, including Asaf-ud-Daula, were Shia Muslims. Even today, Lucknow has a sizable Shia population and most of them are comparatively wealthier than Sunni Muslims, giving them more political power.
Shias have traditionally not been very vocal on issues seen as important to the Muslim majority. During the decades-long Ram Janmabhoomi dispute in Ayodhya, the UP Shia Central Waqf Board claimed ownership of the Babri Masjid, arguing it was a Shia Waqf built by Shia noble Mir Baqi during Babur’s reign. The Board also opposed the Sunni Waqf Board’s claim over the mosque. It favoured a peaceful, mediated settlement, and even proposed building a mosque at a different location to allow the Ram temple to come up at the site.
The Shia-Sunni divide is a global phenomenon and is quite visible in India too, with several incidents of clashes between the communities having been recorded. In 2005, the All India Shia Personal Law Board (AISPLB) was created as Shias felt the All India Muslim Personal Law Board, dominated by Sunnis, ignored their concerns.
AISPLB general secretary Maulana Yasoob Abbas told The Indian Express, “Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has been martyred. We held protests in Lucknow last night. Through the protests, we are sending a message to countries such as Bahrain, Yemen, Saudi Arabia, and others. These are the countries that have harmed Iran and helped America and Israel in the killing of Khamenei. We will continue to support the Iranian people and the state.”
BJP and Shias
The Shia community, which constitutes around 15% of the Muslim population in the country, has traditionally had good ties with the establishment, especially the BJP. The community, which is concentrated in Lucknow and some other cities such as Hyderabad, Budgam (Kashmir), and Kargil in Ladakh, enjoyed good relations with former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who was the BJP MP from Lucknow, and current Lucknow parliamentarian Rajnath Singh.
While BJP leaders have traditionally enjoyed good relations with Shia clerics such as Kalbe Jawad and Kalbe Sadiq, according to party insiders, a state BJP leader from the Shia community said the ties were not as before under Yogi Adityanath. “Earlier, leaders like Atal ji would publicly engage with the community. But now, leaders like Yogi Adityanath don’t engage with us publicly, but there are backchannel talks. There is still space for Shias in the BJP, but not as much as earlier,” said the leader.
The turning point in Lucknow and UP was the 2019 anti-CAA protests when Shias and Sunnis together hit the streets to express “apprehensions about their citizenship being snatched”. At this time, Kalbe Sadiq’s son Sibtain was booked in a case after he visited the women protesting against the CAA at Lucknow’s Ghanta Ghar.
BJP leaders in Lucknow said while Adityanath had almost ended the distinction between Shia and Sunni Muslims in the state, a section of the BJP leadership still favours having “cordial” relations with the Shia community.